Federal Judge Blocks USPS Election Integrity Measure Again Days After SCOTUS Stayed Her Injunction
The Massachusetts judge overlooked the fact that mail-in voting is the least secure method of voting.The Massachusetts judge overlooked the fact that mail-in voting is the least secure method of voting.Race-segregated dorms? HUD investigating universities over 'identity-based' communities
The Trump administration is investigating a pair of federally funded universities accused of violating civil rights laws over their race-specific student-housing communities.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst, which received over $322 million in federal funding in fiscal year 2024, is home to five of what it calls "Defined Residential Communities" — "communities in residence halls where students can live with hall mates who share similar interests, backgrounds, and identifies."
'Re-create Jim Crow in the name of bizarro social justice.'
They are as follows: the Asian/Asian-American DRC; the disability DRC; the so-called "Latinx" DRC for Hispanics; the "Harambee" DRC for blacks; and the "Spectrum" DRC for non-straights.
The University of Nevada, Reno — whose active federal awards as of summer 2025 totaled over $520 million — has a similar offering called "Living Learning Communities," which are advertised as a way for students to "develop personal relationships with peers of similar academic, social, and cultural interests."
The University of Nevada, Reno, has the following identity-based LLCs: Asian Pacific Islander; black; LGBT; "Indigenous"; and "Latinx." They are apparently housed on LLC-specific floors.
Dean Kennedy, the University of Nevada, Reno's executive director of residential life, housing, and food services, said in 2023 that "for the safety of student participants, it is important only students who hold that identity are considered." While the university claimed Kennedy misspoke, the identity-based LLCs are still in place.
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The Equal Protection Project, the Legal Insurrection Foundation's racism watchdog, filed civil rights complaints against both schools with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in July.
The complaints allege that the two university housing programs "use race- and ethnicity-based descriptions and promotional materials to steer students based on race, color, and national origin, in violation of the Fair Housing Act."
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination "against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection therewith, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin."
Under the act, it is also unlawful "to make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination."
The EPP argued that under applicable HUD regulations enforcing the FHA, "this kind of 'steering' toward or away from housing based on race is strictly prohibited. Steering liability attaches even if the housing program does not physically bar members of other racial or ethnic groups from participating."
The EPP claimed further that these programs violate both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, previously told the Washington Examiner that promoting "racial separation" in housing constitutes a "clear legal and constitutional violation."
"It’s one thing to provide opportunities for cultural expression; quite another to re-create Jim Crow in the name of bizarro social justice," said Shapiro.
HUD's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity notified EPP in a pair of letters on July 29 that its complaints against the two universities had been officially filed and would be investigated under Title VI.
The HUD office noted in the letters published by Legal Insurrection on Tuesday that it is required by law to complete the investigation within 100 days — meaning the deadline is Nov. 6 — or to provide by that date an explanation for why the probe has not yet been completed.
The University of Nevada, Reno, said in a statement to Blaze News, "The University has been informed that a complaint concerning certain Living Learning Communities has been filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The University's Living Learning Communities are open to all students who choose to participate and are not exclusive housing environments."
"Programs and activities associated with these communities are designed to support student success, foster community, and enrich the residential experience for all students," continued the statement. "The University remains committed to complying with applicable federal civil rights and fair housing laws and will cooperate with any official inquiry."
The University of Massachusetts Amherst did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment by deadline.
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Democrat state lawmaker ARRESTED for allegedly STEALING federal pandemic funds
Another Massachusetts Democrat has been arrested for alleged pandemic fraud after the 61-year-old mayor of Lawrence was arrested earlier this month.
Massachusetts state Rep. Francisco Paulino, a Democrat, is accused of using information gathered from his tax prep business in Lawrence to fraudulently apply for pandemic funds.
'The money these two allegedly scammed was meant for hard-working Americans and struggling business owners, not for two greedy individuals who lied and stole for their own personal benefit.'
The 46-year-old was arrested Wednesday and charged with eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of unlawful monetary transactions.
Paulino allegedly received more than $700,000 in unemployment insurance benefits and small-business loans from the pandemic.
He used those loans to buy property and make loans to clients at his tax preparation business before he was elected to the state legislature in 2023, prosecutors claim.
If convicted, the Democrat faces 20 years in prison for each of the eight wire fraud charges and 10 years in prison for each of the three money laundering charges.
Paulino represents the 16th Essex District, which includes the city of Lawrence, whose mayor was arrested.
Federal prosecutors said Mayor Brian DePeña stole more than $1.5 million in pandemic money and used the ill-gotten cash to "fund his campaign account, pay personal taxes, and pay more than $880,000 in high-interest, hard-money mortgages on properties he owned in Lawrence."
U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley excoriated both Democrats at a news briefing.
"The conduct alleged by the Lawrence mayor and the district state representative is appalling. Everyone listening today knows how difficult it was for Americans during the pandemic and how challenging it was for businesses," said Foley.
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Foley told reporters that the two cases are not related and that the investigations began three years ago, according to NBC10 Boston, which would mean they started when President Joe Biden was still in office.
"The money these two individuals allegedly scammed was meant for hard-working Americans and struggling business owners, not for two greedy individuals who lied and stole for their own personal benefit," she added.
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Female reporter caught mischievously smirking during Lindsay Clancy trial has smile wiped off her face
Lindsay Clancy of Massachusetts is being tried on three counts of first-degree murder in the January 2023 strangulation deaths of her children — 8-month-old Callan, 3-year-old Dawson, and 5-year-old Cora.
During the trial, hundreds of women have rallied outside the courthouse in support of the mother who allegedly admitted to killing her kids, while other women managed to find a seat inside the courtroom.
'Nothing to apologize for.'
Among those inside the courtroom on Monday was New York City-based gossip freelancer Brittany Romano.
Footage soon went viral showing Romano — who has previously contributed to Glamour and Teen Vogue, according to her website — grinning excitedly, winking, and leering flirtatiously at a camera during Clancy's trial.
Following the inappropriate display, Romano explained in a livestream that she "grew up with Lindsay" and had laughed in the courtroom because Clancy had looked at her, reported Newsweek.
Romano — who described the family home of the accused murderer as a "safe" space from her youth and posted a selfie with Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, last week — was swiftly met online with ridicule over her conduct in the courtroom.
Mike Davis, the founder and president of the Article III Project, stated, "The same leftist women who celebrate killing unborn babies up until the moment of birth now support mothers murdering their kids. Say it with me: Evil C**ts. They’ve earned that."
The eponymous host of "The Britt Mayer Show" tweeted, "Many of my sex have gone insane. Ironically, not the one who killed her kids, but the ones applauding her and smiling like a giddy school girl at her trial."
Amid backlash over what was widely regarded as, at the very least, inappropriate behavior on the part of Romano, Vanity Fair announced that it was cutting ties with the writer.
"We were interested in the prospect of a personal essay by Brittany Romano about her experience growing up with Lindsay Clancy," a spokesperson for Vanity Fair told the Boston Globe. "Yesterday, after clear conflicts with our editorial standards and processes, we informed Romano that we were not moving forward with her essay and informed the court that she is no longer credentialed by Vanity Fair."
Romano confirmed that after the video went viral, a member of the Vanity Fair team told her to "take the story elsewhere."
The gossip writer said in a lengthy statement on Instagram that "a smile is not a crime"; that she smiles when she's uncomfortable; and that she has "nothing to apologize for."
"For two years I have fought to cover the Lindsay Clancy case honestly, because at its center is a mother accused of killing her three children during postpartum psychosis, and because the conversation around her has spent that whole time swinging between calling her a monster and asking what actually broke insider her," continued Romano. "Women's mental health coverage was never a side note in that coverage, it was the whole point."
According to the gossip writer, her role in the courtroom was effectively to amplify Clancy's preferred narrative.
Romano noted that after Vanity Fair gave Patrick Clancy, the father of the slain children, "a platform to tell his version when this case first broke," she asked the publication "to rebalance the scales."
She did not immediately respond to Blaze News' request for comment.
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Pastor: The ‘Sin Of Empathy’ Plagues Lindsay Clancy’s Fangirls
Lindsay Clancy supporters believe the 36-year-old mother and killer of her three children is herself a victim. That's 'untethered empathy.'‘Postpartum Depression’ Or Not, Lindsay Clancy Should Be Executed For Murder
If you can't understand that it's evil to kill children, you are a mortal danger to the innocent and therefore not fit to live in a just society.Democrat mayor NABBED for alleged fraud
The mayor of a Massachusetts city was arrested on Friday morning after prosecutors say he illegally funneled federal money into his political campaign as well as toward his personal tax debt.
Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña, a 61-year-old Democrat, allegedly received more than $1 million worth of pandemic relief cash under the assumption that it would be used to prop up his small business.
'I know I'm bothering you a lot, but I have no other option. Only you can give me what I need,' he allegedly texted.
Instead, DePeña allegedly used that cash to pay off his IRS and campaign debts and to make high-interest payments on other properties he owned, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts.
"This was emergency financial assistance meant to be a safety net for struggling businesses, not Mr. Depena’s [sic] own personal ATM," said FBI Special Agent Ted Docks.
The mayor applied for the low-interest loans for a car and tire shop he owned named Tenares Tire Services Inc. After receiving more than $1.5 million, he allegedly misused $883,000 of it to pay off high-interest loans related to properties separate from the tire shop.
The press release included several text messages allegedly made by the mayor seeking help from his accountant and financial adviser to obtain the loans.
"Brother, call me, I'm in trouble. I don't want to pressure you, but I don't have time to wait for this loan. I'm in your hands," DePeña allegedly wrote, translated from Spanish.
"I know I'm bothering you a lot, but I have no other option. Only you can give me what I need," he allegedly wrote in another text.
The mayor was arrested on charges of wire fraud and money laundering, the press release said.
"Mayor DePeña was elected to be a leader for the City of Lawrence. He was looked up to and trusted by his constituents, but he betrayed that trust through his alleged corruption and lies," read a statement from United States Attorney Leah Foley. “Today’s arrest is just another example of our determination to root out fraud by anyone, even public officials and holding elected officials accountable.”
RELATED: Pro-reparations Illinois Democrat indicted in FRAUD SCAM along with her daughter and husband
DePeña did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
DePeña was first elected as mayor in 2021 and was re-elected to a second term in 2025. Prior to that he had been a member of the Lawrence City Council from 2016 until 2021.
The Benefit and Voter Fraud Team was established in Massachusetts as part of the efforts to support "the administration’s war on fraud and ... the work of the vice president’s Anti-Fraud Task Force and the Department of Justice’s National Fraud Enforcement Division," according to an announcement from Foley's office in March.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!Teen allegedly used ChatGPT for 'ideas' about 'killing his family.' Now he's charged with murdering mother, brother.
A Massachusetts teenager used ChatGPT for "ideas" and "fantasies" about "killing his family" — and now the 17-year-old is charged with murdering his mother and brother, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office said.
Arjun Aravind of Acton has been charged with two counts of murder, two counts of assault and battery on a household or family member, two counts of assault and battery, use of a vehicle without authority, and theft of a motor vehicle in connection with the deaths of his 14-year-old brother, Siddharth Aravind, and his 45-year-old mother, Sudha Venkatesan, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Acton Police Chief Douglas Sturniolo.
'At this time, based on the evidence that was found at the scene, it was apparent that blunt force trauma was used in some fashion on both individuals.'
Acton Police received a call shortly after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday from the suspect's father, who had been unable to reach his family members and said a tutor who was expected at the family home on Martha Lane was unable to make contact with the residents upon arrival, officials said.
The father last had contact with his wife early Tuesday morning before he left for work, officials said, and his son, Siddharth, was last seen around noon.
Upon entering the home, police found two victims dead, officials said, adding that Siddharth was found on the first floor, and Sudha was found in the finished basement.
Police determined that Arjun was not in the home and that he allegedly fled using his mother’s vehicle, a 2014 Green Honda Accord, officials said.
Investigators attempted to locate Arjun but were not immediately successful and notified law enforcement and members of the public to be on the lookout., officials said.
Early Wednesday morning, police in Wayland found the suspect vehicle with Arjun inside, officials said. Wayland is about 20 miles south of Acton.
Police took Arjun into custody without incident, officials said.
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"The subsequent investigation indicates that Arjun had recently been demonstrating concerning behavior including using the internet and ChatGPT to make searches including for theoretical ideas or fantasies regarding killing his family," the district attorney's office added.
The suspect also asked ChatGPT to help create “Gothic novel-kind of stories" and characters, DA Marian Ryan told Boston.com.
Officials said it is alleged that Arjun fatally assaulted his mother and brother inside their home Tuesday before fleeing the scene.
Both victims were "suffering from obvious trauma" but "the exact cause and manner is still pending from the chief medical examiner," officials said, adding that "what weapon or weapons were used is still actively under investigation."
Arjun Aravind was wearing handcuffs Thursday morning at his arraignment in Concord District Court when a not-guilty plea to murder and other charges was entered on his behalf, WBZ-TV reported, adding that he is being held without bail.
The station, citing court documents, said Aravind's father recently became worried about his son's behavior and internet activity and had started hiding the knives in the house.
"At this time, based on the evidence that was found at the scene, it was apparent that blunt force trauma was used in some fashion on both individuals," Prosecutor Susan Wiseman said Thursday, according to WBZ, adding that it was a "physical and violent struggle."
The station reported that Wiseman also indicated that when police found Arjun at 3:40 a.m. in his mother's car, "a number of items were found in that car that correspond to the murder scene."
WBZ added that after the arraignment, Arjun's defense attorney Debra DeWitt told reporters that when her client "left the house he did not realize they were dead, so he is, in my words, in somewhat of a shock situation."
"The father just wants help for his son," DeWitt said, according to the station, adding that Arjun has not spoken with his father since the murders.
The suspect is due back in court for a probable cause hearing on Sept. 11, WBZ reported.
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In Massachusetts, You Can Now Abort Babies Minutes Before Birth For Any Reason
'We do all we can in Massachusetts to save baby whales and stray cats yet we murder thousands of unborn children and in many cases the taxpayer pays for it.'Massachusetts Governor Silent On Whether She’ll Kill Law That Protects Babies After 24 Weeks
The law will remove a state law that barred abortion after 24 weeks and make the killing of unborn babies legal up to the very moment of birth.Today's top stories
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