A powerful industry demands special treatment. Its executives promise national prosperity. Its lobbyists warn that resistance will only help a foreign rival. And ordinary Americans are told to accept the costs because that’s what the free market requires.
That was the argument behind NAFTA and decades of offshoring. Corporate America shipped jobs overseas and hollowed out communities that had supported American manufacturing for generations in search of cheaper labor. When companies couldn’t move the work abroad, they pushed for more guest workers and looked the other way when illegal immigration expanded the supply of cheap labor.
But the profits kept flowing upward. Working Americans were left with the consequences.
Now Big Tech is using the same playbook to push data center projects through without answering basic questions. Is there enough reliable power and water, and will the companies demanding them actually pay the full cost?
Instead of answering, the industry hides behind “artificial intelligence” and “China.”
Question whether another data center should be built, and someone will accuse you of helping Beijing. Ask who will supply the electricity or pay for the infrastructure, and you’re told you oppose innovation. Raise concerns about water, land, or higher utility bills for consumers, and the industry dismisses you as an environmental extremist.
China is a real threat. America should lead the world in technological innovation. But Big Tech is presenting a false choice. Give it every approval, subsidy and public resource it wants, or risk losing the technological race to China.
Look at what these companies are actually demanding here in Virginia: approvals, tax breaks, electricity, water and infrastructure, all paid for by homeowners and working Virginians. They don’t get to wave the flag while shifting the bill onto Virginia families. That is corporate welfare.
And Virginia shows exactly where this argument leads. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/chart/top-states-data-centers/">A national database counted nearly four hundred data centers in the Commonwealth, with hundreds more planned or under construction</a>. Virginia has far more operating and proposed facilities than Texas, California, or any other state.
Big Tech’s track record should make conservatives skeptical of its sudden appeals to “American jobs.” <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/grassley-durbin-take-aim-at-tech-finance-and-retail-sectors-for-favoring-h-1b-visa-holders-over-american-workers">These same companies have laid off huge numbers of American employees while continuing to import foreign workers through the H-1B program</a>. They make business decisions based on labor costs and profit margins. Yet when they want tax breaks, electricity, water, land, and infrastructure, they suddenly invoke the American worker and national security.
The industry has spent heavily to make its own corporate interests sound like the national interest, building an enormous political and messaging operation of lobbyists, political action committees, advertising campaigns and paid influencers. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/super-pac-backed-by-openai-and-palantir-is-paying-tiktok-influencers-to-fear-monger-about-china">Recent reporting even exposed a coordinated campaign offering social media influencers thousands of dollars per video to warn that any limits on the industry would help China</a>. Conservatives should recognize an astroturf campaign when they see one.
Virginia has already done more than its share. That’s why <a href="https://www.wtkr.com/news/virginia-state-senator-calls-for-data-center-moratorium">I’ve called on Governor Abigail Spanberger to use every lawful authority available to immediately pause new data center approvals across the Commonwealth</a>.
<a href="https://jlarc.virginia.gov/landing-2024-data-centers-in-virginia.asp">An analysis prepared for Virginia’s General Assembly</a> found that data center growth is the main reason the state’s electricity demand could double within ten years. Meeting that demand would be extraordinarily difficult even if Virginia had a sensible energy policy.
It does not.
The <a href="https://lis.virginia.gov/static/bill-details/20201/SB851">Virginia Clean Economy Act</a> requires utilities to retire nearly all power plants in Virginia that emit carbon by 2045. It also mandates an enormous buildout of intermittent solar and wind generation, with the costs generally recovered directly from utility customers.
The law didn’t create the data center boom. It just makes the consequences worse by tying one hand behind Virginia’s back while electricity demand explodes.
<a href="https://jlarc.virginia.gov/pdfs/reports/Rpt598.pdf">Virginia’s own analysis warns that data center growth will add hundreds of dollars a year to a family’s electric bills</a>. That comes after Virginia already gives the industry <a href="https://budget.lis.virginia.gov/amendment/2026/1/SB30/Introduced/MR/0/14s/">about a billion dollars in tax breaks each year</a>. Families are subsidizing the industry through the tax code, and now they are being forced to subsidize it again through their electric bills.
And then there is the water. <a href="https://jlarc.virginia.gov/pdfs/reports/Rpt598.pdf">Virginia data centers already use more than 2 billion gallons of water a year</a>. <a href="https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2026/RD295/PDF">A state study warns that groundwater supplies in eastern Virginia are already severely strained</a>. In much of the region, there simply isn’t enough dependable groundwater to support another large data center.
The hypocrisy is glaring. Families and businesses around Virginia were <a href="https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2026/june-releases/name-1119790-en.html">asked to conserve water</a>, even as massive new data center projects continued moving through the approval process. Take shorter showers. Use less water. Accept higher electric bills. Watch your local countryside disappear beneath solar farms and transmission corridors.
Virginia tells families to cut back. But it refuses to tell Big Tech “no.”
Governor Spanberger’s response has been to tax growth and announce narrow reforms while keeping approvals moving. Virginia recently <a href="https://budget.lis.virginia.gov/item/2026/2/HB30/Chapter/3/3-5.24/">imposed a new tax on electricity consumed by data centers</a>, which the governor presents as a measure of accountability. In reality, it gives state government a new revenue stream tied directly to even more data center growth. That just creates a perverse incentive for state and local leaders to keep rubber-stamping projects.
<a href="https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2026/august-releases/name-1122057-en.html">State regulators did recently require data centers to pay for transmission infrastructure built exclusively for their projects</a>. That fixes one bill. But it doesn’t determine who pays to build the power plants needed to meet the new demand, how to protect constrained water supplies, how to fix the disastrous Virginia Clean Economy Act, or how to stop another project from being approved.
That is why Virginia needs a moratorium.
Stop approving projects while the Commonwealth determines whether more data centers should be permitted at all, whether reliable power and water actually exist, who will pay the true costs, and what protections must be in place before approvals resume.
The industry will call that radical. What’s radical is approving hundreds of industrial projects first, and expecting families and ratepayers to deal with the fallout later.
America needs computing capacity to remain competitive. But that doesn’t mean trillion-dollar companies get to build wherever they want, consume whatever resources they want, and hand the bill to everyone else.
We’ve seen this movie before.
Powerful corporations promise prosperity. Government gives them what they want. The profits flow upward, the costs are spread among everyone else, and working Americans are told that questioning the arrangement makes them backward, anti-business, or unpatriotic.
We shouldn’t repeat the mistakes of NAFTA and offshoring simply because today&#8217;s corporations sell computing power instead of imported goods.
America can beat China without giving Big Tech a blank check.
Virginia families shouldn’t have to pay more, use less water, and watch their communities transformed so these global corporations can keep building without any restrictions.
Virginia families have carried enough of the load.
Pause the projects.
***
Glen Sturtevant is a Virginia state senator representing Central Virginia in the state’s General Assembly.

Amazon Bets $150 Billion on Data Centers Required for AI Boom

Big Tech Is Selling Corporate Welfare As Patriotism

Big Tech

Corporate Welfare

Data Centers

DW Opinion

Energy Policy

Virginia

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced on Tuesday afternoon that it is investigating a confirmed case of the dengue virus that was locally transmitted.
A resident in Northern Virginia who “did not have known travel outside of Virginia” before presenting symptoms of the illness has tested positive for the virus, as reported by <a href="https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2026/08/04/vdh-investigating-dengue-virus-in-northern-virginia-first-ever-documented-case-of-virus-being-acquired-locally/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=snd&amp;utm_content=wsls10">WSLS 10 News</a>. The VDH, as well as the Fairfax County and Loudoun County Health Departments, are investigating the first documented dengue case originating in Virginia.
“The patient is known to have been in close proximity to a recent internationally acquired case in a Virginian who was diagnosed a couple weeks prior,” the VDH wrote in a <a href="https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/clinicians/clinician-letters/vdh-identifies-a-locally-acquired-case-of-dengue-virus-infection-in-northern-virginia-resident/">statement</a>.
“Dengue viruses are spread to people through the bites of infected Aedes species mosquitoes. Transmission of the virus likely occurred when a local mosquito bit the internationally acquired case while infectious and subsequently infected the second case.”
At the time of publication, the commonwealth’s health department and authorities had not provided any additional information about the severity of the patient&#8217;s symptoms or where in Northern Virginia the patient lives.
Cases of dengue fever can range from mild or even asymptomatic to severe disease. Mild symptoms include headaches, nausea and vomiting, and rashes on the skin. One in every 20 infected people develops severe dengue fever, which can potentially result in shock, internal bleeding, and even death.
According to the CDC, dengue is usually spread through the bites of infected Aedes mosquitoes and does not spread through casual contact between people. Rarely, it can be transmitted from a pregnant woman to her fetus, or through blood transfusions, organ transplants, and needlestick injuries.
The VDH explained that there is no evidence that the virus is still spreading and no additional reports of dengue fever in the state: “The potential risk for acquiring dengue virus in Virginia remains low.”
The Virginia case follows two locally acquired dengue <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/state/florida/miami/2026/08/05/miami-dade-palm-beach-county-locally-acquired-dengue-mosquitoes/91178621007/">cases</a> confirmed in Florida on Monday — one in Miami-Dade County and one in Palm Beach County — which prompted the Florida Department of Health offices in both counties to issue mosquito-borne illness alerts. They are the second and third locally acquired cases reported in Florida this year, following one in Hillsborough County in July.

Aedes aegypti biting human skin

A Tropical Virus Usually Linked To Travel Just Changed The Rules

Dengue

Mosquitoes

President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a $22.5 billion plan to overhaul Washington Dulles International Airport, calling the longtime gateway to the nation&#8217;s capital &#8220;one of the worst airports anywhere in the world.&#8221; 
&#8220;It&#8217;s considered one of the worst airports anywhere in the world, we&#8217;re going to make it maybe the best with some hard work,&#8221; Trump said. “This transformation is another step in our ongoing efforts to make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful again.” 
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1146823" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1.png" alt="" width="1298" height="722" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1.png 1298w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1-300x167.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1-1024x570.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1-768x427.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1298px) 100vw, 1298px" /></div>
Trump said he expected the project to draw bipartisan support.
“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, you don’t want to go and be subjected to this airport,” he said.
The proposal would replace aging concourses, add a new parking garage, modernize security screening and baggage handling, expand the AeroTrain system, and improve pedestrian access throughout the airport. 
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1146825" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.28-PM.png" alt="" width="1304" height="724" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.28-PM.png 1304w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.28-PM-300x167.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.28-PM-1024x569.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.28-PM-768x426.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1304px) 100vw, 1304px" /></div>
Transportation officials said the project will take years to complete and create thousands of jobs.  
Located about 25 miles west of downtown Washington, Dulles opened in 1962 and recorded its busiest year on record in 2025.
The federal government will partner with United Airlines and the  Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to complete the transformation, though officials have not disclosed how the project&#8217;s cost will be divided.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1146827" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM.png" alt="" width="1308" height="714" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM.png 1308w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM-300x164.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM-1024x559.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM-768x419.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1308px) 100vw, 1308px" /></div>
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby called Dulles “the gateway that connects the nation’s capital to the world” and said the modernization project would make the airport a “showcase for the nation’s capital.”
 The Department of Transportation said it reviewed more than 30 proposals before selecting the design unveiled Wednesday. 
The airport renovation is part of the Trump administration&#8217;s effort to restore and modernize prominent public spaces in Washington. 
“As the capital city of the greatest Nation in the history of the world, it should showcase beautiful, clean, and safe public spaces,” Trump has said.

Screenshot 2026-07-29 at 7.56.19 PM

Trump Targets ‘One Of The Worst Airports Anywhere In The World’ For $22.5B Overhaul

Air and Space

airport

Donald Trump

Executive

United Airlines

Washington D.C.

Mia Bieniemy, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, was hospitalized after authorities say she was shot multiple times by their son Sunday night in their Virginia home.
The 57-year-old is in stable condition after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and arm, according to ESPN’s Chiefs reporter Nate Taylor.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office <a href="https://sheriff.loudoun.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/10789" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> deputies responded to reports of a shooting at the family&#8217;s Ashburn home before arresting the couple&#8217;s 27-year-old son, Elijah Zion Bieniemy.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1144329" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1144329" class="wp-image-1144329 size-medium" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/ElijiahBieniemyMugshot-240x300.jpeg" alt="" width="240" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/ElijiahBieniemyMugshot-240x300.jpeg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/ElijiahBieniemyMugshot-461x576.jpeg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/ElijiahBieniemyMugshot.jpeg 480w" sizes=" (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" />Elijah Zion Bieniemy (LCSO)</div>
He was charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and discharging a firearm inside a dwelling. Authorities said he is being held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center while the investigation continues.
Authorities have not released a possible motive for the shooting.
Eric Bieniemy was with the Chiefs at training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri, when the shooting occurred.
He left training camp to be with his wife and did not attend Monday’s practice. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said there is no timetable for his return.
“Our hearts go out to Eric Bieniemy … Mia is stable, which is a plus. We all love EB, and you hate seeing those things happen,” Reid told the media Monday. “She’s a saint &#8230; one of God’s great blessings. But things happen.”
Bieniemy previously served as the Chiefs&#8217; offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2022 before leaving for stints with the Washington Commanders, UCLA, and the Chicago Bears. He returned to Kansas City this offseason. 
In college, he was one of the greatest running backs in Colorado Buffaloes&#8217; history. He helped lead the team to its 1990 national championship victory and remains the program&#8217;s all-time leader in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and all-purpose yards.

Kansas City Chiefs v Denver Broncos

NFL Coach’s Wife Shot At Home

Crime

Eric Bieniemy

Kansas City Chiefs

Loudoun County

Shooting

Sports

U.S.

Communities across the country are fighting to keep data centers out. Columbia County, Georgia, is hoping one moves in so it can eliminate residential property taxes.
“The data center will produce more revenue when built and fleshed out,” Columbia County Board of Commissioners Chairman Doug Duncan said. “It’s going to take a couple of years, [but] it’ll produce more tax revenue than the homestead that comes from taxes in Columbia County. Our long-term objective with this is to eliminate the homestead tax.” 
For the owner of the county&#8217;s median-priced home, valued at roughly $305,000, that could mean saving about $2,900 a year. Renters could also benefit if landlords pass those savings on through lower rents.
 Columbia County recently purchased almost 2,000 acres near an Amazon facility for the proposed data center. Officials estimate the project could generate $400 million in tax revenue. Duncan said the figure &#8220;boggles my mind because we have $100 million in a general fund. It&#8217;s hard for me to believe it&#8217;s that much.&#8221; 
If the project is successful, Duncan said Columbia County would, to his knowledge, become the first county in the nation to eliminate residential property taxes. 
On Thursday, President Donald Trump praised communities that welcome data centers.
“You have communities that really want the data centers and, frankly, those are the smart communities,” Trump said.
Trump explained data center construction creates “tremendous numbers of jobs” with “very little actual disruption,” and added that some communities are “begging for” the facilities because of the tax revenue they generate. 
Other communities have not eliminated residential property taxes, but officials say data centers have significantly boosted local education budgets and teacher pay. 
A Redfin analysis found that Virginia’s two largest data center hubs, located in Loudoun County and Prince William County, have drastically outspent their neighboring counties on education over the past 15 years. 
Teacher salaries in Loudoun County rose about 40% from 2010 to 2023. In neighboring Fairfax County, salaries rose about 29% to roughly $82,000. 
Richland Parish, Louisiana, has reported similar benefits following Meta&#8217;s data center expansion.
“Last year, our teachers received a $10,000 bonus, this year that check was over $50,000,” said Sheldon Jones, Superintendent of the Richland Parish School District. “It’s life-altering for our teachers and their families, and it&#8217;s transforming our schools.” 
“With bonuses like that, the best educators come to you. And if we can attract the best teachers, we could become one of the best school districts in our region.”
Opposition to data centers isn’t partisan, with both sides of the aisle advocating for their demise. There are more than 300 local groups organizing against new facilities. Last week alone, organizers staged <a href="https://time.com/article/2026/07/22/community-backlash-ai-data-centers/">142</a> protests across 42 states, <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/rivers-and-data-centers/?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=12077091751&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAD-YJLR6T16vxDtzFzWk_pRf_Xuzy&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw94bTBhDQARIsAN3vv0zDpU9WgIdSWG4b00Vjisrg7VmReeH5GoG9fXh70xgzu2bIoLlrYyAaAlcDEALw_wcB">citing</a> concerns about water use, environmental impacts, and potential increased utility costs.

US-NEWS-NEV-DATA-CENTERS-LV

Why This County Is Fighting For A Data Center

Fairfax County

Georgia

Louisiana

Tax Cuts

Tax reform

Taxes

Teachers

Measles, the world’s most infectious disease once declared eliminated, has made a comeback in the United States, ravaging states such as South Carolina, Florida, Utah, Virginia and Texas.
Multiple outbreaks occurred over the past year across the United States, costing millions in taxpayer money. South Carolina has<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html"> suffered</a> through 670 cases this year. Virginia has <a href="https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/measles/">reported</a> 176 confirmed cases and eight hospitalizations, and the Texas Department of State Health Services has <a href="https://www.dshs.texas.gov/vaccine-preventable-diseases/vaccine-preventable-disease-conditions/measles-rubeola/measles-rubeola/measles-rubeola-data">reported</a> a total of 182 cases as of July 15.
The airborne virus is notorious for spreading rapidly. Nine out of 10 people who come into close contact with a person infected with measles can come down with the illness if they are not protected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/index.html">reports</a>. This makes the disease about five to six times more contagious than the common cold.
Three to four million Americans contracted the disease every year in the 1950s and 60s. However, Health officials declared measles eliminated in 2000 after 12 consecutive months without endemic transmission. 
However, resistance to taking vaccines has grown over the years. This is partly due to people refusing vaccines produced using cell lines originally derived from aborted fetal tissue obtained in the 1960s — <a href="https://www.chop.edu/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-safety/vaccine-ingredients/fetal-tissues">such as</a> the rubella vaccine in the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Additionally, <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10224336/">studies</a> have found that many parents remain concerned about a possible link between vaccines and autism.
As fewer people take the measles vaccine, more cases are popping up in the United States. Johns Hopkins University, which manages a <a href="https://publichealth.jhu.edu/ivac/resources/us-measles-tracker">tracker</a> for measles cases, reports that the number of cases for 2026 has reached 2,295 — the highest number of cases since 1991
“This is not simply the return of a childhood rash illness,” epidemiologist Dr. Syra Madad <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/22/health/us-hits-most-cases-of-worlds-most-contagious-disease-in-35-years/">told</a> the New York Post. “Measles can cause pneumonia, encephalitis, hospitalization and death, especially in young children and medically vulnerable people.”
Measles can also create the condition called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. This is a fatal neurological condition that causes inflammation and scarring of the brain, the National Institutes of Health <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560673/">reports</a>. This condition can take up to 20 years after a measles infection to develop. 
Prominent health officials in the Trump administration have called on all Americans to take the measles vaccine, especially after the 2025 measles outbreak.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/02/09/us-news/measles-outbreak-surges-in-us-as-dr-oz-begs-people-to-get-vaccinated/">told</a> Americans to “take the vaccine, please.”
“Not all illnesses are equally dangerous and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses,” Oz said on CNN&#8217;s “State of the Union.” “But measles is one you should get your vaccine [for].”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is known for being skeptical about the benefit of modern vaccines rolled out by Big Pharma, has urged parents to consult their doctors about vaccinating their children.
“The measles outbreak in Texas is a call to action for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to public health,” Kennedy <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/robert-f-kennedy-jr-measles-outbreak-call-action-all-us?title=op-ed%20for%20Fox%20News">said</a> in an opinion piece last year. “By working together — parents, healthcare providers, community leaders, and government officials, we can prevent future outbreaks and protect the health of our nation.” 
“Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” Kennedy added.
This article has been updated to correct that South Carolina has reported 670 cases in 2026, not 997.

Screenshot 2026-07-22 at 2.35.02 PM

A Disease Once Thought Defeated Is Spreading Across America

The World’s Most Infectious Disease Is Making a Comeback in the United States

Florida

Measles

Mehmet Oz

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

South Carolina

Texas

Utah

Vaccines

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) incorrectly described Virginia&#8217;s own voter identification law during a Sunday interview, prompting a correction from the host of a Democrat-friendly network.
The awkward exchange came on ABC&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrsZthfIo9M">This Week</a>&#8220; with host Jonathan Karl, as Warner criticized President Donald Trump&#8217;s election security agenda and defended Democratic opposition to the SAVE America Act, legislation that would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
Karl asked Warner whether Democrats should embrace photo voter identification requirements, noting that polls consistently show broad public support for voter ID laws.
&#8220;You know what? In Virginia, we have voter voter ID and photo ID,&#8221; Warner responded.
Karl immediately corrected the senator. &#8220;That&#8217;s actually not the case,&#8221; Karl replied. &#8220;I mean, I&#8217;m a Virginia voter. You don&#8217;t need to show a photo ID in Virginia. There are a wide range of things you can show for ID. And if you don&#8217;t show one of those, you can sign an affidavit.&#8221;
Warner attempted to recover by arguing that Virginia still has &#8220;voter ID of one form or another,&#8221; before pivoting back to criticizing Republican-backed election reforms.
Under Virginia law, voters may present numerous forms of acceptable identification, including certain government-issued IDs and other approved documents. If a voter does not have acceptable identification, he or she may sign an ID Confirmation Statement affirming their identity and cast a regular ballot. Virginia does not require voters to present a photo ID in order to vote.
The exchange occurred after Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, spent several minutes attacking Trump&#8217;s election security policies, arguing foreign adversaries such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China continue to pose cyber threats to American elections. 
Warner argued that Republicans were using the issue to suppress turnout through the SAVE America Act. 
&#8220;The SAVE Act is about voter disenfranchisement,&#8221; Warner said. &#8220;The SAVE Act is going to take anybody that changed their name when they got married. They don&#8217;t get to vote unless they go back and find [proof of a name change].”
Warner also argued that some Republican-led states permit voters to use gun-related identification while refusing to accept student IDs. 
&#8220;The irony here would be the case if you can show any photo that is government stamped would be fine,&#8221; Warner said. &#8220;Certain states will say we&#8217;re going to let you show your &#8230; NRA gun license but you can&#8217;t show your student ID.&#8221;
While some states do accept certain handgun carry permits as valid identification, a majority of those same states also permit qualifying student IDs for voting under specified circumstances.

Senate Hearing Examines Capitol Police Following January 6 Attack

Top Democrat Doesn’t Know His Own State’s Voter ID Policy

Election

Mark Warner

SAVE America Act

As America gears up to celebrate its 250th birthday, one leftist city reminded residents that sparklers are illegal and said anyone defying the ban should be reported to the authorities. 
City officials in Alexandria, Virginia, posted an announcement on Wednesday, declaring that it is illegal to set off fireworks or light sparklers within the city and asked for its residents to call authorities if they witnessed any illegal patriotic celebrations. Alexandria is located about 10 miles away from Mount Vernon, the home of President and General George Washington. 
“Fireworks are illegal in Alexandria, including sparklers. Report illegal fireworks by calling 311. Our show is next weekend,” the city posted on social media. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Fireworks are illegal in Alexandria, including sparklers. Report illegal fireworks by calling 311. Our show is next weekend. Join us for the City Birthday celebration on July 11 at Oronoco Bay Park. Free admission. More info at <a href="https://t.co/De5QV2xucz">https://t.co/De5QV2xucz</a>. <a href="https://t.co/QP6nEwynmS">pic.twitter.com/QP6nEwynmS</a>
— AlexandriaVAGov (@AlexandriaVAGov) <a href="https://x.com/AlexandriaVAGov/status/2072364388858695705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2026</a></blockquote>
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According to the Alexandria Fire Department, it is even illegal to store fireworks or sparklers within the city limits. People caught with fireworks can be fined up to $2,500 and face up to a year in jail. 
“Fireworks are illegal in Alexandria. It is against the law to buy, sell, store, or use any fireworks inside the City, including sparklers and novelty items. This applies even if the fireworks were legal to buy in nearby counties or cities,” the fire department <a href="https://www.alexandriava.gov/news-afd/2026-06-29/alexandria-fire-department-reminds-community-that-fireworks-are-dangerous-and">posted</a> in May.  
The fire department claimed that sparklers “are not safe” and that “nearly half (46%) of people burned by fireworks last year were burned by a sparkler.” Other Democrat-run cities like Chicago and New York City also have sparkler bans in place. 
Conservative commentators reacted to the call to report illegal sparkler use with scorn. 
“Welcome to Virginia, where the government wants to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing for rape, child pornography distribution, and armed robbery — but encourages neighbors to snitch on each other for ‘illegal sparklers’ on the 4th of July,” <a href="https://x.com/theisabelb/status/2072655258640167162">said</a> Daily Wire host Isabel Brown.
“In Alexandria, Virginia, they want you to rat out your neighbors for their fireworks but will fight to their last breath to protect illegal aliens,” said Republican consultant Tim Murtaugh.
Former Virginia Republican attorney general Jason Miyares said, &#8220;This is just flat Un-American.&#8221;
Alexandria is known for its far-Left politics with rainbow colored “Pride” crosswalks painted across the streets in the city’s historic Old Town section and officials&#8217; condemnation of federal immigration enforcement. 
Since Alexandria will not have its fireworks display until July 11, patriotic residents could cross over the Potomac River and attend President Donald Trump’s fireworks display on the Fourth, which he has said will be the “largest firework show in history.” 
America’s Founding Fathers wanted celebrations of the country’s independence to include fireworks, with John Adams once writing that independence should be commemorated with “bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

Sparkles with lights and American flag on the background. July forth celebration. The Independence day backdrop. Minimalistic wallpaper with copy space

Leftist Enclave Asks Residents To Report ‘Illegal’ Sparkler Celebrations During America 250

Alexandria

America 250

Fireworks

Fourth of July

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.
***
Virginia’s top Democrats are outraged. Why? Because 13 Republican commonwealth’s attorneys (so far) have announced that they will not enforce the state’s new assault-weapons ban when it takes effect July 1, arguing that the law is unconstitutional.
Governor Abigail Spanberger’s office <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/may/27/virginia-assault-weapons-ban-prosecutors-refuse-enforce-citing">rebuked</a> them: “The people of Virginia must be able to trust that all the commonwealth’s attorneys will uphold the rule of law and keep Virginians safe.” State Attorney General Jay Jones <a href="https://www.virginiascope.com/some-commonwealth-attorneys-vow-to-not-enforce-new-gun-ban-in-virginia">echoed</a> her, saying, “Commonwealth’s Attorneys are elected to enforce our laws, which is what we expect them to do.”
Prosecutors picking and choosing which laws to enforce is a dereliction of duty that undermines the rule of law and endangers the public. Prosecutors do not get to veto gun laws any more than they get to veto theft, sentencing, immigration, or drug laws. Virginia’s new assault-weapons ban may well be <a href="https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jlpp/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2020/03/Smith-FINAL.pdf">unconstitutional</a>, but that question belongs to judges or voters, not prosecutors acting as one-man legislatures.
But why did it take so long for Virginia Democrats to discover that premise? When progressive prosecutors <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/reining-in-progressive-prosecutors">nullified</a> criminal laws governing <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/prosecutorial-indiscretion">theft</a>, <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-five-worst-prosecutors-in-america">bail</a>, <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/two-birds-one-prosecutor">sentencing</a>, <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/new-york-city-mayor-crime-immigration-deport-sanctuary">immigration cooperation</a>, and <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/prosecutorial-indiscretion">drugs</a>, Democrats called it principled and just. Now that conservatives apply that same theory to policies Democrats favor, it is an assault on the rule of law.
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Jones was silent when his political ally and campaign co-chair, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/fairfax-virginia-attorney-steve-descano">Steve Descano</a>, nullified duly enacted Virginia laws. In 2020, Descano <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/fairfax-co-commonwealths-attorney-declining-to-prosecute-simple-marijuana-possession/2195529">stopped prosecuting</a> marijuana possession, unilaterally <a href="https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/commonwealthattorney/sites/commonwealthattorney/files/assets/documents/fairfax%20cwa%20-%20grand%20larceny%20and%20larceny%20third%20policy.pdf">raised</a> the felony-theft threshold above what state law prescribes, and <a href="https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/commonwealthattorney/sites/commonwealthattorney/files/Assets/Report%20Final%20Version.pdf">prohibited</a> all communication with immigration enforcement. He also barred prosecutors from seeking <a href="https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/commonwealthattorney/plea-bargaining-charging-decisions-and-sentencing-policy">mandatory life sentences</a> and directed line prosecutors to “make plea offers that avoid the legislatively mandated minimum jail sentence.”
Descano even campaigned on refusing to enforce laws he opposed. In a 2022 New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/opinion/prosecutor-abortion-virginia.html">op-ed</a>, he boasted that he would flout an abortion law if one were enacted.
Progressive criminal-justice groups <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/lapo.12260">call</a> such unilateral actions “prosecutor-led” reform. In reality, it is lawmaking by prosecutorial fiat.
Nor is Fairfax unique. Across Virginia, a number of Democratic commonwealth’s attorneys — including Arlington’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18s3Ci1viz">Parisa Dehghani-Tafti</a>, Portsmouth’s <a href="https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Virginia-prosecutor-to-drop-most-misdemeanor-marijuana-cases-508521961.html">Stephanie Morales</a>, Norfolk’s <a href="https://www.norfolk.gov/DocumentCenter/View/70948/Norfolk-Commonwealths-Attorneys-Office-Plea-Philosophy-Policies-and-Procedures-03-21-2022">Ramin Fatehi</a>, and Loudoun’s now-defeated <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/virginia-county-stop-prosecuting-several-crimes">Buta Biberaj</a> — adopted similar nullification policies.
When progressive commonwealth’s attorneys announced these agendas, prominent Virginia Democrats did not denounce them. In fact, most <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18s3Ci1viz">cheered</a>, because they opposed the laws the prosecutors were nullifying but lacked the votes to repeal them. Unable to enact their agenda legislatively, they backed extra-legal means to achieve their policy ends.
The consequences of prosecutorial nullification are not theoretical. In Fairfax, Descano’s office has <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/fairfax-county-judge-slams-prosecutor-dismisses-child-sex-assault-case">repeatedly</a> drawn judicial <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/judge-zaldivar-sentence-abuse/2021/09/20/85258424-1a40-11ec-8380-5fbadbc43ef8_story.html">rebukes</a> for trampling <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/court-docs-shed-new-light-on-botched-fairfax-co-sex-crimes-case">victims’ rights</a> and has released dangerous offenders who went on to commit terrible crimes.
On February 23, Abdul Jalloh, an illegal immigrant, allegedly murdered Stephanie Minter at a bus stop. Jallo had more than 30 prior arrests and <a href="https://wset.com/news/local/illegal-immigrant-with-long-criminal-record-accused-of-killing-woman-in-fairfax-county-abdul-jalloh-stephanie-minter-commonwealths-attorney-steve-descano">40 charges</a>, including multiple attempted-murder cases, for which he served little jail time. Yet despite <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/illegal-immigrant-with-long-criminal-record-accused-of-killing-woman-in-fairfax-county-abdul-emails-jalloh-stephanie-minter-commonwealths-attorney-steve-descano">repeated pleas</a> from police, Descano’s office dropped case after case, and Jalloh was free months before Minter’s killing.
In responding to the Jalloh case, some of the loudest critics of Republican nonenforcement, including Governor Spanberger, chose <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/fairfax-county-police-emails-warned-about-stabbing-suspect-in-womans-death/4070910/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">misdirection</a>. They blamed federal immigration authorities for releasing him five years earlier while ignoring the dozens of Fairfax cases that were dropped or minimized before the murder.
<a href="https://fairfax-ocwa.medium.com/mcca-report-fairfax-county-remains-one-of-the-safest-jurisdictions-in-the-nation-b97eb1dedf5c">Descano</a> and <a href="https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/republicans-effort-to-coerce-states-into-enforcing-reckless-immigration-agenda-undermines-local-police-makes-communities-less-safe">national Democrats</a> insist Fairfax County remains a suburban idyll, <a href="https://stevedescano.com/results1">calling</a> it the “safest jurisdiction of its size in America.” But compared with jurisdictions closer in size or demographics, Fairfax looks worse.
In 2018, neighboring Montgomery County, Maryland, was <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/why-is-montgomery-countys-violent-crime-rate-twice-as-high-as-fairfax-countys">roughly twice</a> as violent as Fairfax. <a href="https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/archival-document?document=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.montgomerycountymd.gov%2Ffiles%2F2026-05%2F2025+MCPD+Annual+Report+on+Crime+and+Safety.pdf&amp;title=2025+Annual+Report+on+Crime+%26+Safety">Last year</a>, Montgomery recorded fewer crimes against persons and fewer property crimes than <a href="https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/03bcc658f4f44662ab70308157c31d0e">Fairfax</a>. Suffolk County, New York, is larger than Fairfax, with about 1.5 million residents, yet its <a href="https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/major-crime-dropped-17-in-2025-but-demands-on-officers-keep-growing-f8b3ed9a">violent crime</a> is lower and falling.
Fairfax is also trending in the wrong direction. According to Fairfax County Police <a href="https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/03bcc658f4f44662ab70308157c31d0e">data</a>, crimes against persons — including murders, assaults, and sex offenses — were <a href="https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/sites/police/files/assets/images/helpfulinfo/crime%20in%20our%20county/crime%20statistics/2019_group_a_offenses.pdf">up</a> 28 percent in 2025 from 2019, the year before Descano took office. They dipped only slightly from the 2024 high, even as crime has <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/19/us-news/violent-crime-drops-at-rates-not-seen-in-nearly-90-years-fbi">plummeted elsewhere</a>.
State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell of Fairfax, the gun-control measure’s chief sponsor, tried to <a href="https://x.com/ssurovell/status/2059265051995910212?s=20">call out</a> conservative hypocrisy: “It was only a few years ago that many [of] the conservatives in the Commonwealth like the Attorney General [Jason Miyares] were complaining about Northern Virginia prosecutors not enforcing the laws on the books.”
Surovell is right about that. Our system requires prosecutors to enforce the law, not make it. If they want to legislate, they should win election to the General Assembly.
But Virginia Democrats defended such prosecutorial nullification until the other side adopted it. They are now reaping the whirlwind. Maybe this will remind them to put principle and public safety over politics.
***
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/virgina-assault-weapons-ban-commonwealth-attorneys">here</a>.
Sean Kennedy is the president of Virginians for Safe Communities, a public safety and victims’ rights advocacy group based in Fairfax County, Virginia and member of the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Advisory Board.

Richmond Prepares To Host Gubernatorial Inauguration Of Abigail Spanberger

Surprise! Virginia Democrats Discover Laws Are Supposed To Be Enforced

abigail spanberger

Attorney General

Gun Laws

MI x DW

prosecutors

A non-English speaking bus driver killed five people and injured 44 after crashing into stopped traffic along I-95 in Virginia early Friday morning.
The driver, Jing S. Dong, is a Chinese native with U.S. citizenship who received a commercial driver’s license from New York in 2024, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“Unacceptable. This is exactly why we are holding states accountable, enforcing the rules of the road, and cracking down on drivers who can’t speak English,” Duffy wrote on X. “If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Update on the tragic bus crash in Virginia:
Five people are dead, including a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, after the driver of a motorcoach slammed into stopped traffic on I-95. <a href="https://x.com/FMCSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FMCSA</a> Administrator Derek Barrs and our investigators are on the ground at the crash… <a href="https://t.co/NWPBd9aLPr">pic.twitter.com/NWPBd9aLPr</a>
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) <a href="https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/2060474587071074381?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Dong was allegedly driving the motor coach from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina, when he failed to stop for slowing traffic and rammed into a Chevrolet Suburban, causing a chain reaction of at least six vehicles, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/30/us-news/virginia-bus-crash-that-killed-5-involved-non-english-speaking-driver-who-got-license-in-ny-says-sean-duffy/">reported</a>.
The driver of the Suburban, a 25-year-old woman from Massachusetts, was killed. After the bus slammed into it, the Suburban hit an Acura occupied by a family of four, killing 45-year-old Dmitri Doncev, his 44-year-old wife Ecaterina, their 13-year-old daughter, and 7-year-old son. The young family&#8217;s vehicle caught on fire after the collision, the Post reported.
“With broken hearts, we share the devastating loss of our beloved brother and his family in the tragic accident on South I-95 in Virginia early this morning,” Iuri Doncev, Dmitri Doncev’s brother, said on Facebook.
The Department of Transportation is investigating how Dong received his license from New York.
“Our investigators are reviewing New York licensing records, training documentation, and the driver’s history,” Duffy said. “Any company, trainer, or school that contributed to putting an unqualified driver on the road will face intense scrutiny.”
Earlier this year, an illegal immigrant with a CDL from California allegedly caused a multi-car pileup that killed two people and injured five others, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-immigrant-trucker-with-blue-state-license-accused-of-causing-fatal-multi-car-pileup">reported</a>.

Bus Crash

Chinese-Native Bus Driver Who Can’t Speak English Causes Pileup That Kills Young Family

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Sean Duffy

A missing Virginia teenager was last seen with a 39-year-old man who once avoided serious prison time thanks to a sweetheart plea deal despite admitting to sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy.
The Fredericksburg Police Department said Thursday that 17-year-old Autumn Van Zandt was last seen on May 19 traveling with career criminal Ronnie Reel and that they were potentially “attempting to travel out of state.” Reel faced previous criminal charges in July 2021 for child sex assault, but those charges were <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/virginia-man-who-confessed-to-sexually-abusing-11-year-old-offered-plea-deal-in-fairfax-co">downgraded</a> after the judge said that leftist Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano’s office failed to turn in evidence on time. 
Instead of facing life in prison for sodomy and aggravated sexual battery, Reel took a plea deal in September 2022 that released him for time served on a misdemeanor assault and battery charge. That plea deal emerged after a judge said that Descano’s office missed a deadline to turn over evidence to Reel&#8217;s legal team and could not include two recorded confessions as part of their case, Fox5 <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/virginia-man-who-confessed-to-sexually-abusing-11-year-old-offered-plea-deal-in-fairfax-co">reported</a> at the time. 
&#8220;He was confessing every little detail that he did, and it was making me sick to my stomach,&#8221; Amber, the victim&#8217;s mother, said of the recording of her phone call with Reel. &#8220;It was horrible. He literally confessed to me why he did it.&#8221;
Descano’s office disputed the judge’s ruling that they failed to properly provide evidence for the case in a timely manner, pinning the blame on the judge. His office told The Daily Wire that the judge &#8220;made a novel ruling that discovery was turned over too early yet denied the prosecutor&#8217;s motion to continue. We prosecuted the defendant based on the remaining evidence available.&#8221;
&#8220;We acted immediately in response to this novel ruling, and notified all prosecutors that discovery must now be submitted again in Circuit Court  — even if it was already conveyed in a lower court … according to the law, the remedy for such a dispute is a routine continuance — which was sought by our prosecutor and denied,&#8221; Descano&#8217;s office said at the time. 
 The victim’s family disagreed. 
“A man would be sitting in jail right now if they just didn’t assume. Because that’s what they did. They assumed it would be OK not to send in the paperwork again,” Amber said.  
Descano, whose campaigns have been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-county-d-a-handing-out-get-out-of-jail-free-cards">funded</a> by George Soros groups, has long faced scrutiny over his handling of criminal cases. In recent months, his office has released multiple suspects who went on to be charged with murder. 
His office released 32-year-old illegal immigrant <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/receipts-show-progressive-prosecutor-warned-about-illegal-alien-before-mom-was-murdered">Abdul Jalloh</a> before he went on to be later charged with murdering 41-year-old mother Stephanie Minter. In a similar case, alleged MS-13 gang member Marvin Morales-Ortez was arrested for murder one day after being released by Descano’s office.
Fredericksburg police are asking for anyone with information to send in tips. Van Zandt is described as standing 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighing 135 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a black top and jean shorts with a red purse and has a heart-shaped tattoo on the side of her hip.

MixCollage-22-May-2026-09-11-AM-3985

Vanished Teen Last Seen With Sexual Predator Released After Leftist DA Screw-Up

Teen Girl Last Seen With Career Criminal Who Dodged Child Sex Charge

George Soros

A U.S. Army veteran who rescued his 11-year-old dog from ISIS is now fighting to save her again after local authorities in Virginia “kidnapped” the animal.
Brendan Jones, a military veteran with 18 years of counterterrorism experience, rescued his dog Lucy from the grips of ISIS while deployed in the Middle East. Now, he&#8217;s building a &#8220;<a href="https://hannity.com/media-room/save-lucy-army-vets-beloved-pup-who-survived-isis-now-locked-in-virginia-kennel/">pressure campaign</a>&#8221; to save Lucy from an animal shelter. 
Around a month ago, Lucy was taken from the family&#8217;s rural property near Strasburg, Virginia, after a neighbor claimed that the dog threatened her and accused Jones of failing to comply with Virginia’s dangerous dog registry requirements.
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You know who you are. On April 17, you saw me in my yard with my dog. You watched a freak mishap occur. You saw the collar slip over my dog&#8217;s head. You saw me immediately react, bringing my dog under control as quickly as I could manage without her leaving my property. You heard… <a href="https://t.co/yaefu9pngK">pic.twitter.com/yaefu9pngK</a>
— Brendan Jones 🇺🇸 (@jonesbrendanm) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonesbrendanm/status/2051483782125875278?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
<a href="https://x.com/jonesbrendanm/status/2051483782125875278?s=20">On social media,</a> Jones called the incident a &#8220;freak mishap&#8221; and immediately brought the dog under control. He also said that Lucy never left his property.
&#8220;A passerby, a local attorney&#8217;s wife, escalated it to the authorities,&#8221; <a href="https://www.change.org/p/help-bring-home-a-veterans-11-year-old-rescue-dog-after-a-brief-leash-slip?recruiter=535315019&amp;recruited_by_id=db9f7a10-0f9e-11e6-a491-2183983b1494&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=share_petition&amp;utm_term=share_petition&amp;utm_medium=copylink&amp;share_id=xHNTp9KntX">Jones and his wife Dolly wrote</a>. &#8220;Now, at 11 years old, Lucy is unjustly confined in a shelter; confused, lonely, and awaiting death for doing nothing but barking — something all dogs do!&#8221;
Lucy, according to Jones, had been declared “dangerous” a year earlier after she nipped a passerby. He <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/dog-saved-isis-army-veteran-kidnapped-family-yard-local-authorities">said</a> the incident was out of character and occurred while the dog was recovering from surgery and still groggy. 
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She was drugged up post surgery. Not in her right mind. She was injured and in pain. She was wearing a boot and hobbling on three lets. She was wearing a cone and couldn&#8217;t see. In this vulnerable and confused state, a strange hand suddenly appeared next to her head. She felt… <a href="https://t.co/IQaG4QujHv">pic.twitter.com/IQaG4QujHv</a>
— Brendan Jones 🇺🇸 (@jonesbrendanm) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonesbrendanm/status/2056191576263582075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
Dolly Jones, Brendan&#8217;s wife, said the couple has faced repeated conflicts with neighbors, including over a dozen police calls and multiple court appearances over animal-related noise complaints. Jones argued that the incident involving Lucy was &#8220;the weapon they needed to wield against us.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s been heartbreaking for everybody,&#8221; Dolly Jones said on &#8220;<a href="https://hannity.com/media-room/save-lucy-army-vets-beloved-pup-who-survived-isis-now-locked-in-virginia-kennel/">The Sean Hannity Show</a>.&#8221; &#8220;When they actually came and kidnapped her off our property, the kids were outside playing, and the cops came up and removed her from the field, put her in the car. It&#8217;s been devastating.&#8221; 
Brendan found and fell in love with Lucy in 2015 while &#8220;camping in the reddish moondust on the border between Jordan and Syria.&#8221;
&#8220;A young dog, pearl white in color, hung out with us at camp. We kind of adopted her and fed her leftovers. She appreciated having a full belly and a respite from the packs of wild dogs and angry Bedouins,&#8221; he said on social media. &#8220;We named her Lucy, which was appropriate, because it was similar to the Arabic word &#8216;Lulu,&#8217; which means pearl.&#8221;
Then, he bribed a Jordanian officer to get Lucy veterinary care. 
&#8220;First, I asked him straight up to take the dog to the vet in Amman. He laughed, spat on the ground, and said something disparaging about Americans and their love for filthy dogs. So I went for his Achilles heel — his love of Oakley sunglasses. I told him I would give him my Oakleys if he drove the dog 3.5 hours to Amman and delivered her to the vet. That got him. He said he would,&#8221; Jones said. 
Following the birth of his newborn son, Jones said Lucy helped fill the void of his emotional pain overseas. 
&#8220;I missed being a dad, I missed the dad life, and that&#8217;s not the headspace you want when you&#8217;re overseas in danger, when you have to be focused on the mission,&#8221; he told Hannity. &#8220;Lucy helped me get over that, because she filled that void that was missing. I would sit outside our gate after we adopted her and just pet her, play with her, feed her; it helped me overcome the pain that I felt.&#8221; 
Lucy is still sitting in her cell at the pound, <a href="https://x.com/jonesbrendanm/status/2057510905621975420?s=20">according to Jones</a>, and the dog is unlikely to be released before Jones&#8217; next court date, which is set for June 12. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Took Lucy treats. Couldn&#8217;t see her. One of the ladies took a video of her. She sent it to me along with the following message:
&#8220;Praying for a positive outcome soon for Lucy! 🙏&#8221;
These people are heroes. God bless them. But I want my dog back.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveLucy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaveLucy</a><a href="https://twitter.com/Herb_Minstrel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Herb_Minstrel</a> <a href="https://t.co/htCgWM3CEo">pic.twitter.com/htCgWM3CEo</a>
— Brendan Jones 🇺🇸 (@jonesbrendanm) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonesbrendanm/status/2056427493830033833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
&#8220;We&#8217;re hoping that her life be bookended by miracles, one to get her here and one to save her from the Islamic State, and one to get her out of the hands of our own state,&#8221; Jones told Hannity.  
The Jones family <a href="https://www.change.org/p/help-bring-home-a-veterans-11-year-old-rescue-dog-after-a-brief-leash-slip?recruiter=535315019&amp;recruited_by_id=db9f7a10-0f9e-11e6-a491-2183983b1494&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=share_petition&amp;utm_term=share_petition&amp;utm_medium=copylink&amp;share_id=xHNTp9KntX">created an online petition</a> calling for Lucy&#8217;s release.

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