In The News Today:
Navy lieutenant commander charged with third-degree rape of 14-year-old boy he allegedly paid $200 for sex
Lt. Cmdr. Lucas Martinez, 61, who also goes by Lucas Martinezmendieta, allegedly met the boy on the map-based hookup site Sniffies, where his profile shows him in a white Navy uniform with his name tag clearly visible, according to an affidavit obtained by military news outlet Task & Purpose.
The officer used his line at the Fleet Readiness Center Northwest to call the minor, meeting up with him several times in Washington state, according to the affidavit.
The boy’s mom first called Anacortes police on Jan. 22 to report “suspicious” packages arriving at her home containing sex toys and kinky costumes, the documents said.
‘Wake up!’: Parents allegedly passed out drunk on beach vacation while their kids wandered away
Volusia County deputies desperately tried eight times to wake Alyssia Langley and her fiance Timothy Stephens, both 27, as they lay in the sand on Daytona Beach on Saturday afternoon, according to an affidavit obtained by Fox 35 Orlando.
One of the deputies could be seen in body camera footage nudging Stephens as his arm was wrapped around his girlfriend.
After police were able to rouse the couple, they seemed confused.
A deputy could be heard asking the couple where their children are, to which Stephens just gestured toward the ocean as he stumbled in the sand.
Suspect in shooting of Chicago trans woman is illegal immigrant with ties to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua
In February, a trans woman was shot multiple times outside a nightclub in Chicago‘s Little Village neighborhood by a man who allegedly shouted “bad gay” before pulling the trigger.
The suspect, an illegal immigrant with ties to the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, was taken into custody, but no charges were filed regearding the shooting and he was released. The victim is in critical condition.
Law enforcement issued a press release claiming that the suspect had, in fact, been charged in connection with the shooting, however after questions were raised by a local outlet, that information was retracted.
He was arrested and charged with unrelated crimes both before and after the incident in question, though he was allowed to walk free both times.
House Freedom Caucus to GOP House members: ‘Stop funding border crisis’
Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus called on Republican members of Congress to stop funding the government until the border is secure.
A coalition of 43 members led by Republican Reps. Bob Good of Virginia and Chip Roy of Texas, said, “There is an unprecedented assault on the safety of Americans and the sovereignty of our nation due to the ‘open border policies’ of radical progressive Democrats led by President Joe Biden.
The question for House Republicans is, what are we willing to do about it?
“How many more millions of illegal aliens must be released to into America? How much more power must we see given to China, terrorists, and cartels resulting in how many more deaths of Americans?” they asked. “At some point, border security has to be more than something aspirational that we simply message on.”
Hong Kong lawmakers rush through bill targeting ‘public enemies’
Hong Kong lawmakers have rushed through a ‘draconian’ bill that would impose life sentences for ‘traitors’ and ‘public enemies’ weeks after top officials from mainland China pressured them for the sake of ‘core national security interests.’
Lawmakers in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, or LegCo, today passed the domestic national security bill at a special meeting held today, just 11 days after it was published by the government.
The legislation will take effect from Saturday, and was passed unanimously, with 88 out of the 90 representatives who normally sit in the LegCo on behalf of the citizens of Hong Kong, addressing the chamber and expressing support for the worrying piece of legislation.
North Korean leader supervised ‘super-large’ test of rocket launchers, state media says
Kim Jong Un supervised the drill demonstrating “real war capabilities” at an unspecified training area, the Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday.
The 600 mm rockets were fired simultaneously; a separate test simulated an opposing strike by an incoming shell at a preset altitude above the target, KCNA reported with photos showing an explosion on an island.
North Korea’s 600 mm rocket systems are capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads, KCNA reported last year.
Kim called for “the need to continuously increase the number of batteries” of the mobile launchers and described its operators as the “main force of the war,” according to KCNA.
Navy’s budget plan to get rid of 19 ships draws some early criticism
The more than $250 billion budget proposed for fiscal 2025 for the Navy and Marine Corps includes fewer purchases of Virginia-class attack submarines and F-35 Lightning II fighter variants. The Navy’s plan would fund long-term projects such as a second Columbia-class, ballistic-missile submarine and two more Ford-class aircraft carriers.
The Navy also seeks to get rid of 19 ships, including 10 before reaching their expected service life, a move Congress has been reluctant to support in recent years.
Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., said last week that the Navy’s decision to buy one new Virginia-class attack submarine instead of two “makes no sense” as the U.S. faces a rapidly expanding Chinese navy, which has set a target size of 440 ships by 2030. The U.S. Navy has 291 ships.
Illegal immigrant allowed to carry guns, judge rules
The illegal immigrant’s lawyers previously attempted to have the case against Carbajal-Flores dismissed on two separate occasions before their third motion to dismiss the case was accepted by Coleman on March 8. Coleman dismissed the case based on the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which expanded gun rights and directed lower courts to follow historical context with regard to gun control laws.
While the Department of Justice argued that the ban on illegal immigrants carrying weapons was similar to historical bans that prevented British loyalists from owning guns following the establishment of the United States, Coleman ruled that historical bans included “exceptions” that allowed individuals to carry weapons if they were “determined to be non-violent,” according to Epoch Times.
Colman explained that since Carbajal-Flores has not displayed dangerous behavior, preventing him from carrying a firearm would go against historical precedent.
RFK Jr. Backs GOP Lawsuits Against Biden Administration over Social Media Censorship
Kennedy, an independent candidate for the 2024 presidential election, contends that President Biden’s administration attempted to censor his own social media posts, echoing the central allegations raised by Louisiana and Missouri.
In an interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, Kennedy asserted, “I don’t think the government should be involved. The social media sites are welcome to have programs or processes or community rules with a consensus, but once the government gets involved and the First Amendment is implicated, things get out of hand.”
The crux of the Supreme Court cases revolves around claims that the Biden White House illegally pressured social media companies to restrict accounts the government claimed were spreading misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.
The states of Louisiana and Missouri argue that such actions violated the First Amendment rights of those targeted for censorship.
‘They Gotta Pay!’ Donald Trump Tells Farage NATO Allies in Europe Are Taking ‘Advantage’ of American Taxpayers
While NATO insiders understood the comments for the warning they were, the comments were interpreted in the legacy media as an attack on the NATO alliance itself.
Touching on the press furore, the former president told Nigel Farage in an interview for GB News: “What I’m saying is a form of negotiation. Why should we guard these countries that have a lot of money [while] the United States was paying for most of NATO? When I went there, I had already had it out with them [in the past].
“They then stopped paying again. But now they’re paying because of those comments that you saw two, three weeks ago [from me]. I don’t know if you know, but a lot of money’s come in since those comments were made.”
Trump said that “billions of dollars came flowing in after he delivered the message: “We’re not going to defend you if you’re not paying your bills.”
Israel united re war’ objectives vs Hamas; Houthis threaten to expand attacks TV7 Israel News 19.03
1) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserts the defeat of Hamas would inflict a stinging blow to Iran’s axis of terror.
2) An Israeli interagency delegation will travel to Washington to alleviate U.S. concerns over the IDF’s pending ground offensive into Rafah.
3) The U.S. Central Command launched repeated strikes against the Iranian-proxy Ansar-Allah, as the Houthis pledge to widen attacks against freedom of navigation.
Florida Woman Plotted Friend’s Murder to Rekindle Relationship with Boyfriend: Cops
A Florida woman and her boyfriend were arrested after investigators uncovered text messages showing their failed plot to murder an innocent victim.
Law&Crime’s Elizabeth Millner breaks down how Arianna Gajraj and Brandon Pirela allegedly concocted the failed killing to rekindle their relationship.
Col Douglas Macgregor: Revisiting the Turmoil of America’s Afghanistan Withdrawal
Revisit the chaos of the #AfghanistanWithdrawal. Could meticulous planning have prevented the turmoil? Join us as Col. Macgregor provides a tactical critique of the operation.
IDF kills 50 Hamas terrorists at Al-Shifa hospital
Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman on the latest from the war in Israel including hostage recovery efforts.
Supreme Court allows Texas to enforce immigration law
The conservative-majority court, with three liberal justices dissenting, rejected an emergency request by the Biden administration, which said states have no authority to legislate on immigration, an issue the federal government has sole authority over.
That means the law can go into effect while litigation continues in lower courts. It could still be blocked at a later date.
The law in question, known as SB4, allows police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the border from Mexico and imposes criminal penalties. It would also empower state judges to order people to be deported to Mexico.
Chinese Government Targets U.S. Children Through Tutoring
Parents Defending Education Founder and President Nicki Neily joins Steve Gruber to sound the alarm on Tutor.com, a U.S. tutoring program owned by Chinese firm Primavera Holdings. Primavera owns ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
Parent Alert: The “New Segregation” in Schools
Jill Simonian of PragerU Kids discusses a recent New York Post article that claims Critical Race Theory is the “new segregation” in schools. Is our education system broken? Or is the system actually working as planned?
‘I couldn’t find a nurse:’ L.A. family sues hospital over life-altering injuries
As he lay tethered to a hospital bed by tubes and wires, Joshua Saeta told his sister his stomach hurt so badly he would take a knife and cut it open to relieve the pressure if he could.
Roughly 16 hours after his arrival, Joshua Saeta’s heart stopped beating. It took 14 minutes and 5 seconds to resuscitate him, the lawsuit states. Without his heart pumping blood and oxygen to his brain for so long, Joshua Saeta suffered a disabling brain injury. Now, he can’t walk or talk and he requires around-the-clock care.
Seven years later, his family is still trying to piece together what went wrong. In a recent lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, they allege Joshua Saeta’s injury was caused by dangerously inadequate staffing. It’s the second lawsuit from the family against West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, which is owned and operated by HCA Healthcare. The first alleges malpractice, and it is also playing out in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The Saetas don’t blame the nurses or other medical staff, they said. They place the blame squarely on hospital administration and believe Joshua Saeta “represents all of the nurses at West Hills,” Chang said.
The family has asked a judge to combine the new case with the ongoing medical malpractice lawsuit against West Hills Hospital and they are aiming for a trial in June.
LIRR rider slashed in face on train in horrifying, caught-on-video attack
The victim asked the guy to move and was able to eventually board the train. But he was soon approached by the suspect, who asked him if he “had something to say to him,” the outlet said.
The pair started to argue, and the suspect ended up jumping on top of the younger man in his train seat, repeatedly walloping him and slashing him in the face with a box cutter, according to the NYPD and cellphone video of the incident.
The suspect was beating the victim so hard that one of the attacker’s sneakers fell off — so he grabbed it and beat his victim with that as well.
A third man rushed over in an apparent effort to break up the violence, footage shows.
