Turns out that Hegseth’s ‘kill them all’ line was another media invention



Under his authority as commander in chief, the president can blow up pretty much anybody on Earth whom he deems a national security threat. He does not need permission from Congress, the media, or a panel of self-appointed commentators. The missile strikes on drug-running vessels operated by a designated terrorist group are lawful, routine, and predictable. What made the episode explosive was that it enraged exactly the faction that always reacts this way: the political left.

Impeachment is the only real consequence available to the administration’s critics, and after two failed efforts, that prospect does not keep President Trump awake at night. Republican control of the House makes even a symbolic attempt unlikely.

It is time to put a moratorium on the online laws-of-armed-conflict ‘experts’ who materialize whenever a strike hits a target they sympathize with.

So the disloyal opposition defaults to its remaining weapon: information warfare. Media outlets, activist networks, and hostile bureaucrats have been carpet-bombing the information space with false claims designed to sow dissension among the ranks and mislead the public.

The country needs a president who can act decisively in defense of national security, without media gatekeepers, rogue judges, or partisan lawmakers running armchair military campaigns from the sidelines. The “Seditious Six” tried to undermine the president’s authority and cast doubt on lawful orders. The Washington Post attempted to turn that fiction into fact by quoting anonymous sources with unverifiable claims.

The central allegation is that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued an order to “kill everybody” on the vessel. The Post framed it this way: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken directive, according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation. ‘The order was to kill everybody.’”

The headline amplified the accusation: “Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all.”

A “spoken directive” means no record. The quote is a paraphrase. Nothing indicates that the source actually heard the Hegseth say those words. This is an anonymous, secondhand characterization of an alleged statement — precisely the sort of raw material the Post loves to inflate into scandal.

Even if the words had been spoken, the context would determine legality. If a commander asks, “How big a bomb do we drop on the enemy location?” and the answer is, “Use one big enough to kill everybody,” that exchange would not be criminal. It is a description of the force required to neutralize a hostile asset.

If these anonymous sources truly believed the secretary issued an illegal order, they were obligated to report it through the chain of command. Their silence speaks louder than any paraphrase. The most plausible explanation is that someone misunderstood — or deliberately distorted — an aggressive statement by Hegseth and nothing more.

The United States targets terrorists. The implication behind the Post’s story is that survivors remained after the first strike and that either the secretary or JSOC ordered a second engagement to kill them. No evidence supports that claim. No one outside the direct participants knows what the surveillance picture showed or what tactical conditions existed immediately after the first blast.

RELATED: White House names names in new ‘media bias tracker’ in wake of ‘seditious’ Democrat video

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Trump stated publicly that Hegseth told him no order was given to kill survivors. The fact that U.S. forces recovered two survivors from the submersible drug vessel undercuts the Post’s narrative even more. Pete Hegseth is far more credible than Alex Horton and the newsroom that elevated this rumor.

— (@)

It is time to put a moratorium on the online laws-of-armed-conflict “experts” who materialize whenever a strike hits a target they sympathize with. They insist that the presence of wounded combatants instantly transforms a hostile platform into a protected site and that destroying the vessel itself becomes a war crime. Even the New York Times — no friend of the administration — punctured that claim:

According to five U.S. officials … Mr. Hegseth’s directive did not specifically address what should happen if a first missile failed to accomplish all of those things … and his order was not a response to surveillance footage showing that at least two people on the boat survived the first blast.

The mobs demanding Hegseth’s scalp will be disappointed. The voters who supported this administration expected firm action against terrorist cartels and open-ocean drug networks. Another hostile vessel was reduced to an oil slick, and most Americans see that as a success.

Illegal immigrant from Venezuela charged after causing car crash that killed 12-year-old Missouri boy



An illegal immigrant from Venezuela has been charged with manslaughter after she caused a car crash in Missouri that killed a 12-year-old boy. The New York Post reported that the immigrant was traveling on the wrong side of the road when the crash occurred.

Edina Bracho, 33, was reportedly speeding on the opposite side of the road in Hazelwood in December when her minivan smashed into a Jeep with Travis Wolfe and his parents inside. Bracho was traveling 75 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour speed zone.

The crash occurred just one day before Wolfe's birthday.

The boy was quickly rushed to St. Louis Children's Hospital, where he was ultimately put on life support. He remained on life support for three months before passing away from his injuries on Wednesday.

Bracho was charged with involuntary manslaughter, two counts of assault in the second degree, two counts of endangering a child in the first degree, and a single count of operating a vehicle without a valid license, according to KTVI.

Court documents revealed that "the defendant is here illegally from Venezuela."

Sgt. Scott Schnurbusch of the Hazelwood Police Department said, “That did not play a part in our investigation. It was just difficult identifying all parties involved because we didn’t have documentation or identifications in the vehicle to try to figure out who the two juveniles and the suspect were."

Bracho is reportedly in custody and awaiting trial. She is currently being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond. She is set to have a bond reduction hearing on April 8, per reports.

“1,700 feet is quite a big distance to travel at over 70 miles an hour on a 40-mile posted road. That’s a long way to travel in the wrong direction and not realize,” Schnurbusch said.

A GoFundMe was set up for the Wolfe family by a woman named Andrea. It reads: "Hi my name is Andrea and I am helping the sweet family of Billy's friend Travis. Travis and his parents were in a horrific head on crash in late December, sadly the day before Travis's 12th birthday."

"Travis was severely injured and has been hospitalized ever since. Please join me in donating funds to support the family with medical expenses."

At the time of this report, $23,536 of a goal of $30,000 has been raised so far.

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How Joe Biden KILLED the Economy | Ep 512
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How Joe Biden KILLED the Economy | Ep 512

Veteran, 73 — who survived two Vietnam tours with Marines — dies after carjackers repeatedly punch him in the head outside his favorite grocery store



Veteran Keith Cooper loved his grandchildren, science fiction, jazz music — and was just a week away from his 74th birthday when horror struck him and his family, WLS-TV reported.

What happened?

Cooper — who survived two tours of duty in Vietnam with the U.S. Marines — was outside his favorite grocery store in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when police said two strangers approached him, the station reported.

The pair — an adult and a juvenile, a source told WLS — demanded Cooper's car and then repeatedly punched him in the head. Cooper's daughter told the station that the beating caused a heart attack that killed him.

The station said witnesses who helped fight off the two attackers also helped police track them down. A source noted to WLS that two people are now in police custody.

But Cooper's family is now left trying to make sense out of the senseless tragedy, the station said.

"I just don't understand it," Curtis Carlton, Cooper's son-in-law, told WLS. "Broad daylight, he comes here all the time, we all shop here. They tried to steal his car. They didn't even get his car, and they took his life."

Image source: WLS-TV video screenshot

Keinika Carlton, Cooper's daughter, told the station that there was an upcoming trip with her dad in the works. Now she has other plans.

"He had specific instructions for his final arrangements, so I just need to carry those out," she told WLS.

'A bonus dad'

Curtis Carlton told the station that Cooper "was like a bonus dad. He was my father-in-law, but he was like a dad. He was the best. Keith was the best."

Keinika Carlton said her dad "loved his family" and was "just all-around fun person to be around."

Image source: WLS-TV video screenshot

Anything else?

Fox News said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office did not immediately return its request for comment on Cooper's death.

More from the cable network:

Carjackings in Chicago have increased in recent years, with 2020 seeing a 135% spike compared to 2019, from 603 carjackings in 2019 to 1,416 in 2020.

The crime has spilled over into 2021, with one particularly violent 24-hour span last month seeing at least five carjackings. Chicago police Supt. David Brown responded to the recent increase by adding 40 officers and four sergeants to a carjacking task force in January.

Former Mississippi state rep killed outside same home where her sister-in-law was found dead



A former Mississippi state lawmaker was fatally shot over the weekend outside the same burned-out home where her sister-in-law was found dead following an arson fire after Christmas.

What are the details?

Ashley Henley, a Republican who represented Southaven from 2016 to 2019, was found with a gunshot wound to the back of her head in Saturday. Her body was discovered by investigators after her husband called a neighbor out of concern when she seemed to be gone for too long while cleaning up the property where his sister died.

Henley and her husband, Brandon Henley, have pressed local law enforcement on the investigation surrounding the death of Brandon's sister, Kristina Michelle Jones, whose body was found Dec. 26 inside a trailer owned by Brandon and Kristina's father.

Following Jones' death, Brandon and Ashley put up a billboard-type shrine of sorts outside the property, insisting that Jones had been murdered and calling for justice.

"I feel that if something would have been done sooner this would have never happened," Brandon told WJTV-TV following his wife's death.

Brandon told the outlet that he believes both his wife and his sister were killed by the same person, and that the family "had just days earlier begun re-examining his sister's death."

"The fire investigators did confirm it was arson and the crime lab did confirm that there was no smoke in her lungs when she was found, so she was dead before the fire," Brandon said of his sister's death.

He said of the Yalobusha County Sheriff's Office, "I'd like for them to do their job because this is the second person someone down there has taken from me." He added, "My son doesn't have a mother."

The Washington Post reported that the Henleys had launched their own investigation into Jones' death, and that Ashley's friend and former colleague state Rep. Dan Eubanks (R) said Ashley "had grown increasingly frustrated in recent weeks and feared that Jones' case would go cold."

Eubanks told WLBT-TV:

"I really believe that what happened was, she continued to pursue certain leads and she ruffled some feathers and somebody wanted to put an end to that search. It's obvious that it was an execution-style murder. Somebody wanted her dead. They didn't rob her, they didn't take any of her stuff. … They killed her and just moved on."

1 firefighter killed, 1 wounded in shooting at California fire station; suspect's home torched



One firefighter was killed and another was wounded in a shooting at a California fire station on Tuesday, according to multiple reports.

Authorities believe the suspect is a "disgruntled employee" who reportedly fled the scene and allegedly lit his own home on fire following the shooting.

What are the details?

"It is with heavy hearts that the LACoFD confirms that a tragic shooting occurred at approximately 10:55 a.m. today at FS 81 in Agua Dulce," the Los Angeles County Fire Department tweeted. "The Dept. is still in the process of gathering additional information & are cooperating with law enf. throughout this ongoing incident."

Local outlet KABC-TV initially reported that the firefighter injured in the shooting suffered "multiple gunshot wounds," and was flown to hospital for treatment. He was rushed into surgery and was in critical condition as of the 3:00 p.m. local time. KTLA-TV reported at the time that officials indicated the injured man, a captain, was shot once.

The Daily Mail reported that following the shooting at the fire station, the yet-unnamed suspect allegedly drove to his home roughly ten miles away and set it ablaze.

Firefighters made several water drops on the home using a helicopter. Meanwhile, deputies approached the home in a bearcat vehicle to assess the situation, as the suspect is believed to be in the home according to footage from KABC.

Lt. Brandon Dean of the LA County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau, who is leading the law enforcement investigation into the incidents, confirmed during an afternoon press conference that the suspect was an off-duty firefighter who worked at the Agua Dulce station.

When officers arrived at the home that was on fire, they found an individual in a "small pool" outside the residence with a gunshot wound to the head. As of the press conference, authorities were not yet able to confirm whether the gunshot wound was self-inflicted, as the home was still on fire and the investigation is in its preliminary stages.

Officials are not yet able to confirm whether or not the suspect was the same person in the pool. No motive has been established at this time.

This is a developing story that will be updated

1 firefighter dead, 1 hurt in shooting at fire station in Agua Dulce: Source | KTLA 5 News www.youtube.com

Sister of pilot killed on Sept. 11 absolutely excoriates leftists who liken Jan. 6 Capitol riot to 9/11 terror attack that claimed nearly 3,000 lives



We know that supposed conservative writer George Will infamously declared that he wants to see the Jan. 6 Capitol riot "burned into the American mind as firmly as 9/11 because it was that scale of a shock to the system."

We know that Huffington Post senior White House correspondent S.V. Dáte defended Will by saying the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was "1000 percent worse" than 9/11.

We know that Democratic lawmakers desperately want to slow-cook the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and investigate it as if it was on the scale of 9/11 — a desire that will have to fester a bit longer after the push failed to get off the ground in the U.S. Senate a few days ago.

But amid all of their politicizing, virtue-signaling short memories and short-sightedness, Debra Burlingame — sister of a pilot killed on 9/11 — splashed some cold water on leftist faces in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, telling them they're out of their minds if they believe honest Americans buy their tall tale that the Jan. 6 riot was in the same universe as 9/11.

What did Burlingame have to say?

"The attempt to reconfigure the 'domestic terrorist' narrative to fit the horrifying story of Sept. 11 is profoundly disheartening," Burlingame wrote. "These two events are fundamentally different in nature, scope, and consequences. Mentioning them in the same breath not only diminishes the horror of what happened on 9/11; it tells a false story to the generation of Americans who are too young to remember that day nearly 20 years ago."

She explained that her brother, Charles "Chic" Burlingame, was the pilot of American Airlines flight 77 and "was murdered in his cockpit at age 51 in a 6½-minute struggle for control of the airplane" — and then gave some facts to the fact-deprived.

More from her op-ed:

Members of Congress might have had a frightening day on Jan. 6, but on 9/11 some 200 people in the World Trade Center towers chose to jump from 80 to 100 floors above the ground rather than be consumed by fire. A woman waiting at a lobby elevator bank was burned over 82% of her body when jet fuel from the first plane sent a ball of fire down the elevator shaft and into the lobby. She spent three months in a hospital burn unit and was permanently disfigured.

There are countless harrowing stories like this—of death, destruction and heartbreaking loss. More than 3,000 children lost parents. Eight young children were killed on the planes. Recovery personnel found 19,000 human remains scattered all over lower Manhattan from river to river, including on rooftops and window ledges. Victims' remains were still being recovered years later by utility workers and construction crews. Some families received so many notifications of remains that they couldn't take it any more and asked for them to stop. More than 1,100 families received nothing. Their loved ones went to work that morning and disappeared.

The attack brought down our nationwide aviation system, shut down the New York Stock Exchange for days, destroyed or rendered uninhabitable 16 acres of Lower Manhattan including underground subway and commuter train lines and destroyed a section of the Pentagon. Rebuilding at ground zero is still incomplete, and U.S. troops are still in Afghanistan.

Burlingame then delivered a knockout blow to the gaslighting left: "On Jan. 6, Congress resumed its session that evening."

"It is deeply offensive and sad that the brutal and harrowing memories of the worst terrorist attack in American history are being deployed by political partisans," she added. "They are using 9/11 not as an example of what the American people endured and overcame together, but explicitly to divide, to stoke hatred, and to further a political agenda aimed at stigmatizing the other party and marginalizing ordinary Americans from participating in the political process. That is the real threat to democracy."

Anything else?

If that isn't refreshing enough to digest, Burlingame offered that there have been "real terrorist attacks on the Capitol. But those must be forgotten because they came from the political left." With that, she reminded us of the Weather Underground bombings of the Senate, Pentagon, and State Department in a four-year span in the early 1970s.

Here's a quick look at the unforgettable images of the Pentagon after hijacked flight 77 slammed into its side on 9/11:

AS IT HAPPENED - The 9/11 Pentagon Attackyoutu.be

(H/T: Daily Caller)

NYPD officer — beloved husband and father of 2 — fatally struck by allegedly drunk driver



Loved ones and strangers are mourning the death of NYPD Officer Anastasios Tsakos, a beloved husband and father of two young children who died in the early hours of Tuesday morning after being hit by an allegedly drunk driver while directing traffic.

What are the details?

The New York Times reported that Tsakos, 43, was struck at around 2:00 a.m. while working to divert traffic from a separate fatality accident, and was sent airborne before landing in a grassy area as the driver who hit him took off with a "completely shattered" windshield.

Tsakos was a 14-year veteran of the department, and he leaves behind his wife, 3-year-old son, and 6-year-old daughter.

Neighbors told WCBS-TV that Tsakos was a dedicated family man, and expressed their sadness over the tragedy.

"An amazing father, husband, and we saw him every day," Rosemarie Giancalone told the outlet. "He brought us food and went to the supermarket, whatever you guys need." Giancalone's partner, Simone, said that the officer had even helped them "put up the molding" in their house.

Simone said Tsakos "was a super dedicated father with his kids," and would often play with the children in his driveway.

The outlet further reported:

NYPD widows with the group Survivors of the Shield rushed to the home to let the officer's grieving wife know they are there for her always.

"We just want them to know they're not alone, we've all been through it. But every circumstance is different, and privacy is important to her. She's still trying to accept what happened," Maggine McDonald said.

What else?

The person accused of fatally hitting Tsakos is Jessica Beauvais, 32, who authorities say was driving while intoxicated on a suspended license.

The Times reported that after fleeing the scene, Beauvais was "surrounded by the police when she left the highway a few exits later," and that "Ms. Beauvais put her car in reverse and rammed the police vehicle behind her before she was taken into custody."

The Daily Mail reported that Beauvais was seen on Facebook live hours before the incident taking shots of what she purportedly later admitted to police was vodka. She reportedly was on a rant during her Facebook message over the Derek Chauvin trial, declaring "f*** the police."

Following her arraignment Tuesday afternoon, Beauvais sobbed while apologizing for Tsakos' death, saying, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I hit him and now he's dead."

She has been charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter, along with one count each of reckless endangerment, leaving an accident resulting in death, driving while intoxicated, fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle, and other charges.

Alleged Drunk Woman With Suspended License Kills NYPD Highway Cop, Father of 2 | News 4 Now www.youtube.com

3 Georgia police officers shot, one suspect killed, and another apprehended after chase



Three Georgia law enforcement officers were shot, a suspect is dead, and another is in custody after a chase that began with a state trooper clocking a vehicle going 111 mph about 3:30 a.m. Monday on Interstate 20 in Bremen, Georgia.

What are the details?

The trooper flagged a 2015 Nissan Sentra for the excessive speed, and the driver stopped but then took off again as the officer approached the rear of the car. The officer followed and bumped the vehicle. On the second bump, a passenger in the Sentra "leaned out of the front passenger window and began firing at the trooper with a rifle," the Georgia Bureau of Investigations said in a news release.

The trooper's vehicle was hit, disabling it. Then, the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, the Carrollton Police Department, and the Villa Rica Police Department joined the chase.

The passenger then allegedly shot CPS Sgt. Rob Holloway, before the Sentra crashed near an elementary school in Villa Rica.

Both suspects — brothers Aaron Jajuan Shelton, 22, and Pier Alexander Shelton, 28 — fled on foot, leading to a search by law enforcement. According to AL.com, the brothers were from Birmingham, Alabama.

The GBI reported:

At approximately 5:00 A.M. and 5:30 A.M., the men shot towards officers and Villa Rica Police Officer Chase Gordy returned shots and was shot twice. Carroll County Sheriff's Deputy John Repetto was also shot at and sustained a gunshot injury.

Pier Shelton was fatally shot by law enforcement, and Aaron Shelton was taken into custody on five counts of aggravated assault and three counts of aggravated battery. He is being held at the Carroll County Jail.

Sgt. Holloway was flown to a hospital and underwent surgery, and Officer Repetto was taken to Atlanta Medical Center for treatment for being shot in the arm, WGCL-TV reported.

A GoFundMe account has been set up for Officer Gordy, who joined the unit last fall. Officer Gordy was transported to a hospital in Atlanta.

Anything else?

Al.com reported that GBI did not immediately disclose which brother was driving the Sentra.

The outlet noted that "Aaron Shelton pleaded guilty in January 2019 to attempted murder and robbery in connection with a March 6, 2018 shooting in Birmingham," and "Pier Shelton has prior arrests here for unlawful possession of marijuana and having a pistol in a vehicle. Both were dismissed."

3 killed, several injured after allegedly 'impaired' driver strikes pedestrians in San Diego



Three people are dead and another six injured after an allegedly "impaired" man drove his vehicle onto a sidewalk in downtown Sand Diego on Monday morning.

What are the details?

The tragedy occurred at around 9:00 a.m. near San Diego City College where police say the suspect, a 71-year-old whose name has not been released, plowed into the victims under a bridge where homeless people have been known to seek shelter. He was driving a Volvo station wagon, and there were "tents and belongings" in the path of the vehicle when it took to the sidewalk, authorities said.

WNBC-TV reported that the deceased victims were declared dead at the scene, and two of the injured remain hospitalized in critical condition. The condition of the remaining four people who were struck by the vehicle are unknown.

San Diego Police Department Chief David Nisleit said that the driver tried to assist the victims and gave his name to police at the scene. Nisleit said the suspect "was detained and was being investigated 'for possibly driving while impaired,'" the New York Times reported.

According to the Daily Mail, "authorities initially said [the driver] had tried to flee."

Nisleit also noted that just minutes before the crash, the department received a radio call regarding a vehicle matching the description of the Volvo. The chief "said that call is part of the ongoing investigation and could not give specifics yet about what was reported in that call regarding the Volvo," WNBC reported.

One witness told the outlet that they saw the Volvo take out more than three tents lined up on the sidewalk. "I turned around and I saw yellow headlights and next thing you know, I was almost getting sucked under a car," Ronnie Williams recalled. "And then I managed to pull my leg out from under the car right here."

"It was quick, but it was slow," he added. "I could see everything, I could hear everything, I could feel everything. I could hear myself thinking to myself like, 'Do you want to die or not?'"

Another witness reported seeing the driver "right after the crash looking very distraught" and "said the driver walked away from the car and waited for police to arrive before being taken away in handcuffs," according to WNBC.

3 Killed After 71-Year-Old Man Drives Into Pedestrians In San Diego Tunnel www.youtube.com