Police Officer Killed at Planned Parenthood Was Pro-Life, Christian Pastor

/0 Comments/in , /by

Officer Garrett Swasey, the police officer killed during a standoff with a lone gunman at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs Friday, was reportedly a leading figure in his church who was also pro-life.

Swasey was one of three people killed during the shootout with suspect Robert Lewis Dear. Nine others were injured during the shooting. Dear’s motives in the shooting remain unknown.

Officer Swasey was on duty at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs campus when he responded to a call to support Colorado Springs police at around 11:50 am, local time.

The New York Times reports that Swasey spent seven years as co-pastor at Hope Chapel in Colorado Springs . . .

A bio of Swasey and his family on the website of his church states: “Garrett and Rachel began attending Hope Chapel in 2001. Initially drawn by its small size, they have grown to love the fellowship and teaching at Hope Chapel. As they raise their son, Elijah and daughter, Faith, they view the members of the church as their family. Both have been granted a servant’s heart by God, and are a demonstrative evidence of God’s grace to Hope Chapel. (Read more from “Police Officer Killed at Planned Parenthood Was Pro-Life, Christian Pastor” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

This Is the Horrifying Thing a 7th-Grader Was Told When She Refused to Deny God

/2 Comments/in , /by

In a story gaining momentum since late October, a seventh-grader from Katy, Texas, was made to state “God is a myth” by her middle-school teacher. Now the student is facing startling repercussions for her refusal to back down.

It started when 12-year-old Jordan Wooley’s teacher assigned a quiz at West Memorial Junior High School asking students to label statements as “fact, assertion, or opinion.”

Statements included “America is the most free country on Earth,” and “there is a God.” Jordan said the assignment was to identify “factual claims, commonplace assertions and opinions.” She said she originally answered the statement “there is no God” in two ways, according to a local CBS News affiliate . . .

Now Jordan is experiencing fallout from her refusal to back down from her story and for standing up for her beliefs. She says she has been bullied and told to kill herself after media coverage of the incident.

Wooley’s mother, Chantel, said, “Jordan’s faith is continually being tested. She feels like she’s being made to be a liar when all that she did was tell the truth. … She was harassed at school, she was flipped off in the hallway, she was cursed at and blamed for this situation that her teacher and administration has created. She has chosen to forgive them and pray for them.” (Read more from “This Is the Horrifying Thing a 7th-Grader Was Told When She Refused to Deny God” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Dad Arrested for Protesting Graphic-Sex Book Loses Case

/2 Comments/in , /by

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a parent who contended he was wrongfully arrested at a school board meeting where he was protesting a class assignment given to his ninth-grade daughter to read a book containing graphic descriptions of “rough sex” between teens.

As WND reported, William Baer was arrested and handcuffed May 5, 2014, at the meeting in Gilford, New Hampshire, where he and other parents were confronting school board members about the assignment to the ninth-grade English honors class, arguing they had not been given prior notice.

Baer was admonished repeatedly by a board member that he had violated a “two-minute rule” the school board had imposed on parents attending the meeting regarding the book “Nineteen Minutes.” Baer spoke beyond the time limit and sat down but then exchanged words with a parent who approved of the book.

In a summary judgment Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Joseph A. DiClerico, Jr., dismissed Baer’s suit seeking damages for wrongful arrest against Gilford, New Hampshire, police officer, Lt. James Leach, ruling Leach had probable cause to arrest Baer for disorderly conduct.

“The government school wrongly gave inappropriately graphic material to my 14-year-old daughter without providing required notice,” Baer said in an email to WND. (Read more from “Dad Arrested for Protesting Graphic-Sex Book Loses Case” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Newborn Found Buried Alive, Covered by a Foot of Asphalt, Debris

/2 Comments/in , /by

The crying coming from under a block of asphalt sounded like it was from a cat to Angelica Blount. But it turned out to be an abandoned baby that police say was deliberately buried under debris along a Los Angeles area walking path . . .

Two deputies from the LA Sheriff’s Department found the newborn under pieces of asphalt and debris inside a crevice.

She was “cold to the touch” and wrapped in what appeared to be a hospital blanket, the sheriff’s office said.

“There’s indications that the child was born at a medical facility or at a hospital…because of the blanket,” LA Sheriff’s Dept. Sgt. Marvin Jaramilla told journalists on Saturday.

Paramedics treated her at the scene before transporting her to the hospital where she’s listed in stable condition. (Read more from “Newborn Found Buried Alive in Cement” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Suspect Spoke of ‘Baby Parts’ After Planned Parenthood Shooting

/8 Comments/in , /by

Suspected Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Lewis Dear mentioned “baby parts” to investigators and in later interviews expressed anti-abortion and anti-government views, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told CNN.

Law enforcement officials caution it’s too early to determine a motive in the case until all evidence is gathered and examined. That process is still ongoing. Though the state is taking the lead, the FBI is conducting its own investigation to determine whether federal charges would be filed.

The official told CNN that propane tanks were found in the area of Dear’s car in the parking lot, and that authorities believe he was trying to shoot them to cause an explosion.

The siege ended Friday when the suspect dropped his gun and surrendered in a hallway once the SWAT team brought in a BearCat armored vehicle and Dear was cornered . . .

Based on a public records search, Dear appears to have lived in Colorado for only about a year. In October 2014, Dear purchased property in Hartsel, a rural community about 65 miles west of the clinic, for $6,000. Zigmond Post, a neighbor, said one of the few interactions he had was when Dear brought him some anti-Obama pamphlets. “That’s about all I’ve run into him,” he said. (Read more from “Suspect Spoke of ‘Baby Parts’ After Planned Parenthood Shooting” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Homeless Veteran Who Was Beaten Into Comatose State Has Died [+video]

/22 Comments/in , /by

A homeless veteran from Philadelphia who was beaten into a comatose state in April died on Nov. 25.

According to NBC Philadelphia, a security camera showed a vehicle driving up to a Sunoco gas station during the April 7 incident. Six women and children attacked the man using a hammer, Mace and part of a rocking chair (video below).

Barnes was in a comatose state following the attack and 40 percent of his skull was removed. Diane Barnes, Robert’s sister, said he eventually opened his eyes, but was in a vegetative state . . .

He suffered from alcoholism and chose to be homeless instead of staying sober in order to live with family members, according to Diane . . .

According to the Philadelphia Media Network, Aleathea Gillard, 34, Shareena Joachim, 23, and Kaisha Duggins, 24, were charged with aggravated assault, attempted murder and conspiracy, among other crimes. The three children involved, two of whom were one of the adult attacker’s children, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy charges in June 2015. All were sentenced to juvenile detention centers. (Read more from “Homeless Veteran Who Was Beaten Into Comatose State Has Died” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Austrian ISIS ‘Poster Girl’ Beaten to Death

/3 Comments/in , /by

Austrian newspapers report that the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) beat to death Samra Kesinovic, a teen recruit whose flight to Syria became a major international story earlier this year, when she attempted to escape the radical Islamic group.

A Tunisian woman told Kronen Zeitung that she had lived with Kesinovic and other young female recruits in Raqqa, Syria, the de facto capital of ISIS. But the Austrian government could not confirm or deny the woman’s comments . . .

The tabloids, along with British outlets, did not provide specific details about Kesinovic’s death. Israeli expert of the United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTED) David Scharia said her friend Sabina Selimovic perished in September 2014 during fighting.

“The parents of the girl concerned have been informed that there is a risk that their daughter is dead,” said Konrad Kogler, the director-general of public security for Austrian police, at the time.

Keinovic allegedly wanted to return home late last year. Both girls reached out to their parents and said they were “sick of living with the Islamic State.” But they did not think they could return home because they have been publicly identified as jihadists. (Read more from “Austrian ISIS ‘Poster Girl’ Beaten to Death” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Provocative New Book Claims Recent Discoveries Prove Historical Jesus Like Gospels’ Portrayal

/2 Comments/in , /by

In a provocative book that challenges two centuries’ worth of skeptical New Testament scholarship, author Robert J. Hutchinson argues that the historical Jesus of Nazareth was very close to being just as the Gospels describe him — a fiery, courageous, charismatic populist who drew crowds by the tens of thousands and electrified all of Palestine with his announcement of God’s kingdom in their midst.

In “Searching for Jesus,” Hutchinson draws together recent scholarship and archaeological discoveries to show that many negative ideas about Jesus paraded in the media every Christmas – for example, that Jesus was a violent revolutionary – are now being rejected by leading secular scholars . . .

Among the developments Hutchinson highlights are:

The 2009 discovery of a first-century house in Nazareth that refutes those who say the village didn’t exist in biblical times.

As an example, he cites the idea that Jesus’ early followers saw him only as a powerful rabbi, noting that recent scientific analysis of the texts shows that the earliest sources of the New Testament spoke of Jesus “standing at the right hand of God.” (Read more from “Provocative New Book Claims Recent Discoveries Prove Historical Jesus Like Gospels’ Portrayal” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Crying Newborn Found in NYC Church Nativity Scene

/2 Comments/in , /by

A wailing newborn baby was found with his umbilical cord attached inside a nativity scene at a Queens church, police say.

The baby was discovered by a maintenance worker at the Holy Child Jesus Catholic Church in Richmond Hill Monday at about noon, according to the New York Police Department . . .

The Rev. Christopher Ryan Heanue told NBC 4 New York the worker was cleaning inside the church when he heard the baby crying inside the nativity scene, which had been set up earlier than usual this year . . .

Inside Baby Jesus’ spot in the manger was a newborn, a few hours old at most, Heanue estimated. Bishop Octavio Cisnero, also there, couldn’t believe his eyes . . .

The church is considered a Safe Haven under state law, which allows a parent to safely leave a newborn baby up to 30 days of age anonymously and without fear of prosecution at suitable locations, like at hospitals, firehouses or police stations. But the law also requires the child to be left with an appropriate person or for someone to be contacted right away. (Read more from “Crying Newborn Found in NYC Church Nativity Scene” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Here’s Why Planned Parenthood Is Suing Texas

/3 Comments/in , /by

Planned Parenthood and 10 of its patients sued the state of Texas on Monday to block officials from cutting off Medicaid funds, calling the state’s actions political and part of a long-term pattern of denying reproductive healthcare to women.

“Women in Texas today have fewer rights than they did when I was growing up, and less access to healthcare,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards told reporters when announcing the lawsuit. “This time, they’re targeting some of the most vulnerable Texans — women who already have the least access to healthcare in the country.”

Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott announced in October that state health officials were kicking Planned Parenthood and its affiliates out of the Medicaid program, which pays for procedures such as cancer screenings, birth control and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

In a statement at the time, Abbott said the state was acting in response to a series of antiabortion videos, which accused Planned Parenthood of profiting from the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood denies the allegations, and more than half a dozen state investigations have cleared the organization of wrongdoing.

“The gruesome harvesting of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood will not be allowed in Texas, and the barbaric practice must be brought to an end,” Abbott said at the time. “As such, ending the Medicaid participation of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the state of Texas is another step in providing greater access to safe healthcare for women while protecting our most vulnerable — the unborn.” (Read more from “Here’s Why Planned Parenthood Is Suing Texas” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.