3 of the MS-13 Members Who Stabbed and Burned MD Victim Were Resettled as Refugees

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One of the biggest scams being perpetrated against the American people as part of this mass migration from Central America is the fact that we are treating those who engage in self-trafficking as victims of trafficking and those who commit heinous violence in our country as refugees from violence. Nowhere is this more evident than with those who come here from Central America as teens by having their families pay to traffic them here, get resettled as refugees, and then join gangs and fuel violence in our cities greater than the violence in their home countries.

On Friday, police in Prince George’s County, Maryland, announced the arrest of five members of an MS-13 cell based in Fairfax County, Virginia, for the gruesome murder of a fellow gang member across the state line. The suspects allegedly stabbed the victim 100 times and set the body on fire, a hallmark of the Latin American gangs and cartels. All five suspects – Jose Ordonez-Zometa, 29; Jonathan Castillo Rivera, 20; Kevin Rodriguez Flores, 18; Cristhian Martinez Ramirez, 16; and Jose Hernandez-Garcia, 25 – are being charged with first-degree murder.

I’ve noticed a pattern of so many heinous crimes committed by young males from Central America and how many of them came in to the country as “unaccompanied alien children” several years ago. Under that rubric, we automatically treat them as refugees to be resettled, not illegal aliens to be deported. I reached out to ICE and was told that at least three of them were indeed resettled under the UAC program. Here is the information they sent out on the record:

Cristhian Martinez Ramirez entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location, and was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 18, 2016. Border Patrol identified Martinez as an unaccompanied minor and he was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Martinez was released to a family member in Virginia on June 16, 2016. On March 11, Martinez was arrested by local law enforcement officers in Stafford County for murder.

Jonathan Castillo Rivera entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location, and was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol on Feb. 6, 2016. Border Patrol identified Castillo as an unaccompanied minor and he was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Castillo was released to a family member in Virginia on Feb. 19, 2016. On March 12, Castillo was arrested by local law enforcement officers in Stafford County for murder.

Kevin Rodriguez Flores entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location, and was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol on June 27, 2016. Border Patrol identified Rodriguez as an unaccompanied minor and he was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Rodriguez was released to a family member in New Jersey on July 15, 2016. ICE officers arrested Rodriguez on March 12 and transferred custody to Stafford County based on an outstanding warrant for murder. At that time, ICE lodged a detainer with the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

The other two came in at unknown times as adults. All five of them were citizens of El Salvador.

Notice the common thread here? They were all released into the custody of other family here, most likely themselves illegal aliens who, based on what DHS officials have testified before Congress in recent years, most likely paid for them to be smuggled into the country.

Our laws aren’t broken. It’s our policies contorting the laws that are broken. The relevant statute (Sec. 235(a) of the Wilberforce Act) authorizes the resettlement program only for those children who are 1) indeed children under 18; 2) have no parent or guardian present in the country; and 3) have been victims of “a severe form” of human trafficking. In the overwhelming majority of cases, these teens have legal guardians in America who themselves are here illegally. Yes: 80 percent of the UACs were settled with other illegal aliens, most often family members, and in almost all cases, they are self-trafficked, not victims of kidnapping. Thus, they are not unaccompanied.

Sadly, the American people pay for the rope to hang ourselves with by resettling these people as refugees. Places like Long Island, N.Y., North Carolina, Maryland, and northern Virginia have been flooded with gang activity since the Central American teens began coming in large numbers in 2014. And 98.2 percent of all Central American teens who came in fiscal year 2017 still remain in our communities.

If it weren’t so tragic, the irony of this invasion would be funny. We are told that these people are fleeing violence. In reality, violence in Central America has plummeted, coinciding with the skyrocketing of migration. There are now places in Maryland, such as Baltimore, that have higher homicide rates than Central America! Baltimore’s homicide rate in 2018 was 56 per 100,000 people. That tops the 51 per 100,000 rate in El Salvador and dwarfs the rates of 40 and 22.4 in Honduras and Guatemala respectively. And the homicide rates are plummeting in those countries while migration skyrockets. The homicide rates have been cut in half in all three countries since the migration began!

Indeed, while not all Central American youth are gang members, a lot of them are, and we are bringing the violence to our communities. Roughly 30 percent of all gang members arrested by ICE in some recent stings have been UACs.

Last year, the Washington Post reported on an “overwhelmingly Hispanic school in Prince George’s County,” Maryland, where MS-13 would “sell drugs, draw gang graffiti and aggressively recruit students recently arrived from Central America, according to more than two dozen teachers, parents and students.” It was so bad that “most of those interviewed asked not to be identified for fear of losing their jobs or being targeted by MS-13.”

The Post also did a report on an illegal immigrant woman from Guatemala who has to pay ransom to MS-13 not to be killed and how she felt she was living with the very elements she fled. She was living in the U.S. for 10 years, but things changed around the DACA surge when “MS-13 was on the rebound, fueled by fresh recruits from an unprecedented wave of almost 200,000 unaccompanied minors from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.”

It would truly be a tragic irony if the violence has gone down in these countries for precisely the same reason why it has gone up in some of our communities. Perhaps that is a consequence of a government that now cares more about the desires of foreign nationals than about the protection of its citizenry. At some point, this administration needs to assert its will and declare a shutdown to all cross-border migration and put an end to this dangerous influx of dangerous gang criminals. (For more from the author of “3 of the MS-13 Members Who Stabbed and Burned MD Victim Were Resettled as Refugees” please click HERE)

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Pope Francis Rejects Resignation of Cardinal Convicted of Abuse Cover-Up

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The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Francis had rejected the resignation of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin from his post as archbishop of Lyon, after a French court convicted Barbarin of failing to report an abusive priest.

“I can confirm that the Holy Father has not accepted the resignation tendered by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon,” said the interim director of the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti. . .

On March 7, a French court found Barbarin guilty of having failed to report Father Bernard Preynat, a priest who was accused by numerous victims of having carried out dozens of acts of sexual abuse of minors in boy scout camps between 1986 and 1991. The priest has confessed to some of these crimes to police.

The court delivered the prelate a suspended sentence of six months in prison. Named archbishop of Lyon in 2002, Barbarin is the first high-ranking Catholic prelate to be convicted of covering up clerical sex abuse and endangering minors. . .

The cardinal said he would remain in Lyon pending his appeal, but added that he would step back from his job “for a little while,” allowing his vicar general, Father Yves Baumgarten, to take over the running of the diocese during that time. (Read more from “Pope Francis Rejects Resignation of Cardinal Convicted of Abuse Cover-Up” HERE)

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Forensic Science Has Finally Identified ‘Jack the Ripper’

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Jack the Ripper, one of the most legendary serial killers in recorded history, has been identified — 131 years after he stalked the streets of London.

From August until November 1888, a faceless serial killer hunted in the poorest parts of London. “Jack the Ripper,” also known as the “Whitechapel Murderer” and “Leather Apron,” is believed to have slain at least five women: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly.

Their throats were cut, their abdomens mutilated. Sometimes their organs were removed. Newspapers sensationalized the brutal killings for sales, and the story remained profitable to the tune of dozens of books, movies, and songs. Jack the Ripper became an icon of the deadly and depraved, yet no one was ever charged with his crimes. The mystery remained.

Now, more than a century after his reign of terror, forensic scientists have pinpointed his identity from a list of over 100 hypothetical possibilities. Primary police suspect, a then 23-year-old Polish barber by the name of Aaron Kosminski, is Jack. And while he died in an asylum by 1919, he left behind a vital clue to his bloody past. . .

Forensic scientists, led by microbiologist Jari Louhelainen, were able to sample mitochrondrial DNA from those traces to a living descendant of Kosminski, all but proving his guilt. (Read more from “Forensic Science Has Finally Identified ‘Jack the Ripper'” HERE)

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When Omar Met Erdogan: The Unearthed Report From Their 2017 Meeting

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About a year and a half ago, on Sept. 18, 2017, a relatively unknown Minnesota state representative flew to New York City to hold a closed-door meeting with the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in town for the 72nd U.N. General Assembly. This meeting of now-Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., with Mr. Erdogan, the despotic ruler of Turkey, went almost entirely unreported, as it was not open to the press and Omar was not a high-profile figure. Since then, photos of the meeting surfaced on social media, but it largely appeared that there was no report detailing what happened during the hour-long meeting.

But one local Minnesota paper that covers the Somali community did receive access to the Erdogan-Omar meeting. That publication is the relatively obscure Tusmo Times, a Somali paper that covers the Twin Cities metro area. Abdirahman Mukhtar, its founder and editor, wrote a story in the Somali language discussing the meeting. For reasons unknown, the piece has since been deleted by the Tusmo Times. However, a copy of the report was obtained from archive.org’s Wayback Machine and translated by One Hour Translate.

The story makes clear, through photos and text, that Omar led the Minnesota-based Somali delegation (which included her non-politician husband, who is seen next to her in photos) that met with Erdogan. This is quite remarkable, given that Omar was then a mere Minnesota state representative, meeting face to face with the leader of an 80-million-person nation with one of the most powerful militaries in the world.

Speaking to the Tusmo Times, Omar said, according to the translation, that she met with Erdogan for about an hour and that the two discussed issues involving Omar’s native Somalia and issues for Somalis in Minnesota. She thanked Erdogan for Turkey’s support for the Rohingya people in Myanmar. The two also discussed investment and trade between Turkey and Somalia. The meeting ended with Erdogan asking Omar to voice her support for Turkey. The report concludes by adding that Omar not only met with Erdogan, but also with the Turkish prime minister and other senior Turkish officials.

While it’s not particularly shocking that Omar remains invested in the success of her native country, the Minnesota representative has been consistently sowing doubt about whether U.S. Jews as a whole can fairly represent American interests. She has taken to using anti-Semitic tropes in maintaining that support for Israel in the Jewish community is an example of having dual loyalties.

Of course, support for Israel, the only liberal democratic country in the Middle East, is not remotely comparable to her continuing support for the rogue dictatorships in Turkey and Somalia.

The day the story was posted, Omar tweeted about her meeting with Erdogan, linking to the now-deleted Tusmo Times piece.

When news of the meeting surfaced, she immediately received fierce blowback on several social media platforms for propping up Erdogan.

“Did you ask Erdogan about the jailed journalists?” wrote one respondent on her Facebook page. “How about the 100 thousand innocent people he jailed in Turkey.”

“Did you discuss the atrocities of the Armenian Genocide and his refusal to recognize them?” said another individual.

“What the hell is wrong with you?? He’s a DICTATOR,” another replied.

It remains unclear when the article was deleted from the Tusmo Times, but other stories from around the same time remain on the publication’s website, so it doesn’t appear that the disappearance of the September 2017 article involves a storage issue.

The Erdogan-Omar meeting came on the heels of a major incident in Washington, D.C. involving the Turkish delegation. A few months earlier, Erdogan appeared to order his bodyguards to brutally attack protesters outside a Turkish diplomatic compound in the U.S. capital. A similar incident occurred in New York just days after the Omar-Erdogan meeting, when Erdogan’s security detail roughed up demonstrators protesting Erdogan’s crimes against the Kurds.

The Erdogan-Omar meeting occurred one year following a supposed failed coup attempt against Erdogan. Erdogan later weaponized the reported coup attempt to imprison thousands of academics, journalists, students, and democracy activists. Over the course of Erdogan’s presidency, Turkey has abandoned its secular founding and has transitioned into an aspiring Islamist theocracy that supports terrorist groups throughout the Middle East and greater Islamic world.

Although Rep. Omar has not spoken out much about the politics of her homeland, Somalia remains a ruthless dictatorship that abuses the rights of its citizens. Omar, however, continues to endorse candidates for president there, as if the largely failed state is representative of a liberal democracy.

Rep. Omar published an op-ed in the Washington Post Sunday attempting to clear up her controversial foreign policy views, proclaiming herself a champion of international human rights. She wrote that U.S. foreign policy must “center human rights, justice and peace as the pillars of America’s engagement in the world,” yet noticeably said nothing about the radicalism of Erdogan and other Islamist regimes throughout the world.

One month after her meeting with Erdogan, Omar thanked Turkey for delivering aid to Somalia after a series of bombings in Mogadishu.

Erdogan’s administration has continuously bailed out the corrupt dictatorship in Somalia, providing its leadership with military support, economic aid, and even food rations when necessary. In late 2017, Turkey opened up a large military base in Somalia and has since given weapons and aid to Somali soldiers. (For more from the author of “When Omar Met Erdogan: The Unearthed Report From Their 2017 Meeting” please click HERE)

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Afghan Who Saved U.S. Soldiers Becomes Citizen

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By USA Today. Nabi Mohammadi, who spent years risking his life for Americans, became an American last week.

The soft-spoken native of Afghanistan, who helped Iowa National Guard troops patrol a violent region of his homeland, took the U.S. citizenship oath at the federal courthouse in Des Moines.

“This is something I hadn’t even dreamed about. This is unbelievable,” he said before the ceremony. “I’m so happy to live in a place with peace and freedom for my family. It’s what everybody wants.” . . .

The joyful courtroom audience included several of Mohammadi’s friends from the Iowa National Guard, who’d seen him support and defend America plenty of times. He served as their interpreter in 2010 and 2011, accompanying them on scores of patrols through a mountainous area of Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.

Taliban bombs were common, and friends were hard to identify. The Iowa soldiers said Mohammadi volunteered to go on extra patrols, up to three a day. Each time he went out, he put himself and his family at risk of being killed for helping the Americans. (Read more from “Afghan Who Saved U.S. Soldiers Becomes Citizen” HERE)

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As Grateful Iowa Soldiers Watch, Afghan Man Who Risked His Life for Them Becomes an American

By Des Moines Register. Mohammadi, 28, grew up in northern Afghanistan. The dominant language there is Dari, a dialect of what people in Iran speak. He decided as a teenager to become an interpreter for the U.S. troops. That meant he had to learn two foreign languages — English and Pashto, which is the dominant tongue in eastern Afghanistan.

His accomplishment was akin to an English-speaking American teen learning to interpret between people speaking Polish and Chinese.

His Iowa Guard comrades included Sgt. Dalton Jacobus, who helped Mohammadi fill out his visa application while they were stationed together at Combat Outpost Herrera.

Mohammadi met all the requirements for a special visa program designated for Iraqis and Afghans who worked with U.S. troops. He gained a prominent sponsor in Jacobus’ father, retired National Guard Col. Todd Jacobus. But his application was repeatedly snagged in a bureaucratic snarl, and the Iowa National Guard troops came home in the summer of 2011 without Mohammadi.

A couple weeks after the Iowans left, the interpreter was riding with Oklahoma National Guard troops when an insurgent’s bomb exploded under their armored truck. Mohammadi was slammed into the roof, injuring his neck, back and legs. A doctor told him he was lucky not to be paralyzed. (Read more from “As Grateful Iowa Soldiers Watch, Afghan Man Who Risked His Life for Them Becomes an American” HERE)

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New Zealand Shooting Survivor Describes the Moment Hero Tackled Gunman

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A survivor of Friday’s deadly mass shootings in New Zealand has spoken out about the moment his friend tackled the gunman and wrestled his weapon away from him as he opened fire on worshippers.

Syed Mazharuddin was praying at the Linwood mosque in Christchurch on Friday around lunchtime when a man wearing protective gear entered and began shooting at men, women and children inside. In the chaotic moments that followed, Mazharuddin said his friend found the chance to tackle the gunman and disarm him.

“The young guy who usually takes care of the mosque … he saw an opportunity and pounced on [the gunman] and took his gun,” Mazharuddin told the New Zealand Herald. “The hero tried to chase and he couldn’t find the trigger in the gun … he ran behind him but there were people waiting for him in the car and he fled.”

The gunman, described as a white man in his 20s, also attacked the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch during prayers on Friday. . .

Seven people died at the Linwood mosque and one died later on of their injuries at a nearby hospital. Mazharuddin said that people all around him, including his friends, were shot and bleeding heavily, and that it took ambulances about half an hour to get there. (Read more from “New Zealand Shooting Survivor Describes the Moment Hero Tackled Gunman” HERE)

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New Zealand Shootings: Attacks at Two Mosques Leaves 27 People Dead

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We have horrible reports coming out of Christchurch, New Zealand, where shootings occurred at two mosques. At least 27 people have been killed. In one shooting, the shooter live-streamed the attack, but it will not be embedded here on Townhall for obvious reasons. The footage is just too graphic and ghastly. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the tragedy “one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” while the New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said, “No one in the country must go to a mosque under any circumstances.” The Guardian has more:

Multiple people have been shot dead in shootings at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch during Friday afternoon prayers. A car with explosives inside was intercepted by police nearby

One suspect is in custody but police warned they are still tracing an active shooter. Police commissioner Mike Bush said: “Close your doors until you hear from us again.”

The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said it was “One of New Zealand’s darkest days”, calling the attacks “an unprecedented act of violence”.

The city has been placed in lockdown, with schools and public buildings closed. Nearby climate change protests were evacuated and council staff have been looking after children separated from their relatives in the chaos.

(Read more from “New Zealand Shootings: Attacks at Two Mosques Leaves 27 People Dead” HERE)

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Israel Launches Airstrikes on ‘Terror Sites in Gaza’ After Attack on Tel Aviv

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The Israeli military early Friday announced it had launched airstrikes on “terror sites in Gaza,” a retaliatory move after rockets blamed on the militant group Hamas were fired on Tel Aviv.

The strikes were occurring in Khan Younis, roughly 15 miles south of Gaza City, according to The Associated Press. There were no immediate reports of injuries. . .

The military later said they confirmed “the rockets fired from #Gaza at #TelAviv earlier tonight were launched by the Hamas terrorist organization.”

Israeli media initially reported that one of the rockets was intercepted by the country’s Iron Dome missile defense system. However, the IDF later said neither of the rockets was, adding that they landed in the sea or on open land.

People living in the area reported hearing an explosion in addition to the sirens. It was not clear what caused that explosion. No damage or casualties were reported. (Read more from “Israel Launches Airstrikes on ‘Terror Sites in Gaza’ After Attack on Tel Aviv” HERE)

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Trump Grounds All Boeing 737 Flights, Along With Other Countries

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On Wednesday, President Trump announced that the United States will ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes in the United States, joining the European Union, India, and China, among others, which have suspended flights by the airplane after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 on Sunday that killed 157 people. Trump stated, “Those planes are grounded effective immediately. Safety is our paramount concern.” . . .

Last October, a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight was lost over the Java Sea, killing 189 people. After that incident, the FAA sent out an emergency airworthiness directive to carriers and pilots in training on the 737 MAX 8 “to disengage the aircraft’s automated controls if there are anomalies.”

As The Daily Wire reported on Tuesday, the European Union and India announced they were banning the Boeing 737 Max from flying over their airspace, according to the BBC. The United Kingdom and China had banned the airplane already; the FAA in the U.S. had said the plane was airworthy, although Southwest Airlines, which operates 34 Boeing 737 Max airplanes, the most of any in America, said passengers booked on any flight with that airplane will be permitted to change their reservations. American Airlines, which operates 24 of the planes, stated its “standard policies for changes still apply.”

India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said the 737 would be grounded “immediately,” adding, “These planes will be grounded till appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations.” The EU Aviation Safety Agency stated the flights would be banned “as a precautionary measure.” It also stated, “The accident investigation is currently ongoing, and it is too early to draw any conclusions as to the cause of the accident.” . . .

Boeing has described the 737 series, which includes the 737 Max 7, 737 Max 8, 737 Max9, and 737 Max 10. Each new edition features more seats, as the “most popular jet aircraft of all time.” The 737 Max 8 typically contains between 162-178 seats, with a maximum of 210. It has a range of 6,570 kilometers, or roughly 4082 miles. It is almost 130 feet long and has a wingspan of almost 118 feet. As with the other aforementioned planes, its engine is a LEAP-1B from CFM International. (Read more from “Trump Grounds All Boeing 737 Flights, Along With Other Countries” HERE)

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Bishop Accused of Sexual Abuse Invited to Private Retreat With Pope Francis

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An Argentinean bishop and personal friend of Pope Francis who suddenly resigned and fled his diocese after being accused of the sexual abuse of seminarians and who now holds a high-ranking post in the Vatican, is currently participating in a private spiritual retreat with Pope Francis and other senior Vatican officials, according to an article published today in the Catholic Herald.

The Herald reports that Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, who is the former bishop of Orán, Argentina, is attending the exclusive retreat, which is being conducted for the Pope and 64 members of the Roman Curia by a Benedictine abbot at a retreat center outside of Rome. The retreat began yesterday and is scheduled to last until March 15.

The inclusion of Zanchetta in the retreat follows reports that Vatican officials, apparently including Pope Francis himself, have been aware since 2015 of well-substantiated accusations against Zanchetta of inappropriate conduct with male seminarians, as well as other forms of personal misbehavior on the part of the bishop, including his sharing naked selfies on Whatsapp showing the bishop in a posture of self-abuse.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti has denied it was informed of the accusations in 2015, but admits that it has known of them since autumn of last year, when it says an internal investigation was begun of Zanchetta.

In addition, prosecutors in Argentina say they have opened two criminal investigations based on accusations of sexual abuse filed against Zanchetta in the province of Salta, where Zanchetta was a bishop. (Read more from “Bishop Accused of Sexual Abuse Invited to Private Retreat With Pope Francis” HERE)

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