Southeast
Army officials to face House grilling on training slides that designated pro-life groups as terrorists
EXCLUSIVE — House Republicans will bring in Army officials to testify at a hearing next week on a training presentation that referred to pro-life groups as terrorists, Fox News Digital has learned.
The House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel will hear Thursday afternoon from Agnes Schaefer, assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and Reserve affairs, and Lt. Gen. Patrick Matlock, Army deputy chief of staff.
Republicans led by Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Subcommittee Chairman Jim Banks, R-Ind., wrote a letter to Army Secretary Christine Wormuth demanding information about the slide deck.
The Army recently wrote back, admitting that the slides “inaccurately referenced” pro-life groups like Right to Life and Operation Rescue, and a slew of pro-animal and green groups like PETA, as “terrorist organizations.”
LAWMAKERS RIP ARMY BRASS FOR TRAINING SLIDES SUGGESTING PRO LIFE GROUPS COULD BE TIED TO TERRORISM
Schaefer wrote that the training deck, which was used to teach 9,100 Army soldiers at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, between 2017 and 2024, was “inconsistent with Army’s antiterrorism policy and training.”
She said the slides had not been reviewed by Fort Liberty leadership and are no longer in use. Schaefer added there is “no evidence” to suggest the individual who created the slide deck did so to “deliberately subvert” Army policy or to “further a personal viewpoint.”
The slides were used to conduct terror awareness training for soldiers assigned to guarding the gates at Fort Liberty. Schaefer said the slides were not shared outside of Fort Liberty.
LAWMAKERS DEMAND ANSWERS OVER SCANT PROGRESS ADDRESSING SQUALID BARRACKS CONDITIONS
The Republican letter in July said the slides indicated members of pro-life organizations could be threats to the safety of military installations and that regalia of such groups, like a pro-life license plate, could potentially indicate terrorism.
Officials at the Fayetteville, North Carolina, garrison said the person using the slides remains employed at the facility.
“It’s downright ridiculous to claim the slide deck doesn’t ‘further a personal viewpoint,’ but there have been no consequences for the employee who ran anti-life training sessions at Fort Liberty that clearly violated Army policy,” Banks told Fox News Digital.
Rogers said the hearing will be held “to get answers on how this occurred and ensure it never happens again.”
In June, the Army revised some of its policies, with Wormuth announcing that “active participation in extremist activities can be prohibited even in some circumstances in which such activities would be constitutionally protected in a civilian setting.”
Service members are now prohibited from liking, sharing or engaging with content supporting extremism, according to the American Legion.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Florida teen kills both parents in 1 year: police
A teen who killed his father in Oklahoma last year but claimed self-defense, thereby avoiding prosecution, faces first-degree murder charges in Florida for allegedly stabbing his mother to death.
The 17-year-old faces first-degree murder charges in the death of his 39-year-old mother. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a Wednesday press conference that he is pushing the state attorney’s office to try the teen as an adult and that he’s confident the teen would reoffend if released.
“When you look at this, you see a kid,” Judd said. “When I look at him, I see a psychopath. I see totally erratic behavior to the point that he’s already, at 17 years of age, shot and killed his father and got away with it and stabbed his mother in the neck so hard that the knife went all the way through.
“Now he’s killed two people and killed his mother and father, and I can assure you – beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt – based upon his conduct, had he gone to live with his grandmother at the end of this, and she crossed him, she would be next.”
GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SUSPECT’S MOM DEFENDS HER SON IN MESSAGE TO VICTIM’S FAMILIES
The teen initially told 911 dispatchers that his mother “fell into a knife” after a “very long fight” on Sunday, Judd said.
Deputies who arrived at The Hamptons – a 55-and-older community in Auburndale about 50 miles east of Tampa, where the teen’s grandmother is a resident – found him “calm, cool, collected – and he had blood on him,” Judd said.
The 17-year-old reportedly became “uncooperative,” showed “zero remorse” and had no sense of urgency about his gravely wounded mom.
“He looked the deputy in the eye and said, ‘I know my rights, I want an attorney,’” Judd said.
Despite the teen’s claims of a protracted fight with his mother before her death, the home was “neat and clean [with] no evidence of any kind of long fight,” Judd said.
MOTHER OF PARKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIM PUSHES FOR BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION AFTER GEORGIA MASS SHOOTING
Witnesses allegedly saw the teen and his mother shouting at each other outside the residence before the teen grabbed his mother by the hair and dragged her inside as she repeatedly pleaded, “Let me go,” police said.
The teen’s grandmother, who was not present during the altercation, told WFLA that the teen had been verbally and physically confrontational with his mother on several occasions.
After his mother was pronounced dead, a medical examiner determined that the deep knife wound in her neck was inconsistent with an accidental injury.
“The medical examiner said it’s just not reasonable or plausible that she died the way that he said she did,” Judd said on Wednesday. “It just didn’t happen.”
Judd said that as investigators started “to peel back the layer of this onion,” they “[found] out that this is not just a singular event”; last year, the teen’s father also died by his hand.
“On Feb. 14, 2023, Valentine’s Day, in Lincoln County, Oklahoma, [he] said his dad pulled a knife on him, and he shot and killed his dad,” Judd said. “He shot him once in the chest and once in the head, and he claimed self-defense.”
FLORIDA BALLROOM DANCER HIT MOTORCYCLIST THEN DROVE OFF WITH BIKE STUCK TO HER CAR, POLICE SAY
Oklahoma authorities dropped charges against the teen less than a month after the shooting because they could not disprove his “assertion of self-defense,” Judd said.
The teen’s mother paid $50,000 to bail him out of jail, the New York Post reported. Then he moved into her Charlotte County, Florida, home and was involuntarily committed to a hospital for mental health reasons within a month.
Around this time, Judd said, he made a threatening statement: “I’ll kill myself, or I’ll kill my mother by shooting or stabbing her.”
In November 2023, the teen “pushed [his mother] to the ground and … stomped on her” after she took away his video game privileges, Judd said. He was arrested and claimed self-defense again, but the argument failed that time, and he spent time behind bars, the sheriff said.
After another argument with his mother in February of this year, the teen fled to his grandmother’s house in Auburndale. The teen’s mother and grandmother both contacted the sheriff’s office around that time and said they felt unsafe around him, Judd said, and at that point, the teen was turned over to family services.
But despite making more threats to kill his mother, the teen was reunited with his family despite making threats to kill his mother again about two weeks later, Judd said.
According to the sheriff, the teen got into “an argument about home chores” that led him to “flee from his mother’s house and [go to] his grandmother’s house” on Sept. 6. The suspect’s mother drove to the grandmother’s house the next day, which is when she and the teenager got into the altercation that cost her life.
Judd said he will share any information uncovered in his department’s investigation that could incriminate the teen in his father’s death with authorities in Oklahoma.
“If Oklahoma had been able to act, [the teen’s mother] would be alive and well today,” he said. “But because she took him in and tried to do like a mother should do and took care of him, she’s now dead. Everybody that should be special to him in his life is dead when they cross him,” he added.
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Jimmy Carter’s family reveals how president felt about Biden quitting, which DNC speaker stole the show
Former President Jimmy Carter is paying close attention to the election cycle while in hospice care and grieving the loss of his wife, Rosalynn Carter, their son revealed in a recent interview.
“He does not believe Donald Trump should be president again,” James Earl “Chip” Carter III, the second child of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, told the Washington Post last week.
Carter, the longest-lived American president at 99, entered hospice care in February of last year, but he has remained committed to following the presidential election, his son said. Last month, the 39th president watched the speakers of the DNC, who gathered in Chicago in support of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s presidential campaign.
Carter’s son said the former president believed Harris’ speech was “great,” but noted another speaker stole the show.
JIMMY CARTER, LONGEST LIVING US PRESIDENT, TURNS 99
“He thought Michelle Obama was the best, and he thought Kamala was great, too,” Chip Carter said.
Before the DNC kicked off last month and Carter diligently watched the speakers, he typically spent his days watching baseball games streamed on his TV, as well as 1950s TV shows, such as “Leave it to Beaver,” and eating mini red velvet and caramel flavored cupcakes, his family told the outlet.
JIMMY CARTER, 99, MARKS ONE YEAR IN HOME HOSPICE CARE
Carter watched President Biden officially drop out of the presidential race at the end of July amid mounting concern over Biden’s mental acuity and 81 years of age, his son told the outlet. Carter looked toward his son during Biden’s address and described the 46th president bowing out in favor of a younger Democratic generation taking the mantle as “sad,” the Washington Post reported.
The former president is four-square against Trump securing a second term, his son explained, saying his father believes Trump is not truthful when he speaks publicly. Chip Carter added that voting for Harris on Nov. 5 is a priority for the former president.
AS JIMMY CARTER MARKS 1 YEAR IN HOSPICE CARE, ADVOCATES HOPE TO DISPEL HOSPICE MISCONCEPTIONS
Carter will turn 100 on Oct. 1, with Chip Carter pushing back on speculation that his dad is staying alive to reach the milestone.
“He said he didn’t care about that. It’s just a birthday. He said he cared about voting for Kamala Harris.”
”He is big-time interested in this campaign,” Chip Carter added.
Carter suffered tragedy in November, when his wife of 77 years died after she was admitted to hospice care. Rosalynn Carter was 96 and surrounded by her family at their home in Plains, Georgia, when she died on a Sunday in November.
FORMER FIRST LADY ROSALYNN CARTER DEAD AT 96
“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” President Jimmy Carter said in a statement after her passing. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
WHY JIMMY CARTER IS THE FATHER OF THE POST-PRESIDENCY, SAW THE POWER OF HIS STATUS
Jimmy Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter, told the Washington Post that the former president went through a “low period” after her death but has since perked up to discuss the election cycle.
“After my grandmother passed, he had a pretty long low period when he wasn’t really engaging much at all,” Jason Carter said. “But now he’s talking about politics again.”
Jimmy Carter and his immediate family visited Rosalynn Carter’s grave on her birthday last month, where the former president sat silently at her headstone for about 20 minutes.
“He was looking at her tombstone, and I started talking, and he told me to be quiet,” Chip Carter said. “No doubt he was praying, but he could have been just having a conversation with Mom.”
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Glenn Youngkin spars with Texas journalist over education in front of rowdy liberal audience
AUSTIN, Texas – Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin faced a hostile liberal crowd as he sparred with a local journalist over his education agenda at the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival.
Youngkin, who famously won his 2021 gubernatorial race on the issue of education, was the closing keynote speaker at the annual political conference and was grilled in an interview Saturday night with Texas Tribune co-founder Evan Smith.
“So let me put myself in the frame of mind of an educator… Don’t you trust educators to do their jobs?” Smith asked. “If educators believe that books should be on a syllabus or part of a course, haven’t we, for years, trusted our educators to make decisions that were good enough to educate us? Why would they not be good enough to educate our kids?”
PELOSI SUGGESTS ‘30%’ OF REPUBLICANS ARE RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC: THEY’D ‘NEVER’ VOTE DEMOCRAT
“Because there were books that were put on the curriculum for classes that families – and remember, Virginia is an incredibly diverse state,” Youngkin responded. “We have a large Muslim population, a large Jewish population, a large Hindu population, a large Hispanic population, a large Black population. I mean, we are an incredibly diverse state, and there are materials that were on the curriculum that really were inconsistent with a family’s personal values. And therefore, this bill was put in front of Gov. McAuliffe at the time – passed unanimously out of our Senate. I mean, unanimous… it was transparency and an opt-out for a replacement, and he vetoed it.”
“And that was at the heart of this question, which is who should be making this decision? And I firmly believe that parents should first have full transparency in what’s being taught in school. And second of all, if there is something that is completely counter with their family values, they should be able to request a replacement piece to the curriculum,” Youngkin continued.
Smith then told Youngkin that he now has a “reputation” of being “the governor who bans books,” citing an Axios report alleging that “nearly 400 book titles were targeted for bans in Virginia libraries last year.”
“First of all, the idea of common sense being attributed to a family so they can make a decision about whether their child is reading a book that’s consistent with their family values is something when we explain this, everybody says yes. It doesn’t fit with the progressive narrative. And so what they call that is ‘book banning’ because it doesn’t fit with the narrative,” Youngkin told Smith.
“Is that what Axios is referring to? There are 400 books that parents can opt out of or have those books been removed?” Smith pressed the governor.
GRETCHEN WHITMER REJECTS POLLS SHOWING HARRIS UP 5 POINTS AGAINST TRUMP IN MICHIGAN: ‘IT’S JUST NOT TRUE’
Youngkin pushed back, citing a pre-existing law that libraries and school boards can assess what book titles are appropriate for children.
“It was not new and on top of that… the fact that parents, Republicans, independents and Democrats believe that they should be at the head of the table in their child’s life, and they should have a say in their child’s life and things shouldn’t happen to their children without parents knowing and being involved, is common sense. It is a strong majority that believes this,” Youngkin said. “And so that what the progressive left wanted to do was change the narrative. And so ‘this is all about book banning.’ It’s not about book banning. This is about empowering parents to have-“
Some in the crowd let out audible groans to Youngkin, prompting Smith to tell them “please” with a pausing gesture.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
“This is about having parents to have full transparency what’s going on in their kids’ lives,” Youngkin finished his thought.
“And the authors of books that have been removed from library shelves who say Virginia is censoring us. You say what to them?” Smith followed.
“I say first of all, Virginia is not censoring,” Youngkin responded. “What school boards, local school boards are doing is exercising their legal and responsible right to assess whether books are appropriate in the schools and whether they are age appropriate.”
MSNBC’S JEN PSAKI SAYS HARRIS SHOULD ‘MAKE AN EFFORT’ TO SHAKE TRUMP’S HAND AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
“You worry that there’s been some over-correction here?” Smith asked. “I mean, I remember Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’ coming up in the context of this discussion. I don’t know that you or anybody on your campaign specifically called that book out, but we know that that book became part of this conversation. I mean, I remember reading ‘Beloved’ in school, in English class. Is that the kind of book that we want to pull off of a library shelf?”
“What grade did you read it in?” Youngkin countered.
“I mean, high school,” Smith answered.
“Is it appropriate for a first-grader or second-grader?” Youngkin then followed. “I’m just asking.”
That exchange sparked some boos from the liberal crowd.
Moments later, Smith quoted Youngkin’s neighboring colleague, Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who said during last month’s Democratic convention in Chicago “Loving your country doesn’t mean lying about its history,” prompting him to ask Youngkin whether he agreed.
“I have consistently and clearly said we must teach all of our history, the good and the bad, all of it. All of it,” Youngkin said. “What I’ve also said is we shouldn’t blame people today for what’s happened historically. We just want everybody to understand it. It’s why when we’ve eventually got to the finish line on our history curriculum, we have, I believe, rated the best history curriculum in America today because we tell all of our history. We in fact made sure that we were going to include a broad, broad education associated with slavery, with reconstruction, with civil rights, also with the Holocaust. And we need to make sure that our students understand these pivotal moments in our history so that we don’t ever repeat them.”
Youngkin later added, “I have to say, what the progressive left does really well is push people into this ‘either or’ moment. It’s either this or that. And I don’t live there. I believe we can live in a ‘both and’ world. We can teach all of our history, the good and the bad, and we can make sure that we’re not penalizing or trying to blame people today for what happened a long time ago. We can do both of these things, and if we do this well, then in fact, we have a generation of students who are educated and are in an ability to make the right decisions going forward, because we’re gonna have to hand our state and our country to this next generation of students.”
The liberal attendees did offer Youngkin applause when he touted his administration’s effort to give teachers raises, but later they reacted against him after he noted that Democratic state lawmakers blocked legislative efforts towards passing a school voucher program.
Read the full article from Here
-
Business1 week ago
How Self-Driving Cars Get Help From Humans Hundreds of Miles Away
-
World1 week ago
Meloni says 'we are making history' as Italy’s FDI reviews progress
-
World1 week ago
Israeli forces using ‘war-like’ tactics in occupied West Bank: OCHA
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Queer: Daniel Craig shines in Luca Guadagnino’s steamy drama
-
World1 week ago
How Venezuela’s recent history can inform its present-day election crisis
-
News1 week ago
Georgia school shooting live updates: Casualties reported at Apalachee High School, suspect in custody
-
World1 week ago
Frontex chief: NGO rescue ships don't embolden Mediterranean migration
-
Politics1 week ago
Trump, Kamala aiming for the middle with varying degrees of success