Team USA Fans Want To Cheer For Red, White, And Blue, Not Pride Rainbows
Despite an executive order in February opposing male participation in women’s sports, national teams continue to promote transgenderism.Despite an executive order in February opposing male participation in women’s sports, national teams continue to promote transgenderism.Gen Zers Who Watched BLM Burn Down The Country Have No Sympathy For L.A. Riots
Gen Z teens have been force-fed the most radical version of liberalism, and it has dried up their empathy.Coco Gauff: ‘I’m proud to represent the Americans that LOOK like me’
Coco Gauff has become the first American woman to win the French Open since Serena Williams, but her press interview that followed left those patriotic Americans who supported her — but maybe don’t see the world the same way she does — feeling a little less than inspired.
“Obviously, there’s a lot going on in our country right now,” Gauff said, before explaining that she feels like “a representation” of “people that look like” her in America. She went on to say that those who look like her “maybe don’t feel as supported during this time period” and that her win can be a “reflection of hope and light for those people.”
“After the election, everything, it kind of felt down period a little bit and things like that, and my mom told me during Riyadh, ‘Just try to win the tournament just to give something for people to smile for,’ and so that’s what I was thinking about today when holding that and then seeing the flags in the crowd,” she continued.
“Some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I’m definitely patriotic, I’m proud to be American, and I’m proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support,” she added.
BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock and BlazeTV contributor Steve Kim are among those Americans feeling a little less inspired by her win after her press interview.
“Let me just say this as someone that’s always proud to be an American, not a Korean American, not an Asian American, an American American,” Kim tells Whitlock. “I believe that she’s paying the guilt tax, that if you are proud to be an American and you’re a POC, the darker you are, you are expected to have some guilt and expected to do some finger wagging.”
“There’s a pressure, to number one, feel some guilt. Number two, with that expected guilt, to then point the finger at America, claim some sort of oppression, whether there is or not, and you just can’t be proud to represent this great country,” he adds.
“I like your guilt tax,” Whitlock agrees. “But it’s also part of holding onto your black authenticity. And so, to really be black, you have to wag a finger at America, or you’re not really black. You have to be a victim.”
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President Sends National Guard To Stop Los Angeles Insurrection
President Trump announced the deployment of 2,000 National Guard soldiers in Los Angeles County amid firebombing protests against ICE.Meet the DOJ’s creepy shadow agency controlling racial tensions and media narratives
We all remember how during the Summer of Rage we were told that the riots literally burning cities to the ground were “mostly peaceful protests.”
Five years later, we’re now learning that phrases like that might have come directly from a secret government agency called the Community Relations Service, which manipulates racial tensions and media narratives under Title 10 of the Civil Rights Act.
To dive down the rabbit hole, Jill Savage and Blaze Media editor in chief Matthew Peterson, hosts of “Blaze News | The Mandate,” invite BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre to the show.
“Title 10 of the Civil Rights Act required there to be a community relations service, which went around and tried to smooth out problems between the different communities in the United States,” says MacIntyre.
While “in theory that sounds great,” the reality is “what this service actually ended up doing was managing the expectations of different communities when it came to violence, especially when it came to violence between black communities and white communities.”
“Anytime that a white person might receive some level of violence from a minority, these people were deployed to control the story, to control the situation,” says MacIntyre.
This control went to great extents, involving “[putting] lots of pressure on local media,” “[coordinating] with law enforcement,” and “writing prepared statements, in some cases, for the victim's families.”
“It's manipulating everything people know about race relations in the United States from top to bottom,” says MacIntyre.
He references the racially charged brawl between Somali and Congolese immigrants and a group of white men that led to the death of Donald Giusti, a white male, in Lewiston, Maine, in 2018.
The CRS was quickly “deployed to make sure that, again, there was no backlash over this [and] that the victims’ families were kept under control,” he explains.
MacIntyre explains that the CRS responded quickly to this incident in Lewiston, Maine, because they were already present in the city, having been involved in resettling the Somali community. Anticipating tensions and potential violence, they were prepared to manage any backlash against the Somali population when the predicted violence occurred.
“They already had the narrative ready. ... They were there to make sure that there was no backlash against the Somali community,” says MacIntyre, noting that the CRS has been “doing this for decades.”
But the operations of the CRS get even more disturbing.
CRS “continues to train leftist activists to this day; it would threaten to pull the FCC licenses of TV stations that did not hire black newscasters in an affirmative-action style. They worked with different black militant radicals in the '60s, some of whom were students of Saul Alinsky, in order to coordinate different riots,” MacIntyre says.
“The people who ran the organization admitted that the purpose of the organization was explicitly to prevent white America from having any backlash against any minority groups that might do violence against them,” he explains, adding that CRS controls everything “so that there isn't an awareness of the severity of many of these crimes.”
To make matters worse, CRS is permitted to “refuse most FOIA requests” and has “special privileges where they can avoid testimony in front of Congress and in courts.” “Even the notes that they take are destroyed and not entered into the public record.”
The agency has been able to fly “under the radar for so long” likely because it essentially has “an FBI level of confidentiality,” says MacIntyre.
“This is extremely troubling — beyond even the wildest dreams of what many people thought was possible for the federal government,” says Peterson. “What is their real goal?”
To hear MacIntyre’s answer, watch the video above.
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Democrats Don’t Get The Benefit Of The Doubt On Biden’s Health, ‘86,’ Or Anything Else
We don't know all the details of Biden's cancer timeline or Comey's latest beach walk. But we do know about Democrats' relationship with the truth. And that tells us everything.Blaze News original: LA sheriff threw deputy to federal wolves to appease liberal mob, union rep says
As Blaze News reported last week, a Los Angeles County deputy with a stellar record is staring down hard time in federal prison after a suspect accused him of using excessive force during a 2023 arrest. Evidence now indicates that L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna may have prompted a federal investigation into the incident, leaving deputies and other personnel feeling betrayed.
Blaze News caught up with the deputy's attorney, Tom Yu, as well as a spokesman for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Professional Association, Nick Wilson, to better understand the prevailing sentiment among L.A. County deputies about this case and to learn why they hope Deputy Trevor Kirk may yet avoid time behind bars.
'Safely handcuff the suspect': Deputy Kirk and a fateful detainment
On June 24, 2023, Deputy Trevor Kirk and another deputy drove to the WinCo supermarket in Lancaster, California, in response to a report of a possible robbery in progress involving a man and a woman. A source affiliated with LASPA told Blaze News that the woman had been "caught in the act."
When loss prevention officers confronted the suspects in the case — Damon Barnes and Jacy Houseton — the suspects allegedly assaulted the officers. According to reports, Houseton even pulled down her face mask and spat on one of security guards.
Kirk and the other deputy encountered Barnes and Houseton in the parking lot outside the store, identifying them as individuals who matched the suspects' description.
Though Barnes ran his mouth a bit, he was otherwise detained without incident. Houseton was a different story.
'She took a swing at him, backed off, and then continued to actively resist arrest.'
While deputies placed Barnes in handcuffs, Houseton stood nearby filming with her cell phone. Having already identified her as the other suspect in the alleged robbery and possible assault, Kirk then reached for her cell phone.
After a brief scuffle, Kirk brought Houseton to the ground, at which point she began accusing him of "manhandling" her. She also repeatedly threatened to sue Kirk and hollered phrases often associated with George Floyd and Eric Garner, who both died during encounters with law enforcement: "Get your neck [sic] off my … off my … I can’t breathe."
Houseton continued to yell and flail about. She also appeared to disobey orders to put her hands behind her back, so Kirk pepper-sprayed her in the face on two separate occasions.
Houseton later received treatment for injuries.
Bodycam video of the incident can be seen below:
— (@)
A summary of the incident from the Department of Justice painted a grim picture of Kirk's actions. "Kirk grabbed J.H. by her arm, hooked his left hand behind her neck, and violently threw her face-first to the ground," it said. It also accused him of pressing his knee into Houseton's neck and failing to issue her the proper commands.
In February, Kirk, a 32-year-old Army veteran and father of two, was convicted by a federal jury of one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. According to court records, it took jurors just two hours to render their verdict.
In reporting on Kirk's conviction, KCAL described the incident as a "vicious assault" involving a "disgraced deputy."
Attorney Tom Yu and LASPA representative Nick Wilson are frustrated with the way the incident has been framed by federal investigators and critics.
For one thing, by all accounts, Kirk has an "outstanding" record, Yu said. Kirk is well liked in the department and has no other allegations of misconduct against him or any poor performance reviews.
With regard to the incident with Houseton, Wilson told Blaze News that Kirk used only "minimal force" that qualified as a low-level, "category 1" use of force, as listed in the policies of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
Wilson also claimed that Houseton had been "resistive" and "violent" during the encounter with Kirk. "She took a swing at Trevor Kirk when he first went to detain her and put hands on," he said. "She took a swing at him, backed off, and then continued to actively resist arrest."
"Deputies are trained to take suspects who resist to the ground in order to gain compliance and to safely handcuff the suspect," Yu said in a statement in the days following the incident.
What's more, both Barnes and Houseton have a criminal history. Barnes has a string of arrests dating back to 1987, including convictions for arson, weapons and drug offenses, and resisting an officer. He was also accused of robbery in 1995. Houseton was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in 2005 but had that conviction effectively dismissed from her record three years later, presumably after satisfying the terms of her probation.
To be fair, Yu noted, Kirk did not know about those prior convictions when he met the pair in the parking lot that day. However, Kirk also did not know whether they were armed, though it turns out they were not.
Neither Barnes nor Houseton was ever charged in connection with the alleged robbery of the WinCo store, which KCAL-TV later downplayed as merely a possible "shoplifting," or the alleged assault on the loss prevention officers.
Houseton did follow through on her promise to sue the department and was reportedly awarded $1 million. At a press conference about the lawsuit, Houseton claimed Kirk "tried to kill" her and implied that the excessive force was racially motivated.
Her attorney, Caree Harper, added, "It doesn't happen to white folks like this, and we're not gonna have it happening to black folks like this."
WinCo did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
'Hanging deputies out to dry': Sheriff Luna gets involved
An internal affairs investigation was initiated almost immediately following the detainment at WinCo, and the fallout might have been kept in house but for one problem: Video of the encounter between Kirk and Houseton had already been made public. Activist groups — including Cancel the Contract Antelope Valley, a far-left "social justice" organization — quickly planned demonstrations denouncing what they viewed as another racially charged instance of police brutality.
"As black residents of this community, we are tired of living in fear of the police," said group co-founder Waunette Cullors.
'The sheriff buckled under political pressure.'
About a week after the incident, Sheriff Robert Luna addressed the controversy publicly, describing the video footage as "disturbing." "It's disturbing. There's no ifs, ands, buts about it," he said at a press conference.
Wilson believes that in the summer of 2023 — a time when BLM riots and "defund the police" movements continued to reverberate three years after George Floyd's death — Luna was sensitive to external pressure. "After this use of force, the civil rights community, the activist movements raised hell within the sheriff's department," Wilson told Blaze News.
Even though Kirk was reportedly "cleared at a station level," Luna decided to invite federal agencies to investigate Kirk's actions as well, Wilson claimed.
"The sheriff buckled under political pressure and made sure that this case was handed over to the DOJ for prosecution," Wilson continued, thereby "hanging deputies out to dry."
Both Wilson and Yu told Blaze News they were "certain" that Luna's office initiated federal involvement, though Luna denies it.
In a statement to Blaze News, Deputy Miesha McClendon of the Sheriff's Information Bureau claimed, "Despite allegations to the contrary, this case was not referred to the FBI nor the U.S Attorney’s Office by anyone within the Department as indicated in the official court transcript."
McClendon also added:
The Department recognizes that having one of our employees convicted by a federal jury is a significant matter, and we understand the frustration it has caused among our personnel. ... The Department will be conducting a thorough review of the case to identify any specific issues to determine if modifications to training are needed.
L.A. deputies were so outraged at the treatment of one of their own — a colleague some believe was "politically" persecuted after simply following department protocol — that upon Kirk's conviction in February, Luna held a private meeting with personnel from the Lancaster sheriff's station.
During that two-hour meeting, which was secretly recorded, Luna expressed regret for characterizing the footage as "disturbing."
He also suggested that he had nothing to do with contacting the feds about the incident. "I can tell you this with confidence that what I said that day," Luna appeared to say, referring to his "disturbing" remark, "did not have anything to do with the FBI.
"The FBI received this case from the plaintiff's attorney," Luna explained. The "plaintiff" in this case was presumably Houseton, who filed a lawsuit.
During the clips of the conversation reviewed by Blaze News, the voice identified as Luna's admits to having "failed" his team members. He also indicates that he had not personally reviewed the incident footage, which others in the room characterize as "innocuous" and not too "grievous."
Deputies also repeatedly ask Luna to use the power of his office to stand with Kirk and publicly oppose his conviction. Luna promised he would consider it.
Luna's history with law enforcement in general is rather mixed, even though he has spent his entire career as a cop, first with the Long Beach Police Department and now as the head of the largest sheriff's department in America.
Though Luna wanted to be a police officer from the time he was little, he indicated to the L.A. Times that he grew up in a community that was generally distrustful of law enforcement.
Luna also recalled to the Times an incident in which he was apparently the victim of unnecessary police aggression. "At age 13, he said, he was slammed face-first against the hood of a sheriff’s deputy’s car for crossing against a red light on his bicycle," the outlet summarized for a profile piece in October 2022, shortly before Luna was elected sheriff.
Luna also campaigned for sheriff on the promise of breaking up so-called "deputy gangs." While he has since managed to ban such gangs, he has yet to name a single deputy gang member, Wilson told Blaze News.
Additionally, Luna has a track record of handling possible instances of excessive force within his department.
During one of the occasionally violent demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's death, an officer with the Long Beach Police Department shot a journalist with a "foam projectile," the LAist reported in 2020. LBPD — then helmed by Police Chief Luna — ultimately determined that the shooting "was within policy," the outlet said.
'To show unity': Deputies make their voices heard
The deputies of L.A. County have not taken the conviction of Kirk or Luna's alleged capitulation to leftist pressure lying down.
For example, a handful, including a sergeant, have reportedly refused to accept medals and other accolades awarded by the department. They even "refused to actually go to the awards ceremony," Wilson insisted.
'The magnitude of this boycott ... makes Luna look terrible in the law enforcement community nationwide.'
In a more widespread show of solidarity with Kirk, hundreds of L.A. deputies and other staff members have decided to boycott one of their favorite annual events: the Baker to Vegas relay. While the L.A. Sheriff's Department regularly fields two dozen or so relay teams, this year, at least 20 sheriff's stations — including Santa Clarita, West Hollywood, two detention centers, the Training Bureau, and, of course, Kirk's home station in Lancaster — are refusing to participate.
Protesting the Baker to Vegas relay is no minor demonstration. Billed as "the world’s most prestigious and unique law enforcement foot race," the event draws teams from across the country and across the globe.
"There's folks flying in from Brazil. There's folks from Australia, from Germany," Yu told Blaze News. "This is a big thing."
Yu would know. Now an attorney, Yu spent 15 years as a deputy with the LASD. The deputies who race are very "competitive," he said, often averaging five and a half minutes per mile.
"I tried out for a county-wide team," Yu recalled. "I ran a six-minute mile, and I did not make the team."
"It's to show unity," Yu explained. "It's to run for your fallen brothers and sisters, for mental health. There's a lot of suicides in law enforcement, so it's a huge race."
Wilson confirmed to Blaze News that Sheriff Luna has participated in the event and understands its importance to department staff.
"The magnitude of this boycott ... makes Luna look terrible in the law enforcement community nationwide," Wilson said.
"To have the deputies not show up, it makes Luna look terrible."
This year, the Baker to Vegas race is scheduled for April 5 and 6. Instead, many L.A. deputies are opting to participate in a 5K race to raise money for Kirk and his family.
While Yu and Wilson are expecting a good turnout for the alternative race, they claimed that Luna may be trying to spoil or otherwise interfere with the event by attempting to ascertain the individuals orchestrating it.
Wilson shared with Blaze News a screenshot of one such message, allegedly from a Luna ally:
Yu and Wilson believe the purpose behind these probing questions is to intimidate would-be participants and convince them not to join the Kirk race.
"We've had multiple deputies tell us and send us screenshots of friend requests and questions from Luna's staff asking who's boycotting, who is drumming this up, and applying pressure to deputies ... as a form of retaliation," Wilson said.
In the statement given to Blaze News, Officer McClendon of the information bureau addressed the accusations of intimidation:
The Department issued an internal global email on March 5, 2025, to personnel after it had received several reports from personnel who have stated they have been targeted with actions of harassment, threats of retaliation, and bullying related to participating in the Baker to Vegas race. We want to emphasize that whether or not personnel choose to participate, any form of harassment, retaliation, or misconduct will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
'No-brainer': Trump, Dhillon, and righting a wrong
Despite what Wilson calls the "cloud" hanging over the department, he, Yu, and others hold out hope that Kirk can still avoid prison time.
The clearest way for him to do so would be for the judge, a long-serving Reagan appointee, to vacate the verdict. While such an outcome may sound like a long shot, there are encouraging signs. For example, following the guilty verdict, the judge did not remand Kirk to custody, a decision which Yu described as "very rare."
'They were laughing, smiling, high-fiving each other, giving each other hugs.'
Moreover, the federal investigation into Kirk and his federal prosecution began under the Biden administration. During the trial, Wilson and Yu claimed that in a show of force, federal agencies packed the courtroom with young agency newcomers who enthusiastically supported the prosecution.
After the guilty verdict was announced, these agency supporters cheered loudly, Wilson claimed. "They were laughing, smiling, high-fiving each other, giving each other hugs," he said. "It was shocking."
With President Trump now in office, the DOJ has new leadership who may view the prosecution of Kirk in a different light. One individual with some influence in the Trump administration with strong ties to California is Harmeet Dhillon, now the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ. Wilson, Yu, and others are hoping she will intervene on Kirk's behalf.
Dhillon's office and the DOJ did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
While Dhillon is aware of Kirk's case, she likely does not know "the extent of the miscarriage of justice," Yu said. Wilson believes that if the right people in the administration get wind of Kirk's situation, they will act.
"If they understood the extent of this, this would be a no-brainer," he said.
"It's just getting the information to them."
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