Southwest
Polygamist cult leader's daughter breaks free, says false prophet abused her: 'The world could see the shame'
It was New Year’s Eve 2014 when the daughter of polygamist cult leader Warren Jeffs finally broke free.
“When I stepped out, I remembered thinking, ‘Gosh, I should have left sooner,’” Rachel Blackmore recalled to Fox News Digital. “There’s just so much life out there.”
The mother of seven is coming forward in a new A&E docuseries, “Secrets of Polygamy,” which explores extreme polygamist groups across the country.
It features new sit-downs with one of Jeffs’ former wives and former members and investigators.
SON OF POLYGAMOUS CULT LEADER WARREN JEFFS SPEAKS OUT IN DOC: ‘WE WERE BRAINWASHED’
Rachel Blackmore is speaking out in A&E’s “Secrets of Polygamy.” (A&E)
Jeffs, 68, was sentenced in 2011 to life in prison after his conviction on two counts of child sexual abuse. In 2017, Blackmore wrote a memoir, “Breaking Free.”
“It’s been really important to me to give a voice to the young girls who have been sexually abused,” Blackmore shared.
Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The mainstream church abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it.
The headquarters of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado City, Ariz. The home base of FLDS is on the Arizona-Utah border. (Getty Images)
The FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) broke away from the Mormon church and was formed so that members could continue practicing plural marriage. It was headquartered on the Utah-Arizona border. Jeffs’ father, Rulon T. Jeffs, took power in 1986 and ruled until he died in 2002 at age 92. He left behind an estimated 75 widows and 65 children.
FORMER CHILD BRIDE WHO HELPED TAKE DOWN CULT LEADER WARREN JEFFS SPEAKS OUT IN NEW DOCUMENTARY
Following Rulon’s death, Warren Jeffs took over as the group’s prophet. In the FLDS, it is believed the prophet can speak directly to God and direct which male members can enter heaven. The prophet can also perform marriages and assign wives to their husbands. In pleasing the prophet, loyal members are rewarded with more wives, who “belong” to their spouses for eternity, NPR reported. Members believe that each man must have at least three wives.
“I think, as a child, you don’t realize when something’s bad all the time,” Blackmore recalled. “I think, for a lot of us, that’s how it was. … I felt protected from the world. I was taught that the outside world was wicked.”
The grave of FLDS prophet Rulon Jeffs. He fathered more than 60 children. (Getty Images)
Jeffs has an estimated 78 wives and 53 biological children.
“We had to wear sleeves to our wrists and long dresses. Our hair had to be braided a certain way,” Blackmore said. “And there were the continual teachings of polygamy where there was a leader, one man, and you never questioned him. … We were taught that if we wanted to go to heaven, we had to live polygamy. We had to have sister wives and marry a man we were told to marry, not who we wanted to choose. All of those restrictions were accepted because that’s all we knew.”
In the series, Blackmore claimed Jeffs sexually molested her when she was eight years old. She noted that women and girls couldn’t express anger or jealousy without enduring punishment. Instead, they had to “be sweet.”
Several young women play football in the dirt yard of one of the many schools in Colorado City, Ariz., owned and run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints March 3, 2004. (George Frey)
“I have always been taught that boys don’t touch girls, that our bodies must be covered,” she said. “So, when Warren started sexually abusing me, I was just shocked. I just felt so guilty. I just put the shame on myself. … I just felt the whole world could see the shame. I went from being a joyful girl to being shy and quiet. And I didn’t tell anyone for a long time because I felt shame. I was embarrassed.”
Blackmore said the abuse continued until she was 16.
“I faced Warren one day and told him that I hated him doing those things to me,” she explained. “I didn’t know words like ‘molest,’ ‘abuse’ or ‘rape.’ He listened and asked for my forgiveness. And he stopped doing it. But then he started marrying younger girls after that.”
‘ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT’ SURVIVOR JAN BROBERG RECALLS BEING KIDNAPPED TWICE: ‘A MONSTER BEHIND A SMILE’
Rachel Blackmore claimed her father, Warren Jeffs (pictured here), started molesting her when she turned 8. (Douglas C. Pizac/AFP)
At 18, Blackmore was forced into an arranged marriage. Her husband already had two wives. They met for the first time on the day before their wedding.
“Warren performed the marriages. He decided who married who,” Blackmore said. “He chose my husband for me, and he kept control of our marriage. He had the say of what my husband and I did at all times.”
For years, Blackmore wondered what life was like in the outside world. She feared that her five children would endure the same abuse she did. And when one of her younger sisters confessed that she was also molested by Jeffs, Blackmore had enough.
Rachel Blackmore said she was stunned by her sister’s revelation. (Visions of America/Joe Sohm/Universal Images Group)
“It was a big moment for me,” Blackmore said. “I realized it wasn’t my fault. Warren had a problem with sexual abuse. And we both agreed that we didn’t trust him with our kids. That’s when I said, ‘I’m going to leave.’ It was the first time I said it out loud. And when I did, I knew it was the final decision for me. Even though I didn’t leave for a few months after, I knew that was it.”
Little by little, Blackmore was “disobedient” as she began taking her children out on longer walks and leaving the property. Every time she got in trouble for “spreading my wings,” she was also getting a taste of freedom. But time was ticking. Blackmore learned that, as punishment, she was going to be placed in a bishop’s house, a property with towering walls and coded gates. Blackmore knew if she ended up there, she and her children would never be able to leave.
“It was scary, but I was sneaky,” said Blackmore. “I got my kids out during the night to my sister’s house. She had already left.”
NETFLIX’S ‘OUR FATHER’: FILM EXPLORES TRAUMA CAUSED BY INDIANA FERTILITY DOCTOR WHO IMPREGNATED HIS PATIENTS
Rachel Blackmore fled the compound in secret with her five children. (George Frey)
Blackmore and her children managed to leave the compound in secret.
“I didn’t know how I was going to support five kids on my own,” Blackmore admitted. “I’m not going to pretend that [being free] was easy. It wasn’t. It was really hard. It’s still a growing experience for me. I’m still learning how to make friends and live within a community.
“I remember experiencing Christmas and Easter for the first time,” she recalled. “We never got to celebrate those things. I also wanted my children to celebrate their birthdays. I wanted to exchange gifts. I wanted them to go to a school and meet all kinds of people. I wanted them to experience what it was like to date. I never got to experience any of those things. There were so many firsts we didn’t have in a cult.”
In this handout provided by the FBI, polygamist Warren Steed Jeffs is pictured on an FBI Ten Most Wanted poster. (FBI)
In 2006, Jeffs, who was on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list, was arrested during a routine traffic stop near Las Vegas. He was booked on two out-of-state warrants issued in Utah and Arizona on charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and rape as an accomplice.
Women and children from the YFZ Ranch, the compound built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, are moved by bus to San Angelo, Texas, April 6, 2008. (Khampha Bouaphanh/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service)
According to prosecutors, Jeffs engaged in sexual abuse with two girls, ages 12 and 14. A key piece of evidence against Jeffs was an audio recording of him instructing his “spiritual bride,” as well as several other girls, on how to please him sexually.
In 2007, Jeffs tried to hang himself in a Utah jail. He was force-fed at an Arizona jail in 2009. Then in 2011, he was sentenced to life in prison. That same year, he was put in a medically-induced coma after fasting behind bars.
Some followers of FLDS still consider Jeffs to be their prophet and that he was wrongfully convicted. But over the years, the group has lost hundreds of members who either left or were cast out.
IDAHO WOMAN RECALLS ESCAPING SERIAL KILLER JOSEPH DUNCAN IN DOC: ‘HOW LONG AM I GOING TO BE ALIVE?’
Warren Jeffs in a booking photo from Sept. 5, 2006, at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah, after he was extradited from Nevada. (Washington County Sheriff)
Blackmore has remarried. And she’s hopeful her story will give hope to other young women like her who left.
“We need to work, more than ever, to protect our children,” she said. “To give children an opportunity to have a good life is important to me. … And as long as there are people who will do what Warren says, he will always be a threat. … But there is strength and healing after trauma. There is hope you can have a better life.”
“Secrets of Polygamy” premieres Jan. 8 at 10 p.m. on A&E. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Southwest
Travis County DA faces renewed ‘soft on crime’ criticism after career criminal charged with murder
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A Texas-based career criminal with a lengthy rap sheet is behind bars in Travis County after he was charged with murdering a father of five outside a 7-Eleven in Austin, reviving scrutiny of Travis County District Attorney José Garza and what critics call his controversial prosecutorial record and “soft on crime” approach.
Caleb Anthony Jenkins, described by police as a career criminal, was charged with murder in connection with a shooting last year that left a 25-year-old father dead outside a 7-Eleven. According to Austin police, Jenkins allegedly shot the victim and drove off.
But critics argue the killing may have been preventable. Garza’s office previously dismissed or declined to prosecute three separate gun charges against Jenkins in incidents dating back to 2022. He was also arrested in 2023 on a domestic violence charge and failed to appear in court, as Fox News reported. Most recently, he was re-arrested and released after his bond was raised.
Taken together, the developments have intensified public criticism of Garza, the Democratic district attorney backed by liberal mega-donor George Soros,
District Attorney Jose Garza in Austin, Texas. (Spencer Selvidge for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Garza, who was elected Travis County DA without prior experience as a prosecutor, has faced criticism from police advocacy groups and victims’ families since taking office. They have accused him of deliberately slow-walking certain cases and embracing lenient sentencing policies.
The criticism has sparked national attention in years past. In 2023, the family of 25-year-old Doug Cantor, who was shot and killed in the 2021 Sixth Street mass shooting in downtown Austin, criticized Garza for slow-walking the trial of the gunman.
Family members told Fox News Digital in an interview at the time that they believed Garza had put the case on the “back burner.”
“It’s very clear that his focus and attention is not on this case,” Nick Kantor told Fox News Digital in an interview reflecting on the two-year anniversary of his brother’s death — and the way Garza, who has been widely criticized for soft-on-crime policies, has handled the case.
AUSTIN DA GARZA CREATES CONFUSION WITH ANNOUNCEMENT OF IMPENDING INDICTMENTS AGAINST MULTIPLE POLICE OFFICERS
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza poses in front of the Austin skyline in a portrait from the county website. Garza has faced criticism for accusations that he aggressively prosecutes police officers accused of wrongdoing while going easy on career criminals. (Travis County DA Website)
“He’s doing things that are clearly causing distress on the trial and on the overall outcome of the case and for getting justice for my brother,” Kantor said.
Other victims’ families cited similar behavior from Garza’s office in interviews with Fox News Digital.
While overall reported crime in Travis County has declined, opponents argue dismissal rates have been “political,” and could further endanger public safety.
It “appears that Garza has now become more of an advocate for the criminal than he has for the victim,” Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officer’s Association, previously told Fox News Digital.
“The prosecution is acting more like defense attorneys than they are prosecutors,” Farris said in an interview roughly one year after Garza took office. “Whatever his skewed view of what criminal justice reform is, it isn’t working. It sure isn’t working for the victims.”
CRIME EXPERTS RESPOND TO SOROS DEFENDING SUPPORT FOR PROGRESSIVE DAS AMID CRIME WAVE: ‘DISASTROUS’
George Soros delivers a speech at the 2022 World Economic Forum in Davos. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
“It used to be that they got the victims’ buy-in before offering plea bargains. Now it doesn’t appear he’s even doing that, because they’re not even communicating with them, and that’s what’s leading to the revictimization of these families.”
Current and former local law enforcement officers have criticized Garza’s actions and his alleged “war on cops,” after the Soros-backed district attorney campaigned on indicting police officers and “reimagining” policing in Austin.
Soros contributed $652,000 to the Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC in the months leading up to the 2020 Travis County DA election, according to campaign finance records.
That same PAC spent almost $1 million on digital and mail advertisements to help Garza’s campaign, as Fox News reported.
The Travis County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Related Article
Read the full article from Here
Southwest
Jasmine Crockett campaign reportedly kicked Atlantic writer out of rally for being a ‘top-notch hater’
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Atlantic staff writer Elaine Godfrey reported that she was “thrown out” of a rally for Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, for being a “top-notch hater” according to Crockett’s team.
“Right before armed guards escorted me from the rally and left me on the edge of a Texas-county road, I was informed that I was no longer welcome at an event that I had already attended,” Godfrey wrote on Thursday.
She described having spent an hour at the Lubbock rally for Crockett’s Senate campaign before being approached by a woman with a badge as soon as she joined other reporters.
Elaine Godfrey claimed Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s team removed her from a rally in Texas earlier this week. (Dustin Franz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“‘Are you Elaine?’ she asked. I recognized her from the entrance of the event, where I had identified myself as she’d waved me into the building’s press area. Yes, I answered. ‘Her team has asked you to leave,’ she said. When I asked why, the staffer looked at her phone and read dutifully: ‘They just said, “Elaine from Atlantic, White girl with a hat and notepad. She’s interviewing people in the crowd. She’s a top-notch hater and will spin. She needs to leave,”’” Godfrey wrote.
Godfrey was the staff writer behind a profile piece for Crockett in July that reportedly received backlash from the Texas representative after including comments from fellow House Democrats “without telling her first.”
“She was, she told me, ‘shutting down the profile and revoking all permissions,’” Godfrey wrote at the time.
BOEBERT JOKES ABOUT ENDORSING CROCKETT IN TEXAS’ SENATE RACE TO GIVE HER DEMOCRATIC RIVAL A BOOST
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. (LM Otero/AP Photo)
The piece was still published and included comments from other Democratic figures.
According to Godfrey, Crockett said that there was “no evidence” that a reporter was removed from her rally but claimed that there was a “specific journalist” who has a “history of being less than truthful” and had previously lost a lawsuit against Crockett.
“Perhaps she was thinking of someone else, because that’s not something that has ever happened to me,” Godfrey wrote.
CROCKETT DISPUTES OPPONENT’S DENIAL OF ‘MEDIOCRE BLACK MAN’ COMMENT, CALLS OUT ‘WELL-INTENTIONED WHITE FOLK’
Godfrey added that her removal from the rally wasn’t a surprise considering Crockett’s firebrand-style of politics, though she expressed concern over how she was handled.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett allegedly tried to shut down an article from Elaine Godfrey after she spoke to other House Democrats. (Bob Daemmrich/The Texas Tribune/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“As security guards began to materialize around me, I wondered to myself what distinguished a top-notch hater from a middling one. I agreed to leave, and four guards, including at least one who was armed, escorted me out of the building, through the parking lot, and right to the edge of the nearby highway, where they waited as I ordered a car,” Godfrey wrote.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett’s office and campaign for comment.
Related Article
Read the full article from Here
Southwest
FAA restricts Texas airspace after Pentagon reportedly strikes down Customs and Border Protection drone
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restricted flights Thursday near Fort Hancock, Texas, after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drone was reportedly shot down by a laser sytem operated by the Pentagon.
While government agencies have not identified who the drone belonged to, top Democrats on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released a joint statement Thursday evening claiming the drone belonged to CBP.
U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen, Bennie Thompson and Andre Carson said their “heads are exploding over the news” that a CBP drone was shot down by the Pentagon with “a high risk counter-unmanned aircraft system.”
The legislators added that this incident is “the result of [the White House’s] incompetence” after a “short-sighted” decision to “sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, DHS and the FAA.”
The FAA expanded a temporary flight restriction near Fort Hancock, Texas, after lawmakers said a Pentagon-operated counter-drone system may have shot down a U.S. government drone. (iStock)
In a joint statement provided to Fox News Digital, the Department of War, CBP and the FAA said the DOW used counter-unmanned aircraft system to respond to a “seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace.”
The departments said the engagement took place “far away from populated areas and there were no commercial aircraft in the vicinity,” adding they “will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future.”
The departments said they are “working together in an unprecedented fashion to mitigate drone threats by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
“The bottom line is the Trump Administration is doing more to secure the border and crack down on cartels than any administration in history,” the statement added.
FBI RAMPS UP COUNTER-DRONE EFFORTS AS PATEL WARNS OF GROWING THREATS FROM CRIMINALS, TERRORISTS
Congressional aides told Reuters that the Pentagon reportedly used the high-energy laser system to accidentally shoot down the CBP drone near the Mexican border, an area that frequently sees incursions from drones believed to be operated by Mexican drug cartels.
The FAA told Fox News Digital that a temporary flight restriction (TFR) was “already in place” around the Fort Hancock area and that the TFR “has been expanded to include a greater radius to ensure safety.”
The restriction does not impact commercial flights, the agency said.
The FAA said in a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) that airspace around Fort Hancock was temporarily restricted for “special security reasons.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The restriction comes a couple of weeks after the FAA grounded flights to and from El Paso International Airport for 10 days before lifting the order roughly eight hours later.
Drones operated by Mexican drug cartels breached American airspace earlier this month near El Paso International Airport in Texas, leading the FAA to temporarily close the airport. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
A Trump administration official previously told Fox News that the initial lockdown came in response to “Mexican cartel drones” that breached U.S. airspace.
A U.S. official later confirmed that the U.S. military had shot down what was later determined to be a party balloon near El Paso.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment and was directed to the joint statement provided by the Department of War, Customs and Border Patrol and Federal Aviation Administration.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related Article
Read the full article from Here
For filmmaker Chloé Zhao, creative life was never linear
Apple’s website leaks MacBook ‘Neo,’ which could be its new cheaper laptop
Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel
Fraud-plagued Minnesota sues Trump admin for withholding $243M in Medicaid payments
Seniors over 80 who eat specific diet may be less likely to reach 100 years old
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Fraud-plagued Minnesota sues Trump admin for withholding $243M in Medicaid payments
Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?
Trump claims US stockpiles mean wars can be fought ‘forever’; Kristi Noem testifies before Congress – US politics live
War in the Middle East: Iran’s broad retaliation in the Gulf • FRANCE 24 English
Trump sends official notification to Congress on strikes against Iran
-
World6 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts6 days agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Denver, CO6 days ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Louisiana1 week agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Oregon4 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling
-
Technology1 week agoArturia’s FX Collection 6 adds two new effects and a $99 intro version
-
Florida2 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
News1 week agoVideo: How Lunar New Year Traditions Take Root Across America