Violent attacks against Christians spike in Europe; France leading the way with anti-Christian hate crimes: Report



Christians are brutally persecuted the world over. According to the watchdog group Open Doors, over 380 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith, and over 4,476 were killed for their faith in 2024 alone.

While the top 10 worst countries for Christians are all in Africa, Asia, and the Indian subcontinent — Nigeria, for instance, saw over 300 Christian schoolchildren abducted during a raid by bandits on Friday — Christians are also subjected to violent attacks, discrimination, and state suppression in supposedly civilized Western nations.

'15 incidents featured satanic symbols or references.'

The U.S. and Canada have together, for instance, seen thousands of acts of hostility against churches in recent years.

Across the Atlantic, a British court handed a grieving father a criminal sentence last year for praying silently near the abortion clinic that killed his unborn son. In France, Christians were reportedly arrested at gunpoint for peacefully protesting the mockery of their faith during the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony. In Spain, a maniac broke into a monastery in November 2024, savagely attacking several people and fatally bludgeoning a Franciscan monk. Farther afield, an Islamic terrorist stabbed an Assyrian bishop on April 15, 2024, in an Australian church.

The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, a Vienna-based watchdog group, recently revealed that violent attacks on Christians spiked in Europe and the U.K. last year.

The watchdog noted in its annual report that a total of 2,211 anti-Christian hate crimes were documented by European governments and civil society organizations in 2024.

OIDAC hinted that the actual number of hate crimes may be much higher, as surveys indicate they are grossly underreported. In Poland, for example, nearly 50% of Catholic priests surveyed indicated that they were met with aggression sometime in the past year, yet over 80% failed to report such incidents.

RELATED: 'Mass slaughter': Trump moves to help Nigerian Christians under attack

Photo by VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images.

Nevertheless, OIDAC indicated that this reflects a general decrease over 2023 — a year when there were 2,444 reported hate crimes. The decrease is partly the result of a dip in recorded incidents in France but largely the result of "lower figures reported by U.K. police, which noted a change in methodology in its official report," the report reads.

Of the 516 anti-Christian hate crimes independently recorded by OIDAC last year, the most frequent form of violence was vandalism, at 50% of reported incidents, followed by arson attacks, 15%; desecration, 13%; physical assaults, 7.5%; theft of religious objects, 5.5%; and threats, accounting for 4% of incidents. These figures do not account for burglaries at religious sites, of which there were nearly 900 additional recorded cases.

While reported anti-Christian hate crimes have generally decreased, the number of personal attacks — including assault, harassment, and threats — "rose from 232 in 2023 to 274 in 2024."

The watchdog indicated on the basis of police and civil society data that the top five European nations most affected by anti-Christian hate crimes last year were, in descending order, France, Britain, Germany, Austria, and Spain.

Among the incidents highlighted in the worst-rated country, France, were the destruction of historic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer by an arsonist on Sept. 2, 2024, and the March 11, 2024, vandalism of a church and desecration of the cemetery in the village Clermont-d'Excideuil, where "Isa will break the cross" and "Submit to Islam" were spray-painted on graves, the war memorial, and the church door.

Since many of the offenders have not been apprehended, the watchdog group could not say definitively what is driving this trend. However, among the 93 cases OIDAC documented wherein the perpetrators' motives or affiliations could be established, "the most common were linked to radical Islamist ideology (35), radical left-wing ideology (19), radical right-wing ideology (7), and other political motives (11). Additionally, 15 incidents featured satanic symbols or references."

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'Bubbly' teen cheerleader found dead, stuffed under bed on cruise; family shaken as reported suspect is one of their own



Anna Kepner was a "bubbly, funny, outgoing" 18-year-old Florida high school cheerleader who "loved her siblings deeply," according to her obituary.

On Nov. 2, Kepner took a trip on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship that departed from Miami for a six-day Caribbean vacation, according to Cruise Mapper. ABC News reported that the teenager went on the cruise with her grandparents, father, stepmother, siblings, and step-siblings.

'He was an emotional mess.'

Kepner's grandmother Barbara Kepner told ABC News, "The two younger girls stayed with the parents, and then the three teenagers, they decided amongst themselves they wanted to stay in the room together."

The grandmother stressed, "But we had a larger room, and we made it very clear that at any time if they weren't getting along, they didn't want to be together, we had an extra bed in our room that they could come to."

Family members told CBS News that the night before she was found dead, Anna said she wasn't feeling well, and a "frantic search" began after she did not show up for breakfast the next morning.

Anna's grandfather Jeffrey Kepner recalls hearing a medical alert blaring over the ship's loudspeakers and that he recognized the room number.

“I went blank," the grandfather told ABC News. "I was hoping that it was something minor."

However, he said the tragic outcome will haunt him.

"I still wake up seeing that," the grandfather said.

Citing a security source briefed on the investigation, ABC News reported that Kepner's body was found stuffed under the bed in her stateroom, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life vests.

NBC News reported that the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office determined Kepner’s time of death was 11:17 a.m. Nov. 7.

The Carnival Horizon cruise ship, which has a maximum capacity of nearly 4,000 passengers, returned Nov. 8 to Port Miami, where authorities removed Kepner's body from the ship.

ABC News said Kepner's family provided a copy of the death certificate, which indicated her death was a homicide and that the teenager "was mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s)."

RELATED: College football player raped girl on family cruise, feds say — and allegedly asked her appalling 2-word question afterward

There are reports that one of Kepner's stepsiblings is considered a suspect in Anna's death.

People magazine reported that Kepner's stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, filed an emergency motion for temporary relief in her custody battle with her ex-husband because of Kepner's sudden death.

"An extremely sensitive and severe circumstance has arisen wherein the respondent/mother will not be able to testify at the hearing at this time," the filing reads.

Hudson requested that a scheduled hearing be delayed because a "criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children."

The filing said there is an "open investigation regarding [Kepner's] death" and that the child is a suspect in a death that "occurred recently on a cruise ship."

"The 16-year-old child is now a suspect in the death of the stepchild during the cruise," states the court filing entered in the circuit court of Brevard County, Florida.

Hudson is invoking her Fifth Amendment right to not testify in an effort to not incriminate herself because she "could be prejudicial to her or her adolescent child in this pending criminal investigation."

Hudson reportedly wants privacy in her custody battle to protect her family.

"Disclosure of any information of any kind regarding the parties may jeopardize the integrity of this ongoing investigation and may expose the minor child, T.H., and other grieving family members, to significant and possible irreversible harm," the court filing states, according to WOFL-TV.

Anna's obituary describes her as a Christian whose 'faith blossomed as beautifully as her smile.'

The FBI is investigating Kepner's death, which occurred over international waters.

"Currently there is an investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation arising out of the sudden death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, who was found deceased," the court filing states, according to Florida Today.

"[Hudson] has been advised through discussions with FBI investigators and her attorneys that a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children of this instant action," the filing states.

Barbara Kepner told ABC News that Anna's stepbrother was hospitalized for psychiatric observation and then released to stay with a family member after the cruise ship docked.

"He was an emotional mess," the grandmother said of the stepbrother. "He couldn't even speak. He couldn't believe what had happened."

Regarding Anna's stepbrother, Barbara Kepner told ABC News that "in his own words ... he does not remember what happened. I believe, to him, that is his truth."

The grandmother also said Anna and her stepsibling "were just like brother and sister" and "two peas in a pod."

Anna's estranged mother, Heather Wright, told Fox News, "The song 'I Am Not Okay' by Jelly Roll is exactly how I feel."

"She was my daughter, and I loved her with all of my heart and soul," Wright added.

Wright claimed that her ex-husband told her not to attend Anna's memorial service, and he allegedly threatened to have her arrested over years of unpaid child support.

According to her obituary, Anna planned to join the U.S. Navy after graduation and later become a K9 police officer.

Anna's obituary describes her as a Christian whose "faith blossomed as beautifully as her smile."

Neither the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office nor the FBI immediately responded to Blaze News' request for comment.

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Male, 58, points gun at 12-year-old girls singing Christmas carols door-to-door, police say



A 58-year-old Maryland male pointed a gun at 12-year-old girls who were going door-to-door singing Christmas carols Saturday night, Anne Arundel County Police said.

Southern District officers responded to a report of an assault that occurred around 8:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of Point No Point Drive in Annapolis, police said.

'... loud and belligerent behavior ...'

The investigation revealed three girls were going door-to-door in the area, singing Christmas carols, when the suspect at one of the homes pointed a firearm at them from a window inside his residence, police said.

The suspect — identified as Paul Brian Susie — was located and taken into custody and charged with first- and second-degree assault and related charges, police said.

The firearm, a 40-caliber Glock handgun, was recovered, police said.

RELATED: Church of England reportedly urges clergy to alter Christmas carols to avoid offensive lyrics. But church has different view.

WJZ-TV said it all started after the girls knocked on Susie's door. Citing charging documents it obtained, the station said the carolers ran away after seeing him pointing a gun at them from a bay window.

Susie admitted he was the man involved in the incident, the station said, citing documents. Officers located the loaded gun in a safe, WJZ added.

Susie also was charged with reckless endangerment as well as one count of wearing and carrying a handgun while under the influence, the station said, citing the Banner.

WJZ said an officer wrote the following in charging documents:

Given Susie's reckless behavior in pointing a loaded firearm at a group of nonthreatening 12-year-olds he could clearly see on his well-lit stoop, his loud and belligerent behavior during my conversation with him, and his admission of consuming an alcoholic beverage, I know through my training, knowledge, and experience Susie was likely under the influence.

Susie was released from custody after posting a $10,000 unsecured bond, the station said, adding that he is due back in court Dec. 17 for a preliminary hearing.

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Woman admits to beating to death boyfriend's 3-year-old son after horrific abuse, court records show



Dominica Mosby appeared before a judge on Thursday morning at the Shelby County Criminal Court to face a first-degree charge of murder in the death of a 3-year-old boy.

The 29-year-old woman allegedly admitted to horrible abuse of Kevin Horton, the son of her boyfriend, according to court documents. The boy was found beaten to death by police at a residence in Memphis, Tennessee, on Nov. 5.

'I get to the house; she's standing outside. ... I go in there to see my son. He's ice cold.'

Judge Taylor Bachelor ordered Mosby to undergo a mental health evaluation in the hearing that lasted only minutes.

Police said they were called to the residence on Beacon Hills Road by the boy's father, who found him unresponsive. The boy was declared dead at the scene.

Mosby initially told police that she had the boy go to bed after he got sick, according to investigators. She later allegedly admitted that she burned the boy's genitals and ear with a lit cigarette after he urinated on the floor.

Mosby said that when the boy disobeyed her, she hit him on the head and chest and stomped on him.

An autopsy report said the boy had a lacerated liver, internal bleeding from his stomach, bruising on his torso, as well as burns to his ear and genitals. A medical examiner determined the cause of death to be homicide.

"I get to the house; she’s standing outside," recalled the boy's father, Keith Horton. "I have the fire department all in the house. I go in there to see my son. He's ice cold; he's purple. He had been dead."

Mosby was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated child neglect.

"I feel bad because we loved him. I loved him like he was mine. Like I had him. Like I love my oldest son," the boy's grandmother said to WHBQ-TV.

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She is being held without bond.

A GoFundMe page was set up by the boy's aunt, who claimed that his biological mother was incarcerated and that some of the funds were needed to bond her out so she could attend the funeral.

Mosby is scheduled to appear in court next on Dec. 11.

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Blue cities reject law, reject order — and reject America



Allow me to shock some of my readers by declaring my opposition to President Trump’s plan to send the National Guard into crime-ridden cities. My objection has nothing to do with constitutional authority. Having studied the matter, I believe the president does, in fact, have the power to deploy federal forces to address rising urban crime.

History also shows such interventions can work. The drop in violence in Washington, D.C., after federal forces arrived to restore order is evidence enough.

If residents wanted leaders who took crime seriously, they would vote for them. Their refusal to do so exposes their political priorities.

I also concede that a case can be made for this step in the District of Columbia. Washington is under congressional jurisdiction, and the president, operating within that framework, has made the city safer for residents, political leaders, and foreign visitors. The mayor has even expressed appreciation for the assistance, although the District’s electorate — heavily black, heavily Democratic, and deeply hostile to the administration — continues to seethe at the very idea of federal involvement.

And for the record, the president is entirely justified in directing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pursue illegal aliens with criminal records. These offenders have no right to remain in the United States, and the Democratic effort to preserve them as foot soldiers for the party is as cynical as it is transparent. The administration deserves credit for removing these “high-value” assets from the Democratic client network.

Ungrateful, unwanted

My problem arises with Trump’s call for federal intervention in cities where the local government — and most of the population — passionately opposes it. Even if the president can deploy the National Guard without a governor’s approval, prudence suggests he shouldn’t.

I can think of few officials more odious than Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) or Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D). Yet both remain far more popular in their city than Trump or the GOP. Johnson’s approval is collapsing, but it is almost certain that whoever succeeds him will be another black or Hispanic Democrat who wins votes by railing against our supposedly “fascist” president.

Residents of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods express emphatic disapproval of Trump’s plan. These are people who live amid constant danger yet habitually vote for leftist mayoral candidates. The same pattern holds in Portland, Charlotte, St. Louis, and Baltimore — cities Trump proposes to “liberate” with federal intervention.

Voters chose this

I cannot imagine why Trump should insert himself where voters clearly do not want him.

If residents wanted leaders who took crime seriously, they would vote for them. Their refusal to do so exposes their political priorities. I consider those priorities misguided and even self-destructive, but it is absurd to claim “the people are demanding” help when most are vocally rejecting it.

Voters should be allowed to live under the governments they choose. If they wanted different policies, they would stop electing Democrats who call for defunding the police, eliminating bail, and condemning crime prevention as racist. Despite the Fox News narrative, minorities who vote this way are not “victims” of Democratic manipulation. That idea is as fanciful as the GOP refrain that today’s Democratic Party is simply the slaveholding party of the 1830s. Voters who elect leftist Democrats are not trapped. They are expressing, clearly, the type of society they want.

RELATED: ‘He's not that smart’: Homan lampoons Chicago mayor for pleading with UN to intervene against ICE

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

The vote that counts most

Ben Shapiro recently said something that rattled some listeners but which I find eminently defensible: If you abhor the politics of the place where you live, move. He followed his own advice, leaving deep-blue California for increasingly red Florida. Some interpret this as a call to uproot families and abandon long-standing communities.

But what exactly is the alternative? Should the federal government override election results because a city or state radicalized itself? Should Trump nullify votes? That will not happen. Nor can we easily disenfranchise those who lawfully exercise the franchise and continue electing the mayors, prosecutors, and governors responsible for our collapsing urban order.

Those who reject the leftist agenda retain one real option: vote with their feet. This path frees citizens from majorities who have democratically chosen anarcho-tyranny — not only for themselves but for everyone else who lives under their jurisdiction.

If a community insists on preserving violent disorder, permissive prosecutors, and ideological governance, the federal government cannot save them from themselves. Only the voters can. And until they do, they deserve the government they support.

'Santa, I want the head of a Nazi under my tree': Masked creeps deliver Christmas cards with threatening leftist messages



Jaret McComas told KCBS-TV last week that he found a Christmas card left on his doorstep in Yucaipa, California, and was taken aback by what was written inside.

"I pick it up, open it, and it reads, 'Santa, I want the head of a Nazi under my tree,'" McComas told the station.

'When you have people roaming your neighborhood in black face masks, leaving violent notes and warnings, it's kind of disturbing.'

But he wasn't the only resident in his neighborhood to receive such a card.

Another card read, "Merry Christmas and f**k you Nazi," KCBS said.

Neighborhood resident Scott Ungar told KABC-TV that each card contained a different message: "The one over there said a date, and they said, 'You've been warned,' like they were warning something is going to happen on a specific date."

Ungar added to KABC that "all of the stuff that they were putting in [the cards was] stuff you have been hearing for Antifa."

More from KCBS:

Doorbell camera footage from some of the homes shows masked men placing the cards in various locations, such as planter boxes and on doormats, and then blowing a kiss to the camera. Another home's surveillance camera captured the suspects spitting on a Tesla belonging to their neighbor.

Simona Stacks, another neighbor who got one of the cards, told KCBS that "it's really terrifying, to be honest with you, because we're home. I have my 14-year-old daughter — what if she was outside? What if you see four men with masks on?"

Ungar added to KABC that "when you have people roaming your neighborhood in black face masks, leaving violent notes and warnings, it's kind of disturbing."

Stacks wondered to KCBS why her home and others were targeted — and she has one theory: "Maybe it's all the American flags, Trump flags. ... It really does feel like a bit of a hate crime."

RELATED: Blaze News original: Tesla in the crosshairs: Leftist attacks against Elon Musk's car brand are massive and widespread

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer Jenny Smith told KCBS that officials there are "investigating to see what that crime could lead to, or what was the purpose of those letters. We don't have a specific crime indicated as of yet."

Deputies told KCBS that at least two suspects were involved in last Monday's incident and that they ran away on foot when one of the homeowners approached them.

McComas noted to KABC that neither he nor his neighbors who received the cards display political signs or affiliations.

"I am not a heavy conservative," he added to KABC. "I'm gay, engaged to my fiancé, Roger. So it's just kind of concerning for me because I am like, 'What did I do?'"

McComas told KABC he also wondered if the American flag outside his home might have been what attracted the culprits' attention, but he said that not every targeted house had an American flag.

RELATED: Blaze News original: 12 times leftists have sought to twist, hijack, and stomp on Christmas

Either way, the sheriff's department told KCBS that patrols in the area would increase while the investigation continues.

What's more, the neighbors added to KCBS that they are not letting the disturbing cards dampen their holiday activities.

"Gonna bring the Christmas spirit back to the street, and hopefully that cheers everybody else up," McComas told KCBS.

Investigators believe there may be other unidentified victims and are asking those who have more information to contact them at 909-918-2330, KCBS said.

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Bondi: Memphis Murder Rate Cut Nearly in Half Since Launch of Federal Task Force

MEMPHIS—Since the Trump administration first deployed federal officers to Memphis in late September, the city has seen a 48 percent decrease in homicides, Attorney General Pam Bondi said during a press conference on Monday. The "Memphis Safe Task Force" has also led to a 45 percent year-over-year decrease in "overall serious crime," a 49 percent drop in sexual assaults, and nearly 3,000 arrests, she told reporters, adding that the task force has recovered more than 100 missing children in less than two months.

The post Bondi: Memphis Murder Rate Cut Nearly in Half Since Launch of Federal Task Force appeared first on .

Motorist hilariously resorts to 'arts and crafts' for inspection, registration — but the jig is up



New York State Police said a trooper was conducting a traffic stop Thursday night for switched plates — and then "noticed something unusual."

Turns out the vehicle’s inspection and registration documents on the windshield "were not official at all," police said.

'Okay, but how did the trooper manage to not laugh at this when seeing it up close????'

"In fact they appeared to be hand drawn using a mix of pen, marker, and crayon with an impressive amount of confidence," police added.

Gregory Cawley, 50, of Lafayette was ticketed for operating a motor vehicle without inspection, operating an unregistered vehicle, improper plates, and other citations, the New York Post reported, citing a police spokeswoman.

Police also said the vehicle was taken off the road.

"As a friendly reminder," police added, "arts and crafts supplies do not count as valid documentation."

RELATED: YouTube prankster challenges cops to a duel — immediately regrets it

Image source: New York State Police

The New York State Police's Facebook post about the motorist's faux pas has hit a bit of a viral nerve, receiving 34,000 likes and laughs and well over 3,000 comments to date. The following are a few of the written reactions:

  • "What’s hilarious is this car has certainly passed MANY officers hiding, and none of them were smart enough to see this," one commenter observed. "They’re trained to see these things."
  • "And he would have gotten home if it wasn't for that meddling cop," another user said before adding, "(Scooby Doo joke, be nice)."
  • "On an old car, my '10 day' inspection paper was in my window so long all the ink faded, and it was a blank piece of paper," another commenter shared. "I rocked that for over 3 years, never got a ticket for it unless I was stopped for something else."
  • "I remember seeing an inspection sticker hand-drawn on a co-worker's car years ago, and when I asked about it, it had been over 10 years since that person had an actual inspection," another user recalled. "Crazy! He had never been caught, either!"
  • "Okay, but how did the trooper manage to not laugh at this when seeing it up close????" another commenter wondered.
  • "I know a person [who] colored a piece of cardboard blue, did the lines down, the months, and everything — and punched out a hole," another user wrote. "Pretty sure she got away with it for a while."

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