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Anti-Israel protesters at Florida universities can be ‘expelled’: DeSantis

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Anti-Israel protesters at Florida universities can be ‘expelled’: DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a former Republican presidential candidate for the 2024 race, said Thursday that any anti-Israel protesters on Florida college campuses could face expulsion for any harassing, offensive or belligerent behavior.

This comes as Ivy League schools like Columbia University, Harvard and Yale have all faced pro-Palestinian protesters overtaking their campuses with encampments and intimidation towards the Jewish population. Schools like Texas, USC and the University of Minnesota have also faced challenges, with Texas and USC having more than 100 people arrested, collectively, between the two on Wednesday.

DeSantis told a group of people at a “Strengthening Florida” event Thursday that pro-Palestinian demonstrators are “taking over bridges, and they’re taking over roads.”

“First of all, you don’t have a right to do that,” DeSantis said, adding that if someone in a medical emergency who needed to get to a hospital might get stuck in unwarranted traffic at an inopportune time.

PARENTS WARN OF ‘NIGHTMARE’ CLIMATE ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CAMPUS: JEWISH STUDENTS ‘ARE BEING THREATENED’

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“Someone may need to pick up a child somewhere, and you’re just going to commandeer the road because you have this [ideology]?” 

The governor recanted when a similar group tried to do that in Miami, and “in 10 minutes they got dragged off the road where they belong.”

“We’re not going to tolerate that,” DeSantis said, which was followed by a room full of applause. 

Pro-Palestine students demonstrate on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)

DeSantis called demonstrators who protest on behalf of Hamas “absurd.” He said that chasing Jewish students around, and not letting Jewish professors into certain places, “isn’t free speech. That’s harassment. That violates appropriate conduct.”

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The governor said anti-Israel protesters at Yale and Columbia “rule the roost, do whatever they want.” He said those university presidents are “weak, scared, and they don’t do anything.”

“You do that at Florida, at our universities, we’re showing you the door. You’re’ going to be expelled when you’re doing that stuff,” he said. “And you know what? The minute people start to face consequences, you are not going to see this nonsense going on.”

DeSantis later tweeted his speech with this statement attached, echoing his earlier comments.

“At places like Columbia and Yale, Hamas protesters rule the roost, and the universities are too weak and scared to do anything — even as these mobs harass Jewish students and faculty,” DeSantis tweeted Thursday.

Anti-Israel agitators at Columbia issue defiant ultimatum, end ‘negotiations’ with school

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“If you try that at a Florida university, you are going to be expelled.”

Florida is home to three of the country’s most-populated campuses, with the University of Central Florida at fourth in the country with 68,442 students. The University of Florida is fifth in the country with 60,795 students, and Florida International University in Miami has 55,687 students, all according to enrollments from the 2022-23 academic year.

A woman is arrested at a pro-Palestinan protest

A woman is arrested at a pro-Palestinan protest at the University of Texas Wednesday April 24, 2024. Jay Janner / American-Statesman (Jay Janner / American-Statesman)

Two Texas schools in the top 10 have had demonstrations and protests this week. Texas A&M University, the second-largest populated campus in the country with 74,869 students, saw a small gathering of pro-Palestinian students Tuesday reading to folks on the College Station campus to raise money to evacuate a family trapped in Gaza. There were no reported frictions or arrests.

Meanwhile, two hours west in Austin at the University of Texas — the 10th-most populated campus in the country with 52,384 students — there were hundreds of anti-Israel protesters who flooded a campus lawn Wednesday. Many of them clashed with local police officers and state troopers. There were 57 arrests on Wednesday, and 46 of those charges have already been dropped, according to the Texas Tribune.

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Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to Trump case, court rules

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Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to Trump case, court rules

A Georgia judge has ruled that state lawmakers can subpoena Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as part of an inquiry into whether she engaged in misconduct during her prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump.

In his Dec. 23 order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram gave Willis until Jan. 13 to file a list of claimed privileges and objections to anything that has been subpoenaed.

Willis plans to appeal the decision. 

“We believe the ruling is wrong and will appeal,” former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who is representing Willis in the case, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

GEORGIA APPEALS COURT DISQUALIFIES DA FANI WILLIS AND HER TEAM FROM TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is seen in Atlanta.  (Alyssa Pointer, Getty Images)

Earlier this month, an appeals court removed Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Trump and others, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The panel also cited the romantic relationship between Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

“This is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,” the court said. 

At the time, Trump called the case a “disgrace to justice.”

“It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump,” he said, “They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips.” 

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Donald Trumo points

President-elect Donald Trump points at AmericaFest, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix. On Monday, Trump pledged to have the Justice Department pursue the death penalty following President Biden’s move to commute death sentences for 37 inmates.  (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

In August, the Republican-led Senate committee sent subpoenas to Willis seeking to compel her to testify in September. She skipped a hearing that month when lawmakers hoped to question her. 

The committee was formed to examine misconduct allegations against Willis during her prosecution of Trump over efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.

FANI WILLIS WAS ‘TERRIFIED’ BECAUSE HER CASE AGAINST TRUMP WAS ‘WEAK,’ ATTORNEY SAYS

Fani Willis and Nathan Wade

Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.  (Getty Images)

Barnes, Willis’ attorney, argued the subpoenas were overly broad and not related to a legitimate legislative need and that the Senate committee didn’t have the power to subpoena her in the first place. 

One issue raised is that the Georgia legislative term will end when lawmakers are sworn in for their new term on Jan. 13. Republican state Sen. Greg Dolezal said last week that he plans to file legislation to re-establish the committee at the beginning of the 2025 legislative session.

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“The law is clear, and the ruling confirms what we knew all along,” Dolezal wrote in a text Friday. “Judge Ingram rejected every argument made by Willis in her attempt to dodge providing testimony to the committee under oath. I look forward to D.A. Willis honoring the subpoena and providing documents and testimony to our committee.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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South Carolina AG leads legal battle over gender pronoun rules in school districts

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South Carolina AG leads legal battle over gender pronoun rules in school districts

South Carolina’s attorney general is leading a legal battle over gender pronoun rules in the U.S.’s public school districts. 

AG Alan Wilson appeared on “The Faulkner Focus” on Friday to explain how some gender pronoun rules in school districts threaten free speech. 

The case started with a school district outside Columbus, Ohio, that adopted policies requiring everyone to use a student’s preferred pronouns, which parental rights groups challenged and lost in both the district and appeals courts. Now, Ohio and South Carolina are leading 23 states in a legal battle, claiming the action “reflects the unusually egregious government action here” and, “The First Amendment forbids school officials from coercing students to express messages inconsistent with the student’s values.”

VIRGINIA SCHOOL BOARD TO PAY ‘WRONGFULLY FIRED’ TEACHER WHO REFUSED TO USE STUDENT’S PREFERRED PRONOUNS

Wilson, who is co-leading the legal fight, said local school districts across the country, like the one in Ohio, are compelling students “to lie to violate their own personal viewpoints.”

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“That is something that we cannot abide in Ohio, South Carolina or any state in this country,” he said. “Yes, the lawsuit has gotten struck down, or we have lost at the district court and the court of appeals level, but this is one of those cases that I think is best served by going to the US Supreme Court.” 

Wilson pointed out that in 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that teachers and students don’t shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate, but argues that the school district in Ohio is trying to force all students to say things that many might not believe in.

VIRGINIA TEACHER SAYS ‘A LOT’ OF STAFF DISAGREED, SOME QUIT OVER MANDATE TO USE STUDENTS’ PREFERRED PRONOUNS

“Parental rights groups are doing what I think groups around the country are all doing, and it’s trying to protect their children from being compelled to not only violate their First Amendment rights inside the schoolhouse, but this policy, the one in Ohio in particular, would do the same thing outside of school,” he said.  

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“If you were at a mall on a Saturday or you were texting a friend or putting something on X or Twitter or whatever, you could be penalized when you showed up at school on Monday morning for using the wrong pronoun that someone found offensive,” he added. 

 

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Sylvester Stallone axes $35 million mansion sea barrier plans after angering Palm Beach neighbors

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Sylvester Stallone axes  million mansion sea barrier plans after angering Palm Beach neighbors

Sylvester Stallone is standing down on his initial plan to build an underwater barrier near his Palm Beach home. 

After he angered several neighbors in his affluent, waterfront community, Stallone made a plea during the Town Council meeting in Palm Beach on Thursday. 

Stallone previously addressed concerns about marine life and water quality on the Palm Beach shore near his $35 million mansion. 

SYLVESTER STALLONE ANGERS PALM BEACH NEIGHBORS WITH UNIQUE REQUEST TO PROTECT $35 MILLION MANSION

“Rocky” star Sylvester Stallone abandoned his initial plan to build an underwater barrier near his Palm Beach home.  (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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“We wanted to bring back this, it’s almost a sanctuary,” Stallone, 78, pleaded, according to The Palm Beach Post. 

“You’re great neighbors and you’ve been here a long time… we respect your work and the way you see this,” Stallone said, adding that his plan for the barrier “was not just a vanity thing.”

While the “Rocky” star attended the Town Council meeting with his wife Jennifer Flavin Stallone, neighbors continued to be angered by his message and dismissed his plea. 

Sylvester Stallone and his wife

Stallone made a plea during a Palm Beach Town Council meeting with his wife, Jennifer Flavin. (Getty Images)

“If you’re out there in the channel … and a big boat comes, you have to get out of the way quickly,” a former U.S. Army major general argued to the council and explained how the barrier would create a safety issue.

“A barrier like this would merely trap the trash and push it farther down the line,” a lifelong resident echoed. 

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Council President Bobbie Lindsay joked and told Stallone, “It’s tough being so famous.”

WATCH: SYLVESTER STALLONE SHARES HE HAS ‘TONS OF REGRETS’

“I think today we’re being asked by our residents, and you can see where this is heading, to not support this particular application,” she said. “And I would hope that when we do that … that we also at the same time invite you to please work with us to go after some of these injustices that are happening in our waterway.”

The meeting concluded with Stallone agreeing to withdraw his application. 

SYLVESTER STALLONE’S DAUGHTER HAS SCARY EXPERIENCE WITH STRANGER IN NEW YORK

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Reps for Stallone did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Stallone’s plans to build the underwater barrier in the Intracostal Waterway near his massive Palm Beach home stemmed from an application he previously submitted that neighbors were reportedly blindsided by, according to the outlet. 

Sylvester Stallone looks off in the distance during a panel

The “Tulsa King” star’s application also included a request for a lease of state land due to the positioning of the barrier which is owned by the state, according to records. (Getty Images)

What appears to be billed as an environmental project needed to keep out debris and seaweed from the waterway, “the overall project purpose is to exclude boaters” from being near the property, a public notice from the Army Corps stated. Seaweed is listed as a secondary concern.

The proposal request from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection stated Stallone’s surrounding neighbors have until 5 p.m. on Christmas Day to comment on the actor’s project, according to the outlet.

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The “Tulsa King” star’s application also included a request for a lease of state land due to the positioning of the barrier which is owned by the state, according to records.

Records indicated the barrier application was submitted in January 2023, with plans received by the Army Corps in August. A month-long public comment period began on Oct. 24, where one question was submitted regarding manatees becoming entangled, and the proposed project’s effects on seagrasses.

Jennifer Flavin, Sistine Stallone, Sylvester Stallone and Sophia Stallone

In 2021, Stallone was confirmed as the buyer of a sprawling $35 million home, which sits on approximately 1.5 lakefront acres, facing over 250 feet of beach with a dock. (Amy Sussman)

“He bought a beautiful property,” Stallone’s neighbor Bradford Gary told the outlet, calling the home “one of the nicest West Indies houses” in the North End. “I can see why you’d want to protect it. But you can’t just kind of stake your claim and think you own the water.”

In 2021, Stallone was confirmed as the buyer of a sprawling $35 million home, which sits on approximately 1.5 lakefront acres, facing over 250 feet of beach with a dock.

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The total living space – including a main house, a guest house and a pool pavilion near the keyhole-shaped pool in the backyard – is over 13,000 square feet. Between the main and guest spaces, the property has seven bedrooms and 12 baths.

Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.

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