Jasmine Crockett’s pastor, Frederick Haynes III, who announced his bid to take over Crockett’s House seat shortly after she announced her now-failed bid for the U.S. Senate, won the Democratic primary for Texas’s 30th Congressional District and will likely win in November due to the district being reliably blue.

Haynes, who Crockett calls her pastor and mentor, runs Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, where he has been at the helm for around 40 years, according to public reporting. 

In a sermon the day after Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered thousands of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, Haynes blasted Israeli “apartheid” and praised notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan, who infamously compared Jews to termites in one of his sermons. In addition to Haynes’ anti-Israel remarks, he has also positioned himself as a radical reparations activist who once told congregants that “America was born in political violence.”

“America, you owe us. What you done to us has been immoral. It’s been evil. It’s been unjust. It’s been downright wrong and the only way to bring salvation to America – you gotta pay us what you owe us,” Haynes told congregants in 2022 at the San Francisco church of failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ longtime mentor and pastor, Amos Brown, who has made several controversial comments, including blaming the United States for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“If you want salvation to come to this house, you’ve got to engage in reparations,” he continued.

In Tuesday’s primary, Haynes came out with a commanding victory, garnering 72.6% of the vote, according to the Associated Press. Former Texas state representative and Dallas City Council member, Barbara Caraway, came in second with 23.1% of the vote, and another Dallas-area pastor, Rodney LaBruce, came in third with just 4.3% of the vote. 

Texas’s 30th Congressional District has been controlled by Democrats for many years and covers the southern portions of the Dallas-Forth Worth metro area. 

Haynes campaigned on issues that align with Crockett’s time in congress as a member of the progressive group of lawmakers dubbed, “The Squad,” including Medicare for All, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and raising the minimum wage. Crockett’s time with the “Squad” is now ending following her loss in the Texas Democratic Party primary for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday against moderate James Talarico.

During his watch-party on election night Tuesday, Haynes also parroted claims that Crockett and other Democrats made about alleged voter suppression spurred by Republicans in Tuesday’s Texas primaries. 

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In addition to his sermons and discussions at churches promoting reparations, Haynes also participated in a reparations rally outside the White House in 2023, during which he said the United States was “born in the sin of a hostile, genocidal takeover of Indigenous land and shaped by anti-Black White supremacy.” 

“This is a country that spent in the aftermath of emancipation decades plundering Black communities and ensuring that we were economically exploited and excluded,” Haynes said at the rally. “And so how could you talk about redemption without reparation?”

“We’ve come to cash our check because we’ve seen the [profit and loss] statement,” he continued.

Haynes also has a history of pushing anti-Israel sentiment. In 2017, Haynes posted a photo of himself on social media with notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan, calling him a “wonderful and great man.” Farrkhan once called Jews termites in a now infamous sermon. Meanwhile, just one day after Hamas terrorists went into Israel and killed thousands of Israelis, Haynes suggested Israel’s “apartheid” was to blame. 

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Last year, after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Haynes accused Kirk of espousing “dangerous” views “rooted in white supremacy,” and criticized characterizations of Kirk’s murder as an assassination. “A White Christian gets killed, murdered, not assassinated,” Haynes said, before launching into a comparison about how Black people who have been assassinated allegedly get treated worse. “Martin King got assassinated, Malcom X got assassinated, Medgar Evers got assassinated, don’t compare Kirk to King.”

Though he condemned political violence, Haynes proceeded to drill into Kirk, saying, “What Kirk said was dangerous, what Kirk said was racist, rooted in white supremacy, nasty and hate-filled.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Haynes for comment on his radical positions, but he, nor any of his representatives, have responded.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

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Bodycam video from the Austin mass shooting, which is being investigated as a terrorist attack, was released on Thursday as the county’s liberal district attorney announced he would take no action against the three officers who killed the suspect.

In 911 audio released by the Austin Police Department along with the bodycam video, one individual told the operator that he “heard like six gunshots.”

“We’re hiding between cars,” the caller said. “There has been a shooting at Buford’s on 6th St. There are people dead over here. There have been multiple people shot. We need help right now.”

In one surveillance video released by police, the shooter, identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, can be seen walking around a parking lot with an AR-15 before opening fire on someone nearby.

Officers can be seen in bodycam video directing bystanders to get down before opening fire on Diagne, who was killed.

Travis County District Attorney José Garza announced Wednesday that no action would be taken against the three police officers who killed Diagne. Diagne shot and killed three people and left more than a dozen other people injured on Sunday outside a bar in Austin, Texas.

“Today, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office notified the Austin Police Department that it has formally concluded its review of the mass shooting on 6th Street and will take no action against the three officers who stopped the shooting,” the news release stated.

Under a 2021 policy by Garza’s office, all officer-involved shooting cases were to be presented to a grand jury.

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Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock told Fox News Digital he wishes Garza would have made the decision to not convene a grand jury much earlier, and said police officers are under constant fear of being targeted by the liberal district attorney.

“The reality is APD officers are more afraid of the DA targeting them than a gunman shooting at them,” Bullock told Fox News Digital.

Bullock said it’s the first time Garza hasn’t presented an officer-involved shooting to a grand jury since implementing the policy.

Doug O’Connell, a criminal defense attorney representing the Austin police officers, told Fox News the 2021 policy was instituted at the direction of the Wren Collective, which is a criminal-justice reform group providing financial support to progressive prosecutors.

“When our current district attorney came into office about six years ago, he instituted this policy at the direction of the Wren Collective, and it’s been in place since that time. Every officer-involved shooting has been presented to the grand jury,” O’Connell said. “It’s not required by law. It is simply a policy decision that he’s instituted at the direction of Wren Collective.”

Bullock said the Wren Collective has recently pushed “to increase the number of indictments against officers which can only be done through grand jury.”

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National Police Association spokesperson Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith told Fox News Digital that investigations into officer-involved shootings should be internal. 

“A grand jury is basically a secret process and is controlled by the prosecutor. These officers cannot have a defense attorney or a union representative in the grand jury,” Smith said. “He is well known as one of the most anti-police district attorneys in the nation.”

Garza previously called the officers that killed Diagne “heroes.” The shooting happened at Austin’s Buford’s Backyard Beer garden shortly before 2 a.m. on Sunday.

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FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Alex Doran said during a press conference on Sunday that while investigators are still looking for a possible motive, there were “indicators that on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism.”

Law enforcement sources told Fox News that the shooter was wearing a sweatshirt that read “Property of Allah“ as well as an undershirt with an Iranian flag. The sources said a Quran was also found in Diagne’s car. According to CBS News, Diagne had pictures of Iranian leaders at his home as well as an Iranian flag.

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Savitha Shan, 21, Ryder Harrington, 19 and Jorge Pederson, 30, were killed in the shooting, authorities said during a Monday press conference.

Diagne initially entered the United States in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security, becoming a lawful permanent resident in 2006 after marrying a U.S. citizen.

On April 5, 2013, Diagne became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

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Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said Diagne “put his flashers on, rolled down his window and began using a pistol shooting out of his car windows, striking patrons of the bar that were on the patio and that were in front of the bar.”

Davis said the suspect exited his vehicle and shot at individuals, but didn’t enter the bar.

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This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 800-273-TALK (8255).

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, admitted to having an affair with a former staffer for the first time on Wednesday.

Gonzales made the confession during an appearance on a conservative talk radio show, just one day after he advanced to a runoff election in his congressional district’s GOP primary. The House Ethics Committee also launched an investigation into Gonzales on Wednesday.

“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” he said on “The Joe Pags Show” Wednesday night. “Since then, I’ve reconciled with my wife, Angel. I’ve asked God to forgive me, which he has, and my faith is as strong as ever.”

“When you make mistakes like this, it’s never easy. It humbles you,” he added.

The Ethics Committee is investigating whether Gonzales, a married father of six, engaged in sexual misconduct with a female member of his staff and whether he doled out special favors or privileges as a result.

Gonzales has said he has no plan to step down in the face of the accusations, saying last month that there are more details to be released regarding the situation.

“What you’ve seen is not all the facts,” Gonzales told reporters in late February.

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The three-term congressman argued at the time that he was being “blackmailed” in connection with the case. Controversy first arose after the San Antonio Express-News reported they obtained text messages in which the former staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, wrote to a colleague that she had an affair with the lawmaker.

Santos-Aviles later died after setting herself on fire.

Gonzales denied having anything to do with her death during his radio appearance.

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“I hadn’t spoken with Miss Santos since June of 2024. She passed September of 2025… I had absolutely nothing to do with her tragic passing. And in fact, I was shocked just as much as everyone else,” Gonzales said. 

Gonzales took to social media last month and accused Santos-Aviles’ husband of “blackmail,” sharing a partial screenshot of an email from the widower and claiming he was seeking money.

“I WILL NOT BE BLACKMAILED,” Gonzales wrote in a Feb. 19 post on X. “Disgusting to see people profit politically and financially off a tragic death.”

In the email posted by Gonzales, attorney Robert Barrera discussed a possible lawsuit against the lawmaker and a potential settlement with a nondisclosure agreement. The email says that the maximum recoverable amount is $300,000.

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Barrera denied he was trying to blackmail Gonzales.

“It is a desperate attempt to make him look again like a political victim,” Barrera told The Associated Press last month. “There’s no blackmail here. I mean, it’s just ridiculous allegations.”

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