‘You’ve lost the right to exist': Matt Walsh rips 'incapable' ruling in Iryna Zarutska case



Last August, 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was fatally stabbed in an apparently random attack while riding the light rail in Charlotte, North Carolina. Last week, however, her alleged killer, Decarlos Brown Jr., was found "incapable to proceed" to trial on the state murder charge due to mental health issues.

The decision has sparked national outrage. Social media is ablaze with furious comments like “no justice for Iryna”; Republican lawmakers are warning the decision will cause more erosion of trust in the system; even some mainstream coverage is framing it as another failure of soft-on-crime policies.

BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey was certainly appalled by the decision.

“How in the world did we get here?” she asks in disbelief.

On a recent episode of “Relatable,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh joined Allie to answer that very question.

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Walsh begins by arguing that “the concept of being incompetent to stand trial makes no sense” and that it “shouldn't be a category.”

“Because the way that I look at it … either you knew exactly what you were doing and you did it anyway, and that makes you evil beyond measure, or it's true that you really don't understand that you're not allowed to do that, in which case, that's all the more reason, as far as I'm concerned, why you are not fit for human society,” he explains.

Decarlos Brown Jr.’s case, as well as many other cases, is the result of the psychiatric industry “[medicalizing] the human condition,” Walsh argues.

“And now because academics, psychiatrists, and communists … have taken over criminal justice and have for decades — at least since the mid-20th century — all human evil is now just categorized as a medical problem,” he tells Allie.

The result of this inversion of objective morality is that criminals are turned into the victims.

“The justice system looks at the most evil people as victims of some sort of condition, which means that all we can do is offer them treatment. What we can't do is actually punish them. And that's just totally absurd and wrong,” says Walsh.

Unless it’s a “white male” who commits the crime, Allie points out.

“We see that kind of story much less often,” she says.

But “if you're part of a victim group, you get advocacy from the public, from the media, from some kind of mob pressure, from these groups like the Innocence Project or the ACLU, and you are much more likely to be seen as absolved of your crimes or mentally unstable or something like that.”

She continues, “It's not just that progressive ideology has medicalized the existence of evil in human nature; they've just done it for certain groups of people, which is even worse in my estimation.”

“Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's a major factor as well,” Walsh agrees.

“If you're anything but a white male, then you can claim victim status … and then you add in the supposed mental health challenges … then you get even greater victim status.”

Regardless of the skin color of the perpetrator, Walsh entirely rejects mental illness as an excuse for criminal behavior: “What was your mental state at the time? I don't care! ... I don't care what you were feeling; I don't care what you were thinking. I care what you did. That's all that matters. And if you did something this heinous … by my estimation, you've lost the right to exist.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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Michael Knowles explains why he isn't a Christian Zionist



Over the weekend, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem released a statement reaffirming their authority in the land of Israel against proponents of Christian Zionism and other "damaging ideologies."

The statement, published on Saturday, reaffirmed Christian leaders' devotion to the Christian flock in the Holy Land. It condemned ideologies like Christian Zionism, which "mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock."

'You don't have to support the nation-state of Israel, but if you do, you can do so without adhering to the relatively novel theology of Christian Zionism.'

Christian Zionism is the belief in the continuity between the Israel of the Bible and the modern state of Israel.

The church leaders condemned the "political actors" who have been "welcomed at official levels both locally and internationally." They described these dealings as "interference in the internal life of the church."

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The letter continued, "These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East."

As a result, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem "reiterate that they alone represent the Churches and their flock in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land."

On Monday, the Daily Wire's Michael Knowles explained his position on Christian Zionism in response to the Patriarchs' statement.

Knowles, an outspoken Roman Catholic, explained that the joint statement issued by the Christian leaders over the weekend is essentially a reiteration of church teaching, such as a statement from 1985 from the Vatican.

The Vatican invites Christians to understand the Jews' religious attachment to the land of Israel "without however making their own any particular religious interpretation of this relationship."

Knowles signaled his wholehearted agreement with the next passage of the Vatican's notes, which he said "underscores the point": "The existence of the State of Israel and its political options should be envisaged not in a perspective which is in itself religious, but in their reference to the common principles of international law."

Knowles said that this line of thinking is "why I would not call myself a Zionist, or a Christian Zionist."

He continued, "It's not because I don't like the Jews, and it's not because I don't even support the state of Israel. As I think I've made clear, I am broadly supportive of the nation-state of Israel. But I am broadly supportive of it not because I believe in the principles of Zionism, which makes certain historical claims and religious claims that I just don't think are true."

Knowles also said that he doesn't think that just because a people lived on a plot of land many years ago, it entitles them to the land today. "If that were the case, we would have to turn Mount Rushmore over to the Lakota Sioux. I don't believe any of that."

He finally clarified that most of his support for the nation-state of Israel is negative — that is, he doesn't like the alternatives, referring to other nations in the region like Iran and other Muslim groups. "The current options in the Holy Land are not great."

Staking his position clearly near the end of the clip, Knowles said, "You don't have to support the nation-state of Israel, but if you do, you can do so without adhering to the relatively novel theology of Christian Zionism."

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'Bulls**t': Ben Shapiro vows to continue Charlie Kirk's legacy



Charlie Kirk's horrific assassination on Wednesday has led many people to wonder about the future of the conservative movement. While Kirk will be sorely missed in the discourse, many political figures are stepping up to the podium with some choice words for their enemies.

On Thursday, the Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro released a statement attempting both to dispel rumors and to encourage those who are mourning the loss of the late conservative giant.

'We're going to pick up that bloodstained microphone where Charlie left it.'

In the statement, Shapiro cut through earlier rumors that he would be canceling speaking events in the future. "Now, it's still up to us. I saw a lot of rumors online today — I was made aware of this by my team — that I canceled some sort of college tour. That's bulls**t. I saw those rumors. They are false. I will be coming to college campuses, many of them this year. So will we all, I am sure, because we're Americans, and we're not going to be deterred."

The co-founder of the Daily Wire made clear that intimidation would not stifle free discussion of ideas. "Charlie's voice is not silent. We're going to pick up that bloodstained microphone where Charlie left it," Shapiro said.

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"And to those who would intimidate, who would seek to stop us, who would seek to end free discussion, who believe that they have ownership over public spaces and can violently threaten and kill people who speak freely: We are not going to stop, and I have two words: F**k you."

Turning Point USA and the Daily Wire have had a strong partnership in shaping the contemporary conservative movement.

While the future may seem uncertain, Shapiro made one point very clear: "We will not stop telling the truth. We will never stop telling the truth. We will never stop debating and discussing. We will never stop standing up for what America is and for what she should be, and we will never let Charlie Kirk's voice die."

"Goodbye to my friend Charlie Kirk. May your memory be a blessing for your family and for your country and for all of us."

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