‘I’m Thankful to God’: Hero Security Guard Speaks out on Texas Church Shooting; Anti-Gun Leader: The Security Guards Shouldn’t Have Been Armed

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By Townhall. Jack Wilson has been identified as the heroic security guard who killed the shooter that attacked West Freeway Church of Christ during one of its Sunday morning services.

Wilson, who is running to be county commissioner in Hood County, shared on Facebook that while he is sad he lost “two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST,” he thanks God for being able to protect the congregation because evil does exist in the world.

“I just want to thank all who have sent their prayers and comments on the events of today. The events at West Freeway Church of Christ put me in a position that I would hope no one would have to be in, but evil exist and I had to take out an active shooter in church,” Wilson wrote.

“I’m thankful to GOD that I have been blessed with the ability and desire to serve him in the role of head of security at the church. I am very sad in the loss of two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST, but evil does exist in this world and I and other members are not going to allow evil to succeed,” he added. “Please pray for all the members and their families in this time. Thank you for your prayers and understanding.”

(Read more from “‘I’m Thankful to God’: Hero Security Guard Speaks out on Texas Church Shooting” HERE)

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Anti-Gun Leader on Texas Church Shooting: The Security Guards Shouldn’t Have Been Armed

By Townhall. . .Yet, even if armed security wasn’t there, the congregation had more than a few people with concealed carry permits in the church. The point is simple: a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun. Or in this case, multiple good guys with guns were ready to defend themselves and others in the church. It’s a no-brainer position that the anti-gun Left mocks or ignores because real life has slapped them so hard, they’re intellectually disabled. Good people with firearms defend their lives and the lives of others on a daily basis. While it’s not the Second Amendment’s intent, the self-defense aspect that comes with it is a popular position, hence the bunker mentality anti-gunners have for situations like this. Yet, it wouldn’t be the Left to just let this tragedy slide without offering their own garbage takes. Enter Shannon Watts, a Bloomberg lackey:

(Read more from “Anti-Gun Leader on Texas Church Shooting: The Security Guards Shouldn’t Have Been Armed” HERE)

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Here’s How Impeachment Obsession Is Allowing Big Tech to Build a China-Like Surveillance State

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Lawmakers are too busy wrestling with matters related to President Donald Trump’s impeachment to address issues related to the government’s deployment of facial recognition technology.

Big tech is selling such technological know-how to police agencies and embedding it in smartphones while lawmakers remain distracted, Politico reported Monday. Other issues are also taking precedent, namely the death of one lawmaker who led efforts to regulate artificial intelligence. . .

“We don’t want any more money being used, no money used to expand what we have or to purchase any new ability to impact or use this technology,” GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio told Politico. “I’ve been all focused all on impeachment,” so working with Republicans on sticky parts of such a bill is difficult, he noted.

Meanwhile, San Francisco officials are taking matters into their own hands. The city’s Board of Supervisors voted 8-1 in May to make San Francisco the first American city to block police from using the tool.

Facial recognition technology is not without its supporters, who say it can be a useful tool to nab criminals. Authorities, for instance, used a similar piece of technology to identify a person who shot and killed several people in 2018 at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland. (Read more from “Here’s How Impeachment Obsession Is Allowing Big Tech to Build a China-Like Surveillance State” HERE)

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Two ‘Unaccompanied’ Illegal Aliens Released by Sanctuaries Arrested for Gang Murder

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Remember Montgomery County, Maryland? The county with a slew of illegal alien sex offenders arrested over the summer? Well, the D.C. suburb is also home to large numbers of transnational gang members, increasingly committing murder. Their ranks have been enlarged by the interminable flow of Central American teens across the border in recent years. Sadly, the parents and family members who “sponsor” these “children” now get amnesty under the budget bill Trump agreed to sign this year.

In what has become an all-too-familiar scene in the D.C. suburban area, Montgomery County police found the body of Sara Gutierrez-Villatoro, 19, shot dead in a wooded area in Dickerson, Maryland, on November 29 in what appeared to be a gang killing. Dickerson was once a quiet town in the more rural part of Montgomery County near the Potomac River but has now been exposed to the epidemic of illegal alien gangs. It wasn’t until the week before Christmas that local police announced the arrests of Jonathan Rivera-Escobar, 19; Geovany Dominguez, 24; Jordan Moreno, 21; and Rigoberto Machado, 16 – all part of an 18th Street gang clique in D.C. – for the November murder. The victim is believed to have been a member of the gang as well, who betrayed the other members.

What nobody has reported, however, is that at least two of them are confirmed illegal aliens who were resettled at taxpayer expense as “unaccompanied alien minors” in recent years. Worse, both of them were just recently released from D.C. local jail in defiance of ICE detainers.

“ICE has lodged detainers with Montgomery County Detention Center for two men charged with murder in the first degree,” said ICE’s Baltimore office in a statement to CR. “Geovany Alexander Godoy-Dominguez, 23, and Jonathan Rivera-Escobar, 19, were arrested in connection to a murder in Maryland in November. Godoy had previously been the subject of an ICE detainer after an Oct. 31 arrest by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, but was released.”

ICE did not issue a statement on Moreno. As for Machado, because he is a minor, ICE will not comment on his immigration status.

In the statement, an ICE official noted how the local sanctuary policies in D.C. and its surrounding counties have allowed more needless crimes to be committed. “Sanctuary policies are reckless and dangerous for our communities,” said acting Deputy Executive Associate Director Henry Lucero. “How many catastrophic incidents need to occur before supporters of sanctuary policies realize that communities are safer when law enforcement works together?”

So, what is the story with Godoy-Dominguez? According to ICE, he is “an illegal alien from El Salvador” and is “an immigration fugitive.”

“Godoy was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in Jan. 2013 after illegally entering the United States. He was an unaccompanied child at the time, was transferred to Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and subsequently released to his sponsor. On Mar. 11, 2015, an immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States when he failed to appear for his immigration hearing. On Oct. 31, 2019, following his arrest for possession of an unregistered firearm, ICE issued an immigration detainer and warrant of removal for Godoy with the D.C. Department of Corrections. On Nov. 3, 2019, the detainer and warrant were not honored and he was released instead of being turned over to ICE. ICE lodged a detainer Dec. 26 with Montgomery County Detention Center for Godoy following his arrest for murder.”

More than 90 percent of UAC sponsors are in the country illegally.

The same jurisdictions that are pushing gun control have no problem harboring other countries’ gun felons, when they could easily be removed by ICE. How Montgomery County officials could release an illegal alien gang member like Godoy-Dominguez after arresting him on a firearms charge is inexplicable.

Jonathan Rivera-Escobar is also an illegal alien from El Salvador. According to ICE, he was also settled as a UAC in June 2016 and had a prior arrest but was not turned over to ICE. “As he was an unaccompanied minor, he was turned over to the HHS ORR and was subsequently released to his sponsor. On Sept. 6, Rivera was arrested and charged with unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and released prior to ICE placing a detainer. On Dec. 18, ICE lodged a detainer with Maryland County following his arrest for murder.”

Last year, ICE placed detainers on aliens charged with a total of 2,500 murders. Given that most murderers are repeat offenders, one can only imagine how many of these murders were 100 percent preventable, because their first criminal arrests should have triggered their removals. Had Rivera-Escobar and Godoy-Dominguez been handed over to ICE, the murder likely would never have happened.

But it’s worse than that. Consider the fact that under the bill just signed by President Trump, first in February and then permanently codified in the December omnibus, those illegal relatives who are sponsoring people like Rivera-Escobar and Godoy-Dominguez will be shielded from deportation as a reward for trafficking in future gang members. In the ultimate case of paying for the rope to hang ourselves, these future gang members are resettled by the Office of Refugee Resettlement as refugees on the taxpayer dime.

The D.C. suburbs have become a hotbed for Salvadoran illegal alien gangs since the influx of Central Americans, propelled by unaccompanied teen trafficking, began early in the decade. “What we found in recent years is a resurgence of MS-13 in Maryland, in the D.C. area, and it was fueled by illegal immigration and particularly by the challenge of unaccompanied minor children,” said Rod Rosenstein in the presence of the president in Long Island last year.

“Many of these alien children, who have no parents, no family structure — we’re releasing them into communities where they’re vulnerable to recruitment by MS-13,” said Rosenstein. ICE has estimated that about 40 percent of the MS-13 members arrested in recent years originally arrived as UACs.

MS-13 and the rival 18th Street gang are endemic to El Salvador, and now roughly 22 percent of El Salvador’s population is in the United States, many of them settling in the counties surrounding D.C. – both in Maryland and in Virginia. So the policies encouraging the trafficking of volatile Salvadoran youth into the country to fuel the growth of the most violent gangs are coming home to roost right where the nation’s lawmakers reside. (For more from the author of “Two ‘Unaccompanied’ Illegal Aliens Released by Sanctuaries Arrested for Gang Murder” please click HERE)

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New Data: Republican States Gaining Seats in Congress

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Newly-released data from the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday suggested that some Republican states are set to gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives while some Democrat states are set to lose states, according to a new analysis.

“Based on Monday’s figures, Texas is poised to gain two congressional seats, while Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon are each expected to gain one,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “Eight states are likely to lose one seat: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia and California. It would be California’s first such loss since it became a state in 1850.”

Based on The Wall Street Journal’s analysis, states that voted for President Donald Trump are set to gain a net total of four congressional seats while states that voted for Hillary Clinton are set to lose a net total of three seats.

Kimball Brace, president of the bipartisan political consulting firm Election Data Services, told The Wall Street Journal that he expects the changes will benefit the Republican Party. . .

“Democrats say in Texas and Arizona, the growth of the Latino populations and new residents from other states could eventually turn them blue,” The Wall Street Journal added. “Democrats note how population movements in recent years have moved the partisan makeup of some states in their favor, including Virginia and Colorado.” (Read more from “New Data: Republican States Gaining Seats in Congress” HERE)

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Soldiers Banned From Using Chinese App ‘TikTok’

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The U.S. Army has now banned soldiers from using the popular Chinese app TikTok after determining it to be a cybersecurity threat.

“It is considered a cyber threat,” Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Robin Ochoa said of the situation. “We do not allow it on government phones.”

According to Military.com, Army recruiters were using TikTok as of two months ago “as an effective tool for reaching young people of Generation Z even as lawmakers were calling for a national security review of the music video app.” . . .

“As of mid-December, the Army began advising soldiers to stop using TikToK on all government-owned phones,” reported the outlet. “The U.S. Navy recently put out similar guidance, prohibiting the use of TiKTok on government phones, according to reports by Gizmodo and other publications.”

“The services cannot ban personnel from using TiKTok on their personal phones, but Army leaders recommend that service members use caution if they receive random or unfamiliar text messages,” it continued. (Read more from “Soldiers Banned From Using Chinese App ‘TikTok'” HERE)

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12-Year-Old Boy Fends off 20-Year-Old, Saving His Great-Grandparents in Stabbing Attack

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Police say a 12-year-old Texas boy saved the lives of his great-grandparents this week, when he fought off his 20-year-old brother who began stabbing the elderly victims in a fit of rage. . .

Lucian Johnston, 20, was arrested Monday, accused of using a pocket knife to stab his great-grandparents — ages 92 and 76 — in the head and neck on Sunday night. The alleged attack occurred while the elderly victims were in a vehicle with Johnston, and dropping him off at a friend’s house.

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Johnston’s 12-year-old half brother, who was also in back seat of the vehicle with Johnston, was able to wrestle the knife away from the suspect and throw the weapon out the car window.

(Read more from “12-Year-Old Boy Fends off 20-Year-Old, Saving His Great-Grandparents in Stabbing Attack” HERE)

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Bernie Sanders Releases Letter Claiming He Is Healthy Enough for Office

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The campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released letters from three doctors on Monday, all claiming that the 78-year-old is fit enough to serve as Commander in Chief despite his heart attack and hospitalization three months ago. . .

Bernie 2020 touted statements from Sanders’ primary physician and two cardiologists purportedly “showing he is fit and ready to serve as president of the United States.” . . .

Dr. Philip Ades, director of Cardiac Rehabilitation at the University of Vermont wrote to that despite the medical episode from a few months back, “Mr. Sanders is more than fit enough to pursue vigorous activities and an occupation that requires stamina and an ability to handle a great deal of stress.’

Dr. Ades further noted that Sanders “was able to exercise to a level that is approximately 50 percent higher than other men his age with a similar diagnosis.”

Sanders’ primary physician, Dr. Brian Monahan — who is the attending physician of the United States Congress — wrote in a separate letter, “You are in good health currently and you have been engaging vigorously in the rigors of your campaign, travel, and other scheduled activities without any limitation.” (Read more from “Bernie Sanders Releases Letter Claiming He Is Healthy Enough for Office” HERE)

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How Liberals Rewrite the History of the Clinton Impeachment; Hypocrite Schumer Said Senate Was ‘Not A Jury Box’ During Clinton Impeachment Trial

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By Daily Signal. The “striking” difference between the Bill Clinton and Donald Trump impeachments, argue MSNBC hosts and others in the media, was not only the willingness of Clinton to “show contrition,” but the willingness of his supporters to acknowledge that the president had done something wrong. . .

In the real world, Clinton, with help from the entire Democratic Party, kept earnestly lying to anyone who would listen—the media, the American people, a grand jury—until physical evidence compelled him to admit what he had done.

His subsequent “contrition,” as impeachment picked up steam, was a matter of political survival. The notion that Trump engaged in “bribery” is debatable. The notion that Clinton perjured himself is not.

If it hadn’t been for the Drudge Report bypassing the institutional media, in fact, Newsweek, still an influential magazine in 1998, would likely have sat on the Monica Lewinsky story until after the Clinton presidency had ended. This was probably the first time that online alternative media exposed corrupt coverage, and it certainly wasn’t the last.

Then again, even after Drudge reported on Lewinsky’s semen-stained blue dress, Clinton still lied about his affair to the country, famously saying, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.” His wife, Hillary, who almost surely knew the truth, told Matt Lauer that a “vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president” was responsible for the charges. Sounds familiar. (Read more from “How Liberals Rewrite the History of the Clinton Impeachment” HERE)

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Hypocrite Schumer Said Senate Was ‘Not a Jury Box’ During Clinton Impeachment Trial

By Townhall. Democrats have been incensed ever since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that there was “no chance” the president would be removed from office. Speaker Pelosi is even refusing to send the articles of impeachment in a perverse effort to extort some last-minute concessions from Senate Republicans. Democrats just led the most flimsy, partisan impeachment inquiry in U.S. history and are now lecturing Republicans on the importance of impartiality. Even CNN can’t ignore the hypocrisy.

“I was disappointed to hear yesterday that Leader McConnell declared that he would not be an impartial juror when it comes to the serious charges against President Trump,” Chuck Schumer said in a recent Senate speech. “He said it proudly. What kind of example does that set to the country that is looking for fairness and impartiality?”

But in 1999, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went on Larry King Live and said the exact opposite of everything he is saying now. Schumer defended the right of every Senator to have a “pre-opinion” and explained that the Senate is “not a jury box” because the Senate is “susceptible to the whims of politics” and Senators can be “called and lobbied” by citizens. (Read more from “Hypocrite Schumer Said Senate Was ‘Not a Jury Box’ During Clinton Impeachment Trial” HERE)

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Handgun Toilet Rolls and Monsters With Grenades: The Weirdest Items Confiscated by TSA in 2019

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Airline passengers attempted to bring tens of thousands of banned items with them through security checkpoints at U.S. airports since January, according to the government agency that inspects travelers.

Federal officers for the Transportation Security Administration found the normal prohibited contraband, such as loaded guns, ammunition, and knives in carry-on and checked bags in 2019. They also found a variety of unusual and dangerous items on passengers and in their luggage, some of it documented by the unexpectedly droll TSA blog.

In March, a survival flare pen and seven flares were discovered in a checked bag at Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport in Mississippi.

Someone who may have been getting ready for the Fourth of July attempted to bring boxes of fireworks through security at Miami International Airport in April. TSA in a blog post noted a variety of banned explosives: “Spleen splitters, whisker biscuits, donkey lighters, hoosker doos, hoosker don’ts, cherry bombs, nipsy daisers, with or without the scooter stick, or whistling kitty chasers” are not allowed on planes. “Oh, I almost forgot, snakes and sparklers are NOT allowed either! If we do find snakes we will for sure call Samuel L. Jackson to come handle the situation!” . . .

“Someone had a crappy day at one of the Transportation Security Administration checkpoints yesterday at Newark Liberty International Airport when he didn’t watch his ‘Pees and Qs’ and instead of rolling through the security process, this cowboy got stopped up when he was found to have a most unusual prohibited item in his carry-on bag on Tuesday, Oct. 29,” the agency wrote. “When the carry-on bag entered the checkpoint X-ray machine where a TSA officer spotted the revolver. TSA needed to get to the bottom of it, and when the bag was opened, the item that had triggered an alarm wasn’t an actual firearm at all. Instead, it was a realistic replica gun that had been configured into a toilet paper roller. Yes, this most unusual revolver was not designed to spin bullets. It was designed to spin toilet paper.” (Read more from “Handgun Toilet Rolls and Monsters With Grenades: The Weirdest Items Confiscated by TSA in 2019” HERE)

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U.S. Targets Five Facilities Controlled by Iranian-Backed Militias in Drone Strikes

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U.S. forces conducted strikes on five facilities in Iraq and Syria that were believed to be operated by Iranian-backed militias in the region.

This operation, which was announced by Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Jonathan Hoffman on Sunday, was the first combative effort against the militias who have been responsible for attacks on U.S. troops in recent weeks. The militia, Kata’ib Hezbollah, was given lethal aid from the Iranian government, which was used in attacks on an Iraqi base that killed an American contractor and injured four servicemen, according to the Defense Department.

Americans have been stationed in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government to assist in the battle against ISIS. Several non-American members of the coalition have also been killed or injured in the attacks by Kata’ib Hezbollah.

The strikes, two of which were in Syria and three in Iraq, took out control centers and weapons storage facilities that have been key in the attacks on coalition bases. (Read more from “U.S. Targets Five Facilities Controlled by Iranian-Backed Militias in Drone Strikes” HERE)

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