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Meet the American who created NASCAR: Bill France Sr., Daytona speed demon, racetrack pioneer
Bill France Sr. was born with a mind for business, a gift for people and a need for speed.
He turned those passions into a nationwide obsession with stock car racing.
France founded the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing — NASCAR — on Feb. 21, 1948, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
NASCAR has grown into the world’s premier stock car racing circuit. “Big Bill,” as he was known, is the unquestioned godfather of the autosport.
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“His story is a great American success story,” NASCAR historian Ken Martin told Fox News Digital.
“And NASCAR is the great American sport.”
Bill France Sr. in the pre-NASCAR days. France, a native of Washington, D.C., moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, in his 20s, ran an auto shop and raced cars before founding NASCAR in 1948. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
Stock cars, at least in the sport’s earliest years, were essentially production-model cars turned into racing vehicles.
“Bill’s vision was to basically take cars from the assembly line and put them on the racetrack to see who built the better car, the faster car, the more durable car,” said Martin.
“His story is a great American success story.” — NASCAR historian Ken Martin
“He knew Americans could relate to the vehicles on the racetrack. He also knew he could generate support from Detroit by pitting Chevys against Fords.”
Much as football is a largely American sports phenomenon — other countries dabble in it — stock car racing remains a largely American form of auto competition.
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Bill France Sr. was enamored with auto racing as a child and became a master of auto mechanics. He also had a passion for putting his mechanical skills to the test behind the wheels of race cars.
Bill France Sr. looks on from the track he created circa 1959 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
“He was a gearhead,” said Martin. “But also a competitor.”
France boasted mechanical knowledge, fearlessness behind the wheel, a towering physical stature (6 foot 5 inches) and a charismatic personal presence.
He commanded respect from the toughest drivers in the nation — the proverbial backwoods moonshine runners who fueled the early pool of race-car drivers.
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“Well, let’s just say he ‘ran the show,’” NASCAR legend Richard Petty wrote in the foreword to “Big Bill: The Life and Times of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr.,” a 2015 biography by H.A. Branham.
“Let’s just say he ‘ran the show.’ — NASCAR legend Richard Petty of Bill France Sr.
“It was ‘his show’ and I think that everybody that raced in NASCAR for him knew it was ‘his show.’”
“The big man had big dreams,” writes the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame, “and he made them come true.”
Birthplace of NASCAR
Bill France Sr. was born on Sept. 26, 1909 in Washington, D.C., to William Henry France and Emma (Graham) France, his mother an immigrant from Ireland.
Bill France Sr., was an early open-wheel race driver long before he embraced the future with full-bodied stock cars. Here he shows off this Model T-based sprinter at a track in Maryland in 1931. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
He fueled his passion for speed as a teenager by racing his Model T at a wooden track in Laurel, Maryland.
He moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1934 with his wife, Anne (Bledsoe) — a nurse and North Carolina native — plus their year-old son Bill Jr. with only “a set of tools and $25 cash,” according to one origin legend.
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All three Frances became transformational figures in NASCAR.
Anne served as a longtime NASCAR executive. Bill Jr. took over NASCAR from his father, running the circuit from 1972 until 2000.
Despite arriving in Daytona during the depths of the Great Depression, Bill Sr. landed a job working for local mechanic Saxton Lloyd. It was an opportunity for which France would show his gratitude years later.
He opened his own service station and became a prominent local mechanic while racing cars on Daytona Beach.
The city’s legendary beach-street course raced two miles up the sand, turned on a ramp, then sped two miles back down State Route A1A on pavement before repeating the circuit.
Daytona Beach hosted its first beach-street race in 1936. France finished fifth as a driver, while serving as the pre-race mechanic for winning driver Milt Marion, behind the wheel of a Ford.
“By 1938 the city realized they were not the best at promoting racing,” said Martin. “They asked France to help promote it.”
Sports entertainment exploded across America in the years after the war.
World War II interrupted Daytona’s effort to become the hub of stock car racing.
France put his mechanical abilities toward the war effort.
Before he became “Mr. NASCAR,” Bill France Sr. was a prosperous Daytona Beach garage owner and gasoline retailer. France’s gas station at 316 Main Street was also a haven for area racers anxious to have work performed on their race cars. This 1940s business card shows “Big Bill’s” inventiveness. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
“Bill Sr., at age 32, was not eligible for the draft and went to work building ‘subchasers’ at the Daytona Boat Works — a major employer of Volusia County residents,” writes biographer Branham.
Sports entertainment exploded across America in the years after the war. The NBA was founded in 1946. Pro football expanded to the West Coast the same year when the NFL Rams moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles.
France added stock car racing to the national menu of sports options.
The rival new All-America Football Conference was also founded in 1946, with familiar franchises such as the 49ers, Browns and Colts soon absorbed by the NFL.
France added stock car racing to the national menu of sports options.
He led a meeting with other drivers, mechanics and auto enthusiasts in December 1947 at Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach to make plans for a new professional stock car racing circuit with uniform rules, regulations and standards.
A series of three meetings convened at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach to establish criteria for professional stock car racing, leading to NASCAR’s formation. On Dec. 14, 1947: Front row, kneeling (L-R), Chick DiNatale, Jimmy Quisenberry, Ed Bruce, Jack Peters, Alvin Hawkins. Back row, standing (L-R), Freddie Horton, Sam Packard, Ed Samples (hidden), Joe Ross, Marshall Teague, Bill Tuthill, Joe Littlejohn, Bob Osiecki, Buddy Shuman, Lucky Sauer (hidden), Tom Galan, Eddie Bland, Bill France Sr., Bob Richards, Harvey Tattersall Jr., Fred Dagavar, Bill Streeter, Jimmy Cox. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
NASCAR was formed two months later, with France its chief executive.
The site of the Streamline Hotel “stands to this day as a racing landmark,” says the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
‘World Center of Racing’
Daytona was a magnet for speed enthusiasts in the earliest days of the automobile — long before France arrived and even before France was born.
One of the gas stations Bill France Sr. operated in Daytona Beach, Florida, around the time NASCAR was formed in 1947 is shown here. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)
“On the hard-packed sands of Florida’s east coast, the idea of racing automobiles became a reality in 1903,” writes Michael Hembree in “NASCAR: The Definitive History of America’s Sport.”
“At Ormond Beach, north of Daytona, wealthy winter visitors to the resort area eyed the long flat beach stretches as an ideal landscape for tinkering with their toys.”
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The region’s hard, flat beaches made it the perfect proving ground for daredevils of the day, who topped 200 miles per hour in the straight-shot speed efforts.
English racer Sir Malcolm Campbell astounded onlookers by reaching a record speed of 278.6 MPH on Daytona Beach in 1935, propelled over the land by an aircraft engine.
Fans react in 1940 as a driver rolls his car during a stock car race on the Daytona Beach-Road Course. Three races were held on the beach that year and were won by Roy Hall, Bill France (later the founder of NASCAR) and Buck Mathis. A special “ladies only” race was also held; it attracted 13 contestants, including France’s wife Anne. Evelyn Reed won the event. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)
Auto enthusiasts soon found an even better proving ground out west: the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah.
The salt flats were harder, straighter and faster, without the inconvenience or even danger of rising tides.
Daytona lost one of its cash cows. It turned to racing as a way to replace the business lost to Bonneville, said Martin.
“Daytona was looking to plug a hole in its economy,” said Ken Martin, when it tapped France to help promote its beach-street races in the 1930s.
“France put his plans for the future of racing in Daytona Beach, Florida, in motion on April 4, 1953, with a proposal to construct a permanent speedway facility,” reports the speedway in an online account of its history.
Before the asphalt was laid, Bill France Sr., and members of his NASCAR staff parked these cars on a turn of the under-construction Daytona International Speedway in December 1958. France gambled nearly everything he owned in building the facility that is known as “The World Center of Racing.” (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
He envisioned, planned and funded the racetrack of the future: Daytona International Speedway.
“France put his plans for the future of racing in Daytona Beach, Florida, in motion on April 4, 1953, with a proposal to construct a permanent speedway facility,” reports the speedway in an online account of its history.
English racer Sir Malcolm Campbell astounded onlookers by reaching a record speed of 278.6 MPH on Daytona Beach in 1935.
“On August 16, 1954, France signed a contract with City of Daytona Beach and Volusia County officials to build what would become Daytona International Speedway, the ‘World Center of Racing.”
The 2.5-mile speedway opened in 1959. Among its ground-breaking features: 31-degree banking turns that allowed race cars to maintain dramatic speeds in the turns.
The Daytona infield boasted a 29-acre lake — Lake Lloyd, named in honor of the mechanic who gave France his first job in Daytona.
NASCAR driver Michael McDowell poses with his team as he competes at the annual Hot Rods & Reels Celebrity Fishing Tournament to benefit The Darrell Gwynn Chapter of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis at Daytona International Speedway’s Lake Lloyd, Feb. 18, 2022. Lake Lloyd is named for Saxton Lloyd, a mechanic who gave Bill France Sr. his first job in Daytona. (James Gilbert/Getty Images for The Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis)
France built an even larger track in Alabama, the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, in 1969.
“He had a vision for building these huge race tracks, because he knew they’d handle high speeds and attract huge crowds,” said Martin.
Daytona International Speedway, France’s speedway, remains NASCAR’s premier track.
The circuit kicks off the new racing season each February with the Daytona 500. It’s also been the site of the sport’s most important events.
Racing legend Dale Earnhardt won his first Daytona 500 after 20 attempts in February 1998 — “a major event” in NASCAR history by the beloved driver, said Martin.
“Dale Earnhardt’s death was a pivotal moment in (NASCAR) history.” — Ken Martin
It’s also where Earnhardt was tragically killed in February 2001, on the last lap of the Daytona 500.
“NASCAR has lost its greatest driver ever, and I personally have lost a great friend,” Bill France Jr., then NASCAR’s chairman, said in the aftermath.
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Earnhardt’s death was one of the first events that “blew up the internet,” to use a more recent term. The nationwide outpouring displayed over the internet proved Earnhardt’s popularity — and that NASCAR had become far more than just a regional phenomenon.
Dale Earnhardt checks out the view from the newly completed Earnhardt Grandstand during winter testing, two weeks before the Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, in this file photo from Feb. 2001. He was killed on the last lap of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, 2001. (Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
The tragedy at Daytona, said Martin, ultimately made NASCAR better and safer.
NASCAR moved the driver’s seat closer to the center of the vehicle, built a “cocoon” around the drivers, mandated head restraints and built soft-barrier walls to absorb some of the impact of a crash.
“Earnhardt’s death was a pivotal moment in our history,” said Martin. “It made everyone refocus on safety.”
‘Something to do with all of this’
Bill France Sr. died on June 7, 1992, after battling Alzheimer’s disease. He was 82.
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NASCAR today is recognized as the world’s premier stock car racing circuit with a devoted fan base around the nation.
Races have expanded far beyond NASCAR’s early southeastern base. NASCAR races are held from California to New England, and from Austin to Milwaukee.
NASCAR founder and former CEO Bill France Sr., left, talks with a U.S. Secret Service agent regarding security for Vice President George H.W. Bush prior to the start of the 1983 Daytona 500 stock car race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach. Bush served as the race’s honorary starter. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images)
About 2.5 million people attend NASCAR races each year, generating about $200 million in revenue, according to industry data. Millions more watch each race on television.
NASCAR inked an $8.2 billion, 10-year deal with Fox Sports and NBC Sports in 2015.
NASCAR was briefly publicly traded, but is once again run by the France family.
“Big Bill” has enjoyed countless honors in the sports world.
NASCAR founder and president Bill France Sr. walking down the raceway at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida, on Feb. 16, 1968. (Eric Schweikardt /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
He’s a member of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, the Automotive Hall of Fame, the Daytona Beach Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame and — of course — the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“I think Bill Sr. would be proud of NASCAR today, proud of the fact that his son took it one step further than he did and proud that his grandson has taken it another step further,” Richard Petty wrote in “Big Bill: The Life and Times of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr.”Bill Sr. would be proud of NASCAR today, proud of the fact that his son took it one step further than he did and proud that his grandson has taken it another step further
“Bill Sr. would be proud of NASCAR today, proud of the fact that his son took it one step further than he did and proud that his grandson has taken it another step further.” (Fox Nation)
“Now, he wouldn’t have done it the same way, but he would have sat back and told you: ‘Yeah, I had something to do with all of this.’”
To read more stories in this unique “Meet the American Who…” series from Fox News Digital, click here.
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Virginia prosecutor’s record on violent offenders scrutinized after illegal immigrant charged in mom’s murder
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A prosecutor in Virginia is facing criticism after a Fairfax County Police Department officer warned the county’s commonwealth attorney about a criminal illegal immigrant who has racked up over 30 arrests before allegedly killing a mother.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, was charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed a mother to death while at a bus stop in Fairfax County, Virginia, on Feb. 23. Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano’s office, however, was warned several times about how dangerous Jalloh is, and dismissed many of his previous criminal charges.
Jalloh’s case is far from the only controversial actions by Descano’s office, which even includes a plea deal with a murder suspect that allows him the chance at freedom.
POLICE WARNED PROSECUTORS 3 TIMES ABOUT VIOLENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT BEFORE HE ALLEGEDLY KILLED VIRGINIA MOTHER
Here’s a list of controversial cases handled by Descano’s office:
Abdul Jalloh
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop. (Fox 5 DC)
Jalloh, 32, was charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed a mother to death while at a bus stop in Fairfax County, Virginia, on Feb. 23. The victim, 41-year-old Stephanie Minter, was found dead with multiple stab wounds to her upper body, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Jalloh has a violent rapsheet dating back to 2014 and includes over 30 arrests with several charges dismissed by Descano’s office.
Jalloh was arrested the next day while he was allegedly trying to steal from a liquor store when an employee called 911. Officials said Jalloh came to the U.S. illegally in 2012 from Sierra Leone under the Obama administration.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer on Jalloh in 2020, and he was later issued a final order of removal allowing him to be deported to any country other than Sierra Leone. Despite that order, he was not deported.
A police major for the Fairfax County Police Department even warned Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano about Jalloh on at least three separate occasions, according to emails obtained by WJLA.
In one email to Fairfax County Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jenna Sands, the police major said Jalloh “is one of the repeat (and violent) offenders” that they had discussed before.
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Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano speaking at an event. (Sarah Voisin/Getty Images)
“I wanted to get your background on why he is out so soon and ask if his prior suspended sentence (of I believe 5 years) was pursued by your office? Unfortunately, based on MTV Station’s numerous dealings with him, it is not a question of if, but rather when he will maliciously wound (or worse) again. My role of keeping the public safe, prompts me to follow up on his status,” the major wrote.
A Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the office “was aware of Jalloh’s criminal history and shared police concerns about potential future dangerousness. That is why our Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney personally handled these cases.”
The spokesperson added that prosecutors “will often explore many different pathways to successful prosecution, but, at the end of the day, our decisions are constrained by what testimony is available and what is legally permissible and practicable in Fairfax courts.”
Joshua Danehower
In 2022, Joshua Danehower was arrested for the murder of Gret Glyer. (Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office)
In 2022, Danehower was charged with Gret Glyer’s murder. According to WUSA 9, Glyer, who owned the donation platform DonorSee, was shot 10 times as he slept next to his wife on June 24, 2022.
Prosecutors alleged Danehower killed Glyer because of an obsession with his wife. The suspect allegedly became fixated with her after a church function, and according to her family, the two had gone on a date about a decade ago.
Danehower was given a plea deal by Descano’s office, which found him not guilty by reason of insanity in February.
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Virginia law requires Danehower to be sent to a psychiatric hospital, where his status will be evaluated on an annual basis for the next five years, then every two years afterward. If he’s deemed no longer a threat to himself or others, he’d have an opportunity to be released from the psychiatric hospital.
Heather Glyer, the victim’s wife, said while on the witness stand, “I was robbed of my life partner.”
“My kids were robbed of their father,” she added.
Wilmer Osmany Ramos-Giron
Wilmer Osmany Ramos-Giron pleaded guilty to lesser charges. (DHS)
In January 2025, according to a report by former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, Ramos-Giron, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, choked his ex-wife during an argument and pulled out a knife.
He was charged with felony abduction by force, felony strangulation, and misdemeanor assault and battery against a family member after the incident, but Descano’s office allowed him to plead to lesser charges of misdemeanor battery and brandishing a bladed weapon.
In a statement released by Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Deputy Chief of Staff and Public Information Officer Laura Birnbaum, according to the report, the plea agreement “achieved the outcomes that the victim wanted.”
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However, when the victim spoke with 7News, she refuted Birnbaum’s statement, saying she didn’t agree to the plea deal.
“He’s dangerous,” she said, fearing another violent incident would happen.
“If I die, who is going to take care of them?” the victim asked, referring to her children.
Ronnie Reel
Ronnie Reel accepted a plea deal by Fairfax county prosecutors. (Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office)
In July 2021, Reel was arrested on charges of sexual penetration, forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual battery against a minor, according to the Fairfax County Times.
During Reel’s trial on Sept. 13, 2022, Chief Judge of the Fairfax County Circuit Court Penney Azcarate ruled that the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s office had missed an evidentiary deadline, meaning confessions, including a call from Reel to a defendant’s mother where he allegedly confessed, as well as other evidence and witnesses couldn’t be used in court.
According to the outlet, that meant the case would rely on the victim’s testimony entirely.
As a result, Reel was offered a plea deal and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery and was sentenced to one year in prison, but was released on time served. He also wasn’t required to register as a sex offender, according to FOX 5.
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The mother, who asked to be identified as Amber, told FOX 5 the case has had a big impact on her son.
“I was really upset. This is my child, this is my baby,” she said while crying. “And he got no justice. So he continues to see me cry and everything. He held his own, he stayed strong. He’s always trying to be strong for mom.”
“He was confessing every little detail that he did, and it was making me sick to my stomach,” she added. “It was horrible. He literally confessed to me why he did it.”
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
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MIKE DAVIS: Virginia returns to the Confederacy with a seditious conspiracy against ICE
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Immigration enforcement is a core federal power. Under Article I of the Constitution, Congress has the duty to write our federal immigration laws. Under Article II, the President has the duty to enforce them. States cannot meddle and certainly not obstruct. Unfortunately, many Democrat states, especially Virginia, are on a deadly collision course with the federal government.
American voters gave President Trump and the Republican-led Congress a broad electoral mandate to reverse the disaster the Biden-Harris border policy caused in every state in America by mass importing as many as 20 million illegal aliens, including the worst of the worst around the world.
Activist judges and other Democrat politicians and election deniers have done everything they can fathom to thwart Trump’s constitutional duty to expel these dangerous illegal aliens.
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The latest example is Virginia, which is passing a series of unconstitutional laws that would dangerously and illegally obstruct ICE. These proposals include criminal penalties, meaning that state law enforcement would attempt to arrest and jail ICE agents for simply doing their jobs.
This effort is seditious, insurrectionist, extremely dangerous and blatantly unconstitutional. For the sake of the Republic, the Justice Department must immediately and aggressively quell this Virginia seditious conspiracy.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Davis Spanberger laughs aloud during a ceremony in a Virginia court in Richmond. (Mike Kropf-Pool/Getty Images)
Fairfax County District Attorney Steve Descano is the Soros puppet Democrat prosecutor in the DC suburb, an uber-wealthy Democrat enclave that is an albatross around Virginia’s neck. Abdul Jalloh is an illegal alien who invaded our country in 2012. Jalloh settled in Virginia and began wreaking havoc on the good citizens there, racking up a whopping 30 arrests. These included one for rape and four charges for stabbing Americans.
Yet, thanks to the willful ineptitude of Fairfax County’s Democrat regime, Jalloh only had one felony conviction. He violated his probation, spent three months in jail and went free because of a deal between his lawyer and Descano’s office. Sanctuary jurisdictions like Fairfax County do not notify ICE when detaining or releasing illegals like Jalloh, who had a final order of removal from 2020.
Police in Fairfax repeatedly warned Descano’s office via email that Jalloh’s release would endanger the public, but the pleas fell on deaf ears. Earlier this week, Jalloh allegedly stabbed to death 41-year-old innocent mother Stephanie Minter at a bus stop.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger ran as a moderate Democrat. But after her inauguration this year, she immediately showed her true leftist colors. She issued an order prohibiting cooperation between state officials and ICE.
Several anti-ICE bills await Spanberger’s signature: (1) a prohibition against ICE arrests at courthouses (where these alleged dangerous criminal illegals visit daily); (2) a prohibition against ICE arrests within 40 feet of polling places (where illegals violate federal criminal laws by voting); and (3) criminal penalties for ICE agents who wear masks (because they don’t want to get doxxed and killed).
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano (Sarah Voisin/Getty Images)
If Spanberger signs these unconstitutional state laws, the Trump Justice Department should immediately sue and seek to enjoin them in court. A Virginia federal judge should issue an injunction, following the lead of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which fully stayed California’s unconstitutional prohibition against ICE agents’ use of masks.
But civil enforcement is not enough. Virginia Democrat officials plotting to arrest ICE agents for doing their jobs (seditious conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 2384) — and especially those who cause the arrests (insurrection under 18 U.S.C. § 2383, assault, kidnapping, harboring, conspiracy, and more) — must go to federal prison for their serious federal felonies. If anyone gets killed in a deadly standoff between these new Virginia confederates and ICE, these Virginia Democrat officials must face felony murder charges.
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Former President Biden and his missing-in-action border czar Kamala Harris allowed millions of illegal immigrants, including the most violent and dangerous criminals in the world, to pour across our borders. Trump is doing everything in his power to fulfill his broad electoral mandate and undo the damage by arresting and deporting these illegals.
Virginia’s proposed laws do not merely prohibit communication between state officials and ICE; rather, they criminalize federal law enforcement actions that are plainly within the scope of federal immigration enforcement power.
Abdul Jalloh has racked up over 30 arrests since entering the U.S., according to officials. (DHS)
States do not have to help ICE by, for instance, providing law enforcement resources to assist in ICE apprehensions of illegals. But states certainly cannot subvert or obstruct these federal efforts. This is especially true of Virginia’s attempt to arrest ICE agents in the line of duty, which could justify their use of deadly force.
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Virginia’s attempt to subvert and obstruct federal law must fail. We fought the Civil War because the Confederacy, headquartered in Virginia, sought to nullify federal law with respect to slavery. Today’s Virginia Democrats are reverting to their confederate roots.
Just as the federal government did during the Civil War and for a century after when segregationist states continued their efforts to nullify federal law, the federal government now must stand strong against Virginia’s sedition and insurrection. The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution makes plain that federal law is supreme in areas where the federal government has authority.
If Virginia gets away with effectively nullifying federal immigration enforcement, other states can nullify any other federal law that it finds distasteful. Let’s hope Abigail Spanberger comes to her senses and vetoes this insanity. If she does not, the federal government must use all tools at its disposal, including the Insurrection Act of 1807 and other federal criminal statutes, to preserve federal law.
Virginia state officials must go to federal prison for engaging in seditious conspiracy, insurrections and other very serious federal felonies. Anything less would threaten the existence of the Republic.
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South Carolina pastor describes evacuating members from Middle East after war broke out during Israel trip
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SUMMERVILLE, S.C. – Dozens of members of a South Carolina church are finally back in the United States after Operation Epic Fury left them stranded in Israel for nearly a week after their flight was supposed to depart.
Forty members of Calvary Chapel Summerville landed in Israel on Feb. 20 for eight days of exploration in the Holy Land.
The group was set to fly home on Feb. 28 and had arrived at the airport three hours before their scheduled departure when the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran. The attack prompted the closure of Israel’s airspace and the group had to evacuate the airport.
“It felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders and I just prayed and prayed and prayed and asked God to give me wisdom,” said Vic Carroll, pastor at Calvary Chapel Summerville in South Carolina.
TRAVELERS STRANDED IN DUBAI PAYING HUGE SUMS TO FLEE ON PRIVATE CHARTER FLIGHTS AMID OPERATION EPIC FURY
Members of Calvary Chapel Summerville visit Al-Khazneh in Petra. (Melanie Carroll)
Carroll said the group had to shelter-in-place in Israel, going in and out of bomb shelters for several days. He then had to face the decision of the group staying or taking a bus to Jordan to have a shot at getting a flight back to the United States.
“We ultimately, you know, made the decision between what was bad and what was worse. I thought the worst would be to stay,” the pastor said.
“We were instructed that if a siren goes off while we were on the road, the bus would pull over, we would all need to get on the ground, lay on the ground face-down for at least 10 minutes until the threat was gone, and then be on our way,” he continued.
STATE DEPARTMENT USES PATRIOTS TEAM PLANE TO EVACUATE AMERICANS FROM MIDDLE EAST
The members of Calvary Chapel Summerville sightseeing in the Holy Land. (Melanie Carroll)
Fortunately, that did not happen and the group made it to the airport in Jordan to hop on a flight out of the Middle East Thursday morning.
Before the flight, Carroll said it was frightening, but their faith was greater than their fear.
“We’re just having to trust that we’re making the right decision, and this is our only option to get home, so we [were] just trusting in God,” he said.
AMERICAN STUCK IN MIDDLE EAST ESCAPES IN RACE TO REACH CRITICALLY ILL HUSBAND IN CALIFORNIA
The group returned to the U.S. on Thursday night, landing at JFK in New York.
Melanie Carroll, the pastor’s wife, texted, “We are so thankful!!!!! It’s surreal!!”
Melanie and Vic Carroll while visiting The Holy Land. (Kailey Schuyler)
The unexpected extension of the trip caused the price tag to increase significantly. Melanie created a GoFundMe, writing, “The path to get us home between lodging, flights and transfers will be upwards of $2500 per person.”
The group was able to raise their goal of $100,000 in less than three days.
Melanie said the group is continuing to pray for everyone trying to get out of the Middle East.
Nearly 24,000 Americans have returned to the U.S. after fleeing the Middle East since Operation Epic Fury began last week, according to the State Department.
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Nebraska33 minutes agoSergeant Mad Bear Recreation Area opens in Gretna
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Nevada39 minutes agoHistoric Nevada elementary school to close this summer
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New Hampshire44 minutes agoBank Robber, Sexual Assaulter, With 40-Plus Year Criminal History, Wanted On Parole Violation: NH DOC