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12/17/25 Bolted-in gun safes. Filed in Federal
court, DOJ's complaint alleges that's just
one of the many unconstitutional obstacles that Virgin Island residents face when applying for a
permit to simply keep a gun at home. Worse still, carrying them on the street requires proof of a
pressing need, such as "good reason to fear death or great injury." Ergo, the territory's gun laws
are in direct conflict with the Supreme Court's Bruen decision. They must not stand.
Related post
Illinois revokes
the firearm permits of convicted felons and of persons, such as domestic abusers, who engage in
threatening or assaultive behavior. Problem is, the guns aren't consistently picked up. That was the
case in the 2019 massacre at an Aurora, Ill. business,
where a felon whose FOID card had been revoked shot and killed four coworkers when he learned that he
was being fired. And it's not just ex-cons. Three months ago, a middle school employee and her friend
were gunned down by the employee's husband. His behavior at home had led police to revoke his FOID
card. But neither attempt to get his guns succeeded.
Related post
12/16/25 "Liberation through decolonization and
tribal sovereignty.” That's the motto of the "Turtle Island Liberation Front," An L.A.-area group
that allegedly plotted a string of bombings to fight the scourge of capitalism. But the FBI pierced
their ostensibly encrypted chats, and agents were there when four members of the group began to
assemble their bombs in the desert. Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30, aka "Asiginaak," Zachary Aaron Page,
32, aka "AK," Dante Gaffield, 24, aka "Nomad," and Tina Lai, 41, aka "Kickwhere," were arrested on
charges of conspiracy and possessing unregistered destructive devices.
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12/15/25 Two students were killed and nine were wounded, eight
seriously, by a masked man who burst into a classroom at Brown University in Rhode Island on Saturday,
Dec. 13. He opened fire with a 9mm. pistol, shooting over 40 rounds. Hours later authorities detained
a 24-year old "person of interest" at a motel some distance away. Two 9mm. pistols and two loaded 30-
round magazine were reportedly found. However, authorities later said the investigation was taking "a
different direction" and the detainee would be released without charges.
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"Guilty on all counts." That's the verdict in the Federal trial of
the former Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Police, Ray Martinez, who accepted "nearly $100,000" in
bribes from a private firm in exchange for awarding a million-dollar government contract. And when
Martinez learned of the investigation, he ordered the contractor to destroy evidence. Also convicted
was the Territory's chief budget official, Jenifer O'Neal, who accepted a bribe to help further the
scheme.
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Denver homicide is down forty percent. In comparison with 2024, when there
were 65 murders, there have been 39 so far this year.
If the good news holds 2025 will mark the fewest murders since 2014, when there were 31. According
to the Mayor and Police Chief, the decline is attributable to three things: deploying high-tech video
cameras that capture license plates and vehicle details, increasing the number of cops who police the
downtown, and using "targeted" strategies and "community involvement" in seven high-crime
neighborhoods. According to police chief Ron Thomas, it's "a comprehensive response...not just more
patrol."
Related post
Hamilton County, Ohio has a new chief prosecutor. And in a recent move, she's undone a
case that was vigorously prosecuted by her predecessor. The accused, Elwood Jones, had spent two
decades on death row for a 1994 murder. But in 2022 he was conditionally released for evidentiary
reasons. Then-D.A. Joe Peters (he's now a Supreme Court Justice) moved for a retrial. But his
successor, Connie Pillich, recently declared that “...after reviewing the evidence, I am not convinced
that Mr. Jones killed Rhoda Nathan.” So Mr. Jones is now truly free. What's more, D.A. Pillich has
established a Conviction Integrity Unit, whose mission will be to assure that miscarriages of justice
are a thing of the past.
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12/12/25 Ten years have passed since the death of Tanisha Anderson at the hands
of Cleveland police. Family members had called 9-1-1 for help, but the officers who arrived handcuffed
Tanisha and pressed her to the ground. She didn't revive. City council members are urging that the
Mayor sign "Tanisha's Law," which would fund trained civilian response teams to handle mental-health
calls instead of police. Proponents point to successful implementations elsewhere. One such team, in
Albuquerque, recently boasted that it's handled over 120,000 such calls
in its four years of operation. Eighty-five percent had been diverted from police and fire, thus giving
those agencies a break as well.
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12/11/25 Fatally shooting an innocent soul isn't always a crime. According to the Massachusetts
Supreme Court, a misplaced shot isn't criminally punishable when a shooter acts in "lawful self-
defense." So Kenneth Santana-Rodriguez, who accidentally shot and killed a beauty shop employee when he
was confronted by his ladyfriend's enraged (and armed) husband, is free to go. That doctrine, which is
common to stand-your-ground States, has supposedly infected even gun-unfriendly places like California.
There, a like situation led to a gun charge and probation. And it's reportedly contributed to a national
increase in self-defense homicide.
Related post
Federal tax prosecutions are at record-setting lows. Part of the reason, according to a deep
probe by Reuters, is that the new Administration has gutted IRS. Feeling the heat, many employees have
quit. There are fewer Federal tax lawyers and criminal investigators, and those still on the job are
being assigned to other tasks. For example, over one-third of tax investigators in the D.C. office are
out on patrol, supposedly to help fight street crime.
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12/10/25 Charlotte, N.C. resident Decarlos Brown Jr. was released from prison in 2020.
He had been serving a six-year sentence for a host of felonies, including robbery with a weapon and
making threats. Despite pleas by his family, the diagnosed schizophrenic remained free. And on August
22, while on a commuter train, he stabbed a 23-year old woman in the neck. He now faces murder charges.
And Charlotte's courts face the question of why a crazed 34-year old man with a record of 14 arrests was
allowed to roam at will.
Related Post
12/9/25 A
Philadelphia judge dismissed more than one-hundred drug cases after prosecutors conceded that three
narcotics officers "repeatedly gave false testimony in court." Hundreds more cases filed by these
officers are also likely to fall. According to prosecutors, the cops' accounts of what took place are so
riddled with "inconsistencies" that they can no longer be called on to testify for the State. And it's
not the first time. In past decades, "thousands" of Philadelphia drug cases have been dismissed for like
reasons.
Related post
Police who lack "a legal
order or warrant" may no longer use the services of Ancestry.
com, a renowned genealogy site that uses client DNA to identify relatives and build elaborate family
trees. Detectives have long relied on its services to help track down and identify the donors of crime
scene DNA. But in August the company began enforcing a rule that prohibits its resources from being used
for law enforcement purposes "except through due process." And that's reportedly stalled many
investigations.
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In
June 2020 thirteen FBI agents who were helping monitor the George Floyd protests in D.C. took to
their knees as marchers passed by. Their actions, which they said they took to help keep the hostile
crowd in check, went viral. At the time, FBI leadership absolved them of wrongdoing. But five years
later, in September 2025, they were fired for this allegedly major breach of professionalism by newly-
installed FBI Director Kash Patel. And they just filed suit to get their jobs back.
Related post
12/8/25 Thirty million dollars. That's what the City of San Diego has reportedly agreed to pay
the family of 16-year-old Konoa Wilson, who was shot in the back by rookie cop Daniel Gold during the
evening hours of Tuesday, January 28. Gold and his partner were at a train station on another call when
they heard gunfire. Moments later Wilson, who was reportedly fleeing from an assault, ran by. Gold
instantaneously opened fire, killing the teen. A handgun was found in Wilson's clothes, but his parents
say that he only carried it for protection from gang members. Gold remains on the force but is not on
the street.
Related post
5,000 arrests "or beyond." That's how many illegal immigrants Operation Catahoula
Crunch seeks to arrest during its current foray into New Orleans. According to
DHS, immigration agents are targeting persons who were arrested "for home invasion, armed robbery,
grand theft auto, and rape." Local authorities are blasted for releasing these "monsters" back onto the
streets "to COMMIT MORE CRIMES and create more victims." But city leaders fear that the Feds' numerical
goals will require agents to cast a very wide net. Related posts
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In the end, the vote was 4 for, but 8 against. That's how close LAPD officers came to
being barred from using shoulder-fired launchers that discharge hard foam projectiles and tear gas. Their
deployment during immigration protests brought the agency under severe criticism, leading less-cop
friendly members of the City Council to draft an unusually restrictive ordinance. But in a raucous
session, Chief Jim McDowell pointed out that these weapons are used every day to defuse potentially
disastrous encounters. And in the end, his view prevailed.
Related post
Immigrants arrested in 2025's high-profile ICE operations are less likely to have been convicted of
other crimes or have pending charges than those arrested in the normal course of business. Those are the
findings of a New York Times analysis of Government data obtained by the Deportation Data Project. For example, year to Oct.15, the proportion with a
prior violent conviction, any past conviction, or a pending charge was respectively 7%, 37% and 30%
nationally. But it was only 2%, 8% and 9% in the Aug-Sept. D.C. operation and 3%, 17% and 18% in the
Sept.- Oct. Illinois operation. [PoliceIssues note: the discrepancy may be exacerbated by the
refusal of the "sanctuary" jurisdictions where the special ops. took place to notify ICE of the arrest
or release of illegal immigrants who are charged with State and local crimes.]
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12/4/25 James Pugh is now truly "free." Convicted for a 1993 murder,
he and co-defendant Brian Lorenz served more than two decades in prison before withheld DNA evidence
(it suggested that a infamous third party could be the killer) helped lead to their 2019 release. But
prosecutors moved to retry both. Lorenz was retried in October; the jury hung. He's on track for yet
another go-round. Pugh's retrial was to take place this week. But after re-reviewing the evidence,
prosecutors dropped the case against him altogether. And a judge just agreed.
Related post
12/3/25 "Kill all - martyrdom." That's what 25-year-old
Luqmaan Khan had written down in a notebook that was replete with "warfare techniques." It also contained
a detailed external diagram of the University of Delaware police station. Its campus is near the park
where New Castle County officers on routine patrol observed Khan parked at midnight. His car contained
body armor, binoculars, and a gun with a full-auto conversion kit. Another such gun was in his home.
Khan, an American citizen (he came to the U.S. from Pakistan at a young age), has been charged with
Federal gun violations.
Related post
Experts say that "mass killings" are indeed down.
But hold the applause. While these events - defined as the killing of four or more persons - receded by
24% so far this year, and by 20% last year, "the numbers are volatile," and the yearly variations lack
explanatory power. What is common, as one would expect, is that most involve guns. Of the 3,234 people
murdered in mass killings since 2006, 81% fell to gunfire.
Related post
Ohio has become the first state to implement a statewide program to use drones as first
responders. Public safety agencies will help develop guidelines for their use, and will receive funding
and instruction on operating and deploying these devices. For police, drones offer "real-time visual
information" that can inform responding officers. Some will also have two-way communications capabilities
for use in crisis negotiations. However, the ACLU has voiced concern that "mission creep" may expand
the use of drones to impermissible purposes.
Related post
12/2/25 In 2022 Baltimore man Jason Billingsley gained early
release from a prison sentence for a 2013 rape. One year later he committed another rape, then
murdered his victim. A few days later, Billingsley, who was employed as a maintenance worker for a local
property management firm, used a ruse to enter one of their apartments. He raped the female tenant,
assaulted her husband, then set both on fire. They sued Billingsley's employer for failing to check his
background when he was hired. A civil jury agreed that the firm's hiring practices were indeed negligent.
They just awarded the couple $21.5 million.
Related post
12/1/25 Four persons, including three children ages 8, 9 and 14, were
killed and fifteen others were wounded by a lone gunman who opened fire during a large
birthday gathering at a Stockton, CA banquet hall. Witnesses said that the shooter, who remains
unidentified and is on the loose, was of medium height and wearing "black pants". According to police, he
apparently targeted the event. His motive, if known, has not been released.
Related post
Although he
is schizophrenic and has "over seventy" prior arrests, 50-year old Chicago man Lawrence Reed was
nonetheless released in August after being arrested for aggravated battery. His victim was a social worker
at the psychiatric clinic where Reed was getting outpatient treatment. According to the judge, prosecutors
didn't prove that electronic monitoring wouldn't do the job. That "proof" is now indisputably in. On the
evening of November 17, Reed poured gasoline on a 26-year old commuter train passenger and set her on fire.
Bethany McGee was severely burned. Thankfully, she survived.
Related post
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the former Afghan soldier who ambushed two members of the National Guard
as they patrolled D.C., was the subject of repeated email warnings sent to the the U.S. Committee for
Refugees and Immigrants last year. In these, a person who knew the refugee warned that his behavior was
extremely erratic and worrysome. Lakanwal chronically abused his wife and children. He also went through
“periods of dark isolation and reckless travel,” repeatedly driving cross-country without any clear purpose.
Lakanwal, the writer suggested, seemed likely to commit suicide.
Related post
Three innocents killed in two months. That was the February-March 2025 toll of police pursuits
in Prince George's County, MD. In each case, the tragic end was produced by a motorist fleeing from a
traffic stop. And now "Zoey's" law - named after one of the victims, a three-year old - intends to put the
brakes on the carnage. Pursuits will need reasonable suspicion that a fleeing person committed or attempted
to commit one of a number of crimes. Officers must watch their speed and cannot simply blow through
intersections. And lights and sirens must be activated throughout.
Related post
Another day,
another pardon. This time, President Trump's blessings are being bestowed on former Honduran president
Juan Orlando Hernandez. Last year a U.S. Federal court jury convicted Hernandez of pocketing "millions in
bribes" in exchange for helping the Sinaloa cartel smuggle hundreds of tons of cocaine into the U.S. His
45-year prison term went along with the life sentences already handed out to his brother and a helper. But a
Trump associate complained that Mr. Hernandez was "trapped" in a nasty scheme hatched by the Biden
Administration. President Trump
apparently agrees. In his view, Mr. Hernandez was treated "very harshly and unfairly." Not so, says a
former D.E.A. agent who worked on the case. He called the pardon "lunacy."
Related post
11/28/25 Spec. Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two Army National Guard members who were ambushed while on foot
patrol in D.C., has died from her wounds. Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe is at this writing still clinging to life.
Their assailant, 29-year old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a resident of Bellingham, Washington, fired on them with
a .357 cal. Smith & Wesson revolver. A former Afghan paramilitary, Lakanwal fought alongside U.S.
troops in support of America's withdrawal. According to a childhood friend, Lakanwal had developed "mental
health issues" because of the bloodshed. He emigrated to the U.S. in September 2021 and was reportedly
granted asylum in April.
Related post
Newark PD's two-decades-long history of DOJ slap-
downs just came to a peaceable end. On motion of the Feds, the New Jersey U.S. District Court terminated
a consent decree that NPD entered into in 2016 over (among other things) its officers' use of excessive
force while conducting stops, searches and arrests. Praising NPD's reforms, DOJ's Civil Rights Division
said it looks forward to "the continued, effective policing of the City — in a constitutional manner — to
protect all Americans from crime.”
Related post
Since its inception three months ago, the Fed's push into Memphis has yielded over 2,800 arrests
and 28,000 traffic tickets. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (a "Red") welcomed President Trump's move to flood the
crime-beset city with Federal agents and National Guard troops. Indeed, their presence led to the seizure
of numerous guns and the arrest of many wanted persons. But some citizens resented the intrusion. It also
imposed great burdens on local courts and jails, which lacked sufficient staff and resources to handle
the output. Related posts
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"Over" $63 million bucks. That's how much a 42-year old woman
entrepreneur was ordered to recompense the U.S. Treasury for the funds she stole from the PPP program by
submitting false payroll, tax and bank records on behalf of numerous clients. That scheme, which
Stephanie Hockridge (aka Reis) perpetrated with the help of many co-conspirators, also got her a ten-year
prison sentence.
Related post
11/26/25
Two-hundred fifty million bucks. That's what the Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention
Initiative got last year. But Federal indulgence of neighborhood violence prevention projects is no more.
Under the new Administration, funds previously expended on "street outreach, hospital-based interventions,
and violence interrupters" are being redirected to law enforcement. That's brought on a great deal of
consternation from the "Blues," who insist that these programs helped bring down gun violence. Natch, the
"Reds" disagree.
Related post
He's nineteen. And he just got 65 years. That's the sentence handed down by a Texas jury to 19-year
old Luke Garrett Resecker, whose pickup truck crashed head-on into a minivan two years ago. Six of its seven
occupants, ages nine to sixty, were killed; the lone survivor was paralyzed. Resecker's 17-year old passenger
suffered a brain injury and became mentally impaired. Resecker had THC in his system, and Troopers recovered
THC wax, a vape pen, and marijuana from his vehicle. Recreational pot was (and remains) illegal in Texas.
Related post
Users can become addicted to marijuana. Its daily use "has become a defining — and often invisible — part
of many people’s lives." That ranges from youngsters to a 75-year old man whose body has come to insist that he
toke up each morning. Modern-day pot is far more potent, and even casual use can have profound, negative
effects on memory and sleep. A foggy brain becomes "the new normal." And while THC and CBD are sometimes
prescribed for anxiety and depression, they can easily make things worse. A physician who specializes in such
things cautions that "for most people, the risks outweigh the benefits."
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