Washington’s Ban On Popular Rifles Doesn’t Hold Up Under Any Level Of Scrutiny
Recent surveys estimate there are more than 24 million such rifles owned across the United States.Recent surveys estimate there are more than 24 million such rifles owned across the United States.Army sergeant convicted of murder; says he shot in self-defense after man aimed AK-47 at him during BLM riot
A Texas jury found Daniel Perry guilty of murder Friday in the 2020 death of Garrett Foster, multiple outlets reported.
"The protesters didn't know anything about Perry when they attacked the car and boxed it in," Perry's attorney Doug O'Connell said, as reported by the Austin American Statesman.
"Daniel had no choice, and that could have happened to anyone," O'Connell also said.
"We're happy with the verdict. We're very sorry for his family as well. There's no winners in this. Just glad it's over," Foster's father, Stephen Foster told KVUE.
According to the defense, Perry shot Foster in self-defense when his car was surrounded and attacked by protesters and Foster reportedly aimed an AK-47 at him in the "ready position."
According to the prosecution, Perry had shared social media posts that "threatened" protestors in the past.
The Travis County jury also found Perry not guilty of an aggravated assault charge.
Deliberations lasted 17 hours after the eight-day trial.
Perry wept after the verdict, leaning his head into the chest of one of his attorneys.
What is the background of the case?
The event occurred in Austin in 2020 at the height of the at-times violent Black Lives Matter protests and riots of 2020, as Fox News Digital reported at the time.
Perry was driving for Uber in downtown Austin July 25, 2020, when he came upon a non-permitted group of BLM protesters "illegally clogging the intersection." After making a turn, the protesters followed his car, surrounded it, pounded on it, and thew rocks at it, the outlet also reported.
According to Perry's account, a masked Foster approached his car and pointed an AK-47 at him. Some witnesses deny Foster raised his rifle. Perry reportedly fired 5 times at Foster, fatally wounding him. Perry was a concealed carry permit holder who was an active duty soldier stationed at Fort Hood at the time.
Though armed, Foster did not fire a shot. Another protester in the crowd shot at Perry's car three times, hitting no one.
Perry called 911 and turned himself in to police "seconds later," saying he'd shot Foster in self-defense, according to the Austin Chronicle and KUVE. APD reportedly let Perry go on bond after questioning him.
A year later, a grand jury indicted Perry for murder and two other charges, according to KVUE.
David Fugitt, the lead detective in the case at the time, ruled Perry's actions were justifiable homicide. That same detective accused district attorney of illegal actions, including witness tampering and withholding evidence from a grand jury, according to Fox News Digital.
Watch KXAN's coverage of the moment Daniel Perry hears the jury's verdict below.
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Joe Biden’s Ghost Gun ‘Ban’ Lasted Less Than A Minute
The ability to manufacture arms today ensures that free Americans will never truly be deprived of the ability to defend themselves.Man with loaded AK-47 arrested outside home of Iranian-American journalist known for criticizing the Iranian government and the hijab
A man with a loaded AK-47 in his vehicle was arrested after the FBI says he "behaved suspiciously" outside the New York City home of Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist internationally known for her criticism of the Iranian government.
According to reports, Khalid Mehdiyev of Yonkers was recently arrested after he was supposedly seen peering into the windows of Alinejad's Brooklyn home and attempting to open the door. Mehdiyev's gray Subaru SUV with Illinois plates was likewise seen parked for hours in front of her home over the course of two days last week. Mehdiyev had also been issued a parking ticket in the area on July 23.
Mehdiyev was soon afterwards arrested after he failed to stop at a stop sign. He was also supposedly driving with a suspended license. When members of NYPD searched his vehicle, they found a suitcase containing a Norinco AK-47-style rifle with a magazine and a round in the chamber. He also had $1,100 in cash and license plates from other states besides Illinois.
Authorities said that, when questioned, Mehdiyev initially denied knowing that there was a gun in the suitcase and that he had insisted that he was in the area looking for a room to rent. He then supposedly changed his story, admitted that he owned the gun, said he was in the area "looking for someone," and then asked to speak to a lawyer.
Alinejad, 45, was not specifically named in the criminal complaint filed in federal court. However, she tweeted out a video taken from a CCTV camera demonstrating that Mehdiyev had been on her front porch.
"These are the scary scenes capturing a man who tried to enter my house in New York with a loaded gun to kill me," Alinejad tweeted along with the video. "Last year the FBI stopped the Islamic Republic from kidnapping me. My crime is giving voice to voiceless people. The US administration must be tough on terror."
Alinejad is referring to allegations made last year by the U.S. Justice Department that the Iranian regime had orchestrated an attempt to kidnap Alinejad and transport her back to Iran. Iranian officials have supposedly targeted Alinejad, who has dual Iranian and American citizenship, because she criticizes many Iranian policies, especially regarding women wearing the hijab.
"While the international media is paying attention to my assassination plot in the US, let’s remember these women who have been forced to give false confessions against themselves on Iranian state TV," Alinejad tweeted on Sunday. "These acts of terror won’t stop our fight against forced hijab."
Mehdiyev has been charged with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number and ordered to be detained without bond.
Three armed crooks bust into residence, and homeowner drops his handgun. But victim retrieves AK-47-style weapon, starts firing, and crooks run for their lives.
A homeowner in Pensacola, Florida, won't be charged after firing an AK-47-style weapon at three accused home invaders, WKRG-TV reported.
What are the details?
The homeowner was alone his Pinestead Road residence at 11:42 p.m. Thursday when three men — one armed with a gun — pushed their way inside, the Pensacola News Journal reported.
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said the homeowner apparently pulled his own handgun from his waistband but dropped it, the News Journal reported.
One of the intruders picked up the handgun, but the homeowner was able to run to a back room and retrieve an "AK-47-style" weapon, Simmons added, according to the paper.
"He started shooting for his own protection, to get them out of his house and to protect himself," the sheriff said, according to the News Journal.
The intruders fled the home, but investigators identified two suspects — Antonio DeWayne Dean Jr., 18, and Da'Torrance Leanders Hackworth, 20 — and issued warrants related to the home invasion for both of them, the paper said.
Dean has active warrants for other alleged offenses, including domestic violence battery, carjacking, aggravated assaults with a firearm, and robbery with a firearm, Simmons told the News Journal.
What about the third suspect?
Simmons told the paper authorities received "a report of a third individual that had a wound to the head not long after [the home invasion]. The stories he's giving us as to how he got shot in the head are inconsistent at best. In short, we don't believe him." Simmons added to the News Journal that investigators are now trying to determine if this person also was involved in the home invasion.
While Simmons didn't name the third individual, the sheriff told the paper the man's injury wasn't life-threatening.
No charges against homeowner
Simmons also told the News Journal that the homeowner would "absolutely not" be charged for shooting at the home invasion suspects.
"The homeowner's protecting himself, and in Florida, in Escambia County, you can protect yourself," Simmons noted, according to the paper.
WKRG added that the incident is being investigated as a stand-your-ground case.
Beto O'Rourke calls Greg Abbott an 'oligarch' and 'thug,' suggests a statewide gun buyback in Texas
Beto O'Rourke compared current Texas Governor Greg Abbott to a Russian oligarch and proposed a statewide gun buyback program during a Saturday speaking engagement at South by Southwest.
KVUE-10, a local ABC affiliate, reported that O'Rourke was the headline speaker at an event hosted by CEO and co-founder of the Texas Tribune, Evan Smith
Smith asked O'Rourke — who has become known for launching a string of quixotic political campaigns — why he was running for major political office for the third time.
O'Rourke said, "Because I have this extraordinary opportunity to join amazing people in service to my state and to this country. Yet there is no higher honor. I'm grateful for the opportunity, and I love the fact that we're in this race right now."
Smith subsequently asked O'Rourke about his opposition in the gubernatorial campaign — current Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
O'Rourke responded by calling him an "authoritarian."
He said, "I just had the chance to meet with the ambassador from the [European Union]. We talked about the fact that you're seeing the continued rise of authoritarians and thugs across the world, and we have our own right here in the state of Texas."
Smith responded by asking him: "Greg Abbott is a thug in your mind?"
To which O'Rourke responded: "He's a thug. He's an authoritarian. Let me make the case not only to this guy, to his own incompetence, not keep the lights on in the energy capital of the planet last February. But when people like Kelcy Warren and other energy company CEOs made more than $11 billion in profit over five days, selling gas for 200 times the going rate, not only did he not claw back those illegal profits … but he's taking millions of dollars in payoffs from these same people."
O'Rourke added, "He's got his own oligarch here in the state of Texas. You think this stuff only exists in Russia or in other parts of the world?"
Previously, O'Rourke attained a good deal of notoriety for his aggressive stance on gun control.
Notably, during a 2020 Democratic primary debate, he proudly proclaimed, "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47."
However, in mid-March, The Hill reported that O'Rourke told reporters that he wants to "defend the Second Amendment" and that he is "not interested in taking anything from anyone."
Now, O'Rourke is suggested that the state of Texas implement a buyback program encouraging people to sell their firearms to the government.
He told Smith, "I don't think anyone should have [assault-style weapons], and if I can find consensus within the Legislature to have a law in the state of Texas that allows us to buy those AK-47s and AR-15s back, we will."
As Smith noted early on in the discussion, this is O'Rourke's third time running for higher office.
In 2018 he attempted to unseat Ted Cruz from the United States Senate, and in 2020 he tried to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Beto O'Rourke in Conversation with Evan Smith youtu.be
Beto O'Rourke, who famously declared 'we're gonna take your AR-15,' now says that he is 'not interested in takin' anything from anyone'
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who has previously advocated requiring Americans to sell certain firearms to the government and declared that "we're gonna take your AR-15," recently said that he is "not interested in takin' anything from anyone."
O'Rourke lost a 2018 U.S. senatorial contest to incumbent GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. He then pursued a presidential bid in 2019, but dropped out later that year. Now the Democratic politician is running for Texas governor, but even if he manages to win the Democratic primary, securing victory in the general election could be a difficult task — the last time a Democrat won a Texas governor's race was in 1990.
O'Rourke appears to have a history of flip flopping on the gun issue.
In 2018, he said of anyone who had already bought an "AR-15, if you own it, keep it."
But during a Democratic presidential primary debate in 2019 O'Rourke declared, "Hell yes, we're gonna take your AR-15, your AK-47."
"Hell yeah, we're going to take your AR-15. If it's a weapon that was designed to kill people on the battlefield, we're going to buy it back," O'Rourke tweeted, along with a clip of his debate comments.
Hell yeah, we're going to take your AR-15. If it's a weapon that was designed to kill people on the battlefield, we're going to buy it back.pic.twitter.com/cCEWkG6y0X— Beto O'Rourke (@Beto O'Rourke) 1568338011
KLTV recently reported that O'Rourke was asked about his 2019 comments about taking away the firearms.
In a video clip the candidate says, "I'm not interested in takin' anything from anyone. What I wanna make sure that we do is defend the Second Amendment. I wanna make sure that we protect our fellow Texans far better than we're doing right now ... "
On his campaign website, O'Rourke says that he thinks "we need to reduce the number of AR-15’s and AK-47’s on our streets" and that "it is far too easy for Texans to get their hands on weapons of war that are designed specifically to kill people in masses in as little time as possible."
Kamala Harris Protected by Rifles She Wants to Ban Americans from Owning
During a recent trip to Miami, Florida, Democrat vice presidential hopeful Kamala Harris was protected by Secret Service agents using variants of the very rifles she wants to ban Americans from owning.![]()
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