The ‘spirit of the age’ PERFECTLY illustrated in one photo
The terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, not only left eight Americans injured — but it also left a message warning of the path Western civilization is going down.
And within that message was a photo from the attack, where a white shirtless man is seen in front of a government building. On the ground is a firebomb, and hanging over the doors to the government building is a rainbow flag with the black, brown, light blue, and light pink triangle added.
BlazeTV host Steve Deace finds the photo to perfectly encapsulate the spirit of the age.
“When we discuss on our show, worldview is destiny,” Deace says, “there may be other photos we could show you that would encapsulate as well what that means, as this photo does, but they would not do a better job than this photo does.”
“This is the gravestone of a civilization is what this photo is,” he adds.
“I want to start actually in the back with that flag over the government building, because see, that’s where it begins,” Deace says, further analyzing the photo. “It actually starts there, because someone will always rule, and something will always be worshiped.”
“This idea that we were going to take the cross away, that we were going to take the Ten Commandments away, that we were going to take the biblical imagery of our founding and the citations thereof and therein. We were going to take those things away and create some kind of a neutral place was a lie from the beginning,” he continues.
“That’s a backdrop, that’s a watermark, that is the sign, ‘You are a conquered people,’” he says. “It has been common from time immemorial for conquerors to hoist their flag in exchange for the flag of the people whom they just conquered.”
Deace notes that while the suspected Muslim terrorist was taking a stand against what he sees as oppressive, the reason he’s doing it on American soil is because Americans have already proven they’ll take it.
“That’s why, because we’ll let it. That’s why,” Deace says. “I am not sure I have seen a photo in my career, we just celebrated 25 years that I’ve worked full time in broadcasting, and I am not sure I have seen a photo that better encapsulates how the last generation of Americans just completely went to sleep than this one.”
“No other previous generation of Americans would have tolerated this, until this one,” he adds.
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FBI arrests alleged accomplice in Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing — and he shares suspected terrorist's hatred
Guy Edward Bartkus, the 25-year-old suspected terrorist killed in the May 17 bombing of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, allegedly left behind a nihilistic manifesto acknowledged by the FBI that equated human life to a disease gripping the planet, condemned religion, championed Satan over God, and called for a "war against pro-lifers."
"Basically, I'm anti-life," Bartkus allegedly said in a 30-minute audio recording explaining why he apparently decided to bomb a fertility clinic. "And IVF is like kind of the epitome of pro-life ideology."
The suspect appears to have been neither alone in his hatred for life nor alone in his plot to bomb the American Reproductive Centers in Palm Springs.
The FBI arrested Daniel Jongyon Park on Tuesday night at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in connection with the bombing.
Park, a 32-year-old from Washington state, fled the country two days after the bombing. He was arrested by Polish authorities on May 30, despite an alleged attempt to "harm himself." Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly helped ensure that he was deported to the United States on June 2, where he was charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists.
RELATED: Why a fatherless man bombed a fertility clinic — and the dark truth it exposes
GABRIEL OSORIO/AFP via Getty Images
"This defendant is charged with facilitating the horrific attack on a fertility center in California," Bondi said in a statement. "Bringing chaos and violence to a facility that exists to help women and mothers is a particularly cruel, disgusting crime that strikes at the very heart of our shared humanity."
Bondi expressed gratitude to America's "partners in Poland who helped get this man back to America."
According to the Department of Justice, Park allegedly provided the suspected terrorist with the explosive precursor materials ultimately used in the attack, approximately 270 pounds of ammonium nitrate — 90 pounds of which he allegedly shipped just days before the Palm Springs bombing, which destroyed the clinic, damaged surrounding buildings, injured numerous people, and flung the bomber's remains as far as the rooftop of a hotel a block away.
The suspect, who the FBI indicated filmed the attack and the events leading up to it, appears to have assembled the bomb at his home in Twentynine Palms, where federal agents reportedly found massive quantities of explosive materials, including pentaerythritol tetranitrate — a chemical compound used in commercial detonators.
'Would you press the button to end their suffering and speed up the process of extinction of life on Earth?'
After allegedly sending Bartkus the first shipment, Park — who allegedly made six separate online purchases totaling 275 pounds of ammonium nitrate between October 2022 and May 2025 — stayed at the suspected terrorist's house from Jan. 25 to Feb 8., during which time he told people his name was "Steve."
Citing records from an AI chat application, the DOJ indicated that Bartkus researched how to make powerful explosions using ammonium nitrate and fuel three days before Park came to visit him.
The criminal complaint against Park indicates that federal agents discovered "explosive precursor chemicals and multiple recipes for explosives, including recipes for explosive mixtures containing ammonium nitrate and fuel" at his house. One of the recipes apparently corresponded with the explosive mixture used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
RELATED: New evidence could blow open the Oklahoma City bombing case
Guy Edward Bartkus. Image Source: FBI. American Reproductive Centers. Photo by GABRIEL OSORIO/AFP via Getty Images
Bartkus' family members allegedly told investigators that he and Park were "running experiments" in the suspected bomber's detached garage, where FBI agents later discovered chemical precursors and laboratory equipment as well as packages listing Park's home address.
The duo apparently bonded over their anti-natalism and their "pro-mortalism" — the belief that non-existence is always preferable to life.
'Those who aid terrorists can expect to feel the cold wrath of justice.'
The criminal complaint indicates that Park made numerous social media posts expressing such views, allegedly writing, for instance, in 2016 in response to the question, "What have you actually done to not have children?" that "a better question is what did you do to make other people not have children."
In April 2025, Park allegedly wrote "yes" in response to the question, "If you had the technology to wipe out a tribe of people on an isolated island and no one would know about it after the tribe's life was gone, would you press the button to end their suffering and speed up the process of extinction of life on Earth?"
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said of Park's arrest, "Domestic terrorism is evil and unacceptable. Those who aid terrorists can expect to feel the cold wrath of justice."
Park could face up to 15 years in federal prison if convicted.
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Chicago Marxist yells 'Free, free Palestine' after 'brutal terrorist attack' on Israeli staffers in DC
Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot at close range as they left an event Wednesday evening at the Capital Jewish Museum building in Washington, D.C. The suspected gunman, a pro-Palestinian Marxist from Chicago, allegedly shouted, "Free, free Palestine!" after his capture.
According to FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, FBI police officers assigned to the bureau's Washington Field Office immediately responded and rendered aid after the attack. Despite their efforts and the efforts of members of the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, the victims both succumbed to their injuries.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry deemed the shooting a "brutal terrorist attack" and identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky, a research assistant in the embassy's political department, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, an aide who organized trips to Israel.
"Israeli diplomats and representatives around the world stand on the frontlines of Israel’s diplomatic efforts — defending the country with their very lives," said the ministry. "We will not be deterred by terror. We will continue our mission across the globe, with unwavering commitment to represent Israel with pride."
— (@)
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said that the "couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of 'free Palestine' is a young couple about to be engaged. The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. They were a beautiful couple."
Leiter noted further that Israelis and Americans are resilient peoples who, together, "will overcome moral depravity of people who think that they're going to achieve political gains through murder."
'We are witnessing the terrible price of anti-Semitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel.'
The ambassador indicated that earlier in the evening, Attorney General Pam Bondi handed him a phone and on the other end was President Donald Trump, "who told me that his administration is going to do everything it could possibly do to fight and end anti-Semitism and the hatred that's being directed — the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel."
Trump, among the many Western leaders and diplomats who expressed sympathy for the victims' families and solidarity with Israel, noted early Thursday morning, "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA."
"Condolences to the families of the victims," continued Trump. "So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!"
Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump and Bondi for their "clear stance against anti-Semitism" and suggested that "we are witnessing the terrible price of anti-Semitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel."
Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith told reporters that prior to the shooting, the suspect was observed pacing back and forth outside the museum. After approaching four individuals, including Lischinsky and Milgrim, the suspect drew a handgun and opened fire.
Smith indicated that after the shooting, the suspect entered the Capital Jewish Museum, where he was detained by event security.
Once in custody, the suspect, Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, indicated where he left the weapon, "implied that he committed the offense," and shouted pro-Palestinian slogans, said Smith.
'We have nothing to do with this shooting.'
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino indicated early Thursday morning that the Washington Metropolitan Police Department was interviewing the suspect in conjunction with the bureau's Joint Terrorism Task Forces team.
Bondi told reporters late Wednesday that the "defendant, if charged, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
The Jerusalem Post reported that Rodriguez is a graduate from the University of Illinois who donated to Joe Biden's 2020 campaign.
RELATED: NYPD detains 80 'pro-Hamas thugs' accused of Columbia library takeover as Rubio targets visas
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
According to a now-deleted page on the website for the HistoryMakers, a research institution that documents and records black Americans' stories, Rodriguez served as an "Oral History Researcher," preparing "outlines and biographies of accomplished leaders in the African American community."
Rodriguez, who apparently also has a history of anti-white commentary, has been involved with the pro-Palestinian group Party for Socialism and Liberation. The PSL acknowledged that Rodriguez "had a brief association" with one of its branches but claimed his involvement ended in 2017.
"We have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it," added the PSL.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser stated, "We will not tolerate acts of terrorism, and we are going to stand together as a community in the coming says and weeks that we will not tolerate the acts of terrorism that we will not tolerate anti-Semitism."
According to the Anti-Defamation League's latest annual audit, there were 9,354 anti-Semitic incidents last year, representing a 5% increase over the previous year, a 344% increase over the past five years, and a 893% increase over the past 10 years. The ADL report, released last month, said that 57% of the incidents last year were related to Israel.
The American advocacy group StopAntisemitism said in a statement to Blaze News, "The murder of two Israeli embassy staffers at an event honoring Jewish lives is the tragic result of 600 days of Jews being targeted on the streets, on campuses, and even with a Jewish governor’s home set ablaze. This is the end result of chaos fueled by calls for intifada and tolerated Jew-hatred. A win for the pro-Palestine movement that seeks to erase Jewish identity from the world."
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Whoever Ran Biden’s White House Deserves The Plank And More For Forcing Endless Disasters On Americans
Dems' favorite MS-13 associate ran human trafficking operations, says ex-boss
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.), Maxwell Frost (Fla.), Yassamin Ansari (Ariz.), and Maxine Dexter (Ore.) are among the Democratic lawmakers who decided to champion the cause of MS-13 associate Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national the Trump administration sent packing on March 15.
Abrego Garcia's illegal entry into the U.S., his failure to appear for hearings on traffic violations, the domestic abuse allegations lodged against him, his links to a terrorist gang, and his identification by two immigration courts as a danger to the community were likely already cause enough to justify his deportation and to question his Democratic defenders' judgment. However, more damning information has come to light.
In the wake of the Tennessee Star's publication of footage showing Abrego Garcia's Nov. 30, 2022, encounter with Tennessee Highway Patrol and confirmation of the Department of Justice's investigation into the traffic stop, ABC News reported that the Salvadoran's boss has outed him as an human trafficker.
The traffic stop
Tennessee Highway Patrol reportedly pulled over Abrego Garcia in November 2022 for driving erratically, which he was reportedly doing without a valid license.
'He's getting paid to haul these people.'
The THP officer surmised from the MS-13 associate's human cargo and lack of luggage that Abrego Garcia — then on a terrorist watch list but not on a deportation list — was engaged in human trafficking.
One officer said in the video obtained by the Tennessee Star, "He's hauling these people for money. You've got an ICE hauler, is what he's doing. Sometimes they come in with dope."
"There's eight people in there," continued the officer. "He's getting paid to haul these people, probably to Maryland, I would say, if I had to guess."
— (@)
Tennessee Highway Patrol notified the Biden FBI, which told the officers to take pictures of Abrego Garcia and his seven passengers, then cut them loose.
While Abrego Garcia got to drive away with just a warning, he did so only after materially and verbally linking himself to a convicted human trafficker.
The black 2001 Chevrolet Silverado that Abrego Garcia was driving was reportedly flagged by the Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore field office as belonging to Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes — an illegal alien from Mexico who Abrego Garcia told a state trooper was his boss.
Hernandez-Reyes pleaded guilty on June 4, 2020, to smuggling illegal aliens. He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, then deported, though he stole back into the U.S. sometime later and was eventually rearrested.
Abrego Garcia outed
Federal investigators looking into Abrego Garcia's 2022 traffic stop recently spoke with Hernandez-Reyes at the Federal Correctional Institution in Talladega, Alabama, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Hernandez-Reyes, who was granted limited immunity, told investigators he ran a "taxi service" based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Mexican national reportedly indicated that he met Abrego Garcia in 2015 and hired him on multiple occasions to smuggle illegal aliens from Texas to other places in the country.
Hernandez-Reyes previously told authorities that he would smuggle people throughout the U.S. for $350 per person. In the bodycam footage of the 2022 traffic stop obtained by the Tennessee Star, Abrego Garcia is said to have $1,400 in cash on his person.
ABC News indicated that the DOJ declined to comment.
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Dem judge resigns after ICE arrests suspected Tren de Aragua gangster at his home
A Democrat judge in New Mexico resigned last month just days after a suspected member of the violent Tren de Aragua gang was arrested at his residence.
On March 3, Judge Jose "Joel" Cano, magistrate of Doña Ana County, sent a letter to various court staff, including 3rd Judicial District Chief Judge Conrad Perea, announcing that he would step down from his seat effective March 21.
"Working with each of you has been a very rewarding experience for which I will remain eternally grateful," he wrote, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Just three days before Cano sent the resignation letter, on February 28, ICE agents conducted a search warrant on his home in connection with Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, a 23-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela and suspected TDA gangster who was living there.
Ortega-Lopez broke into the U.S. by scaling a barbed-wire fence near Eagle Pass, Texas, at the height of the Biden border crisis in December 2023, Breitbart reported, citing court documents. He spent three days at a detention facility in South Laredo before he was released because of overcrowding.
He then moved in with five other people in El Paso and began working in construction and doing other odd jobs. At some point, he crossed paths with Nancy Cano, wife of ex-Judge Cano, who offered Ortega-Lopez the chance to live in a casita behind the home the couple shares in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Ortega-Lopez apparently accepted the offer because last April, he filed a request for immigration relief and listed the judge's address as his current residence. Breitbart indicated that the judge "allowed" him to do so.
Judge Damian Martinez initially opted to release him, reportedly stating that he did not believe Judge Cano 'would just let anybody live in his property.'
Far from mere casual acquaintances, Ortega-Lopez and Cano apparently spent considerable time together. Prosecutors introduced photos and videos posted to social media that showed the two posing together.
What's more, the photos and videos revealed that on at least one occasion, Ortega-Lopez and several other illegal aliens went to the local gun range, where they fired various firearms. One photo reportedly showed Ortega-Lopez double-fisting an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun, while in another photo, he allegedly handled another AR-style rifle outfitted with a suppressor.
Video footage also showed Ortega-Lopez firing the rifle until it ran out of bullets, according to Breitbart. He then reloaded the gun with a fresh magazine and proceeded to fire it again.
During their investigation, agents discovered a cache of weapons at the nearby home of April Cano, identified as Nancy Cano's daughter. Prosecutors alleged that after meeting Ortega-Lopez, April Cano "allowed him to hold and sometimes shoot various firearms" she owns.
In some of the social media photos, Ortega-Lopez can be seen holding some of April Cano's firearms, the Journal said. His TDA tattoos are reportedly visible in both the photos and videos.
Ortega-Lopez's cell phone also contains images of decapitated and mutilated bodies, reported Breitbart, which claimed to have viewed the gruesome images.
Ortega-Lopez was arrested on February 28 and currently faces a federal charge of unlawful alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition. At a detention hearing on March 14, U.S. Magistrate Judge Damian Martinez initially opted to release him, reportedly stating that he did not believe Judge Cano "would just let anybody live in his property."
Prosecutors immediately filed an appeal of his release and included the quotation from Judge Martinez in their motion.
Martinez also reportedly wanted to consider whether Mrs. Cano might be considered a third-party custodian of Ortega-Lopez.
For now, Ortega-Lopez remains in custody without bond at the Doña Ana County Detention Center for "violation [of] federal immigration laws," jail records show.
Joel and Nancy Cano declined a request for comment from the Journal, claiming they did not want to jeopardize any of Ortega-Lopez's pending legal cases. Whether any of the Canos will face charges on account of their association with Ortega-Lopez remains unclear.
Joel Cano is a former police officer who first ran for the county magistrate position as a Democrat in 2010. He then kept his seat by running unopposed in subsequent elections, including his most recent re-election in 2022.
Earlier this year, the U.S. government declared Tren de Aragua to be a foreign terrorist organization.
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Congressional Democrats arrive in El Salvador, doubling down on support for MS-13 affiliate
Four congressional Democrats arrived in El Salvador on Monday in hopes of pressuring the Trump administration into facilitating the return of Salvadoran MS-13 affiliate Kilmar Abrego Garcia — something the U.S. Supreme Court conditionally ordered earlier this month.
The trip comes on the heels of Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen's (D) pilgrimage to support the suspected gangbanger — a trip critics seized upon as another damning example of Democrats' extra-national priorities — and in the wake of new polling showing record-low confidence in Democratic congressional leadership.
While Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.), Maxwell Frost (Fla.), Yassamin Ansari (Ariz.), and Maxine Dexter (Ore.) followed in the steps of Van Hollen, who traveled last week to San Salvador to both demand Abrego Garcia's release and share an intimate moment with the MS-13 affiliate, taxpayers did not similarly pay their way.
'You can spend your own money.'
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer refused the Democratic lawmakers' request to let taxpayer money be wasted on the trip, stating in an April 18 letter to Garcia and Frost, "It is absurd that you both displayed active hostility for over two years toward the Committee's oversight of the Biden Border Crisis and the consequences of millions of illegal aliens entering the country, yet now, you are seeking travel at Committee expense to meet with foreign gang members."
"You may be pleased to know that a Democrat Senator, Chris Van Hollen, was photographed just yesterday in El Salvador enjoying margaritas garnished with cherry slices with the foreign gang member your letter references," continued Comer. "If you also wish to meet with him, you can spend your own money."
Although denied the opportunity to send an official congressional delegation at taxpayers' expense, the Democrats decided to make the trip anyway.
The four Democrats' offices informed Axios that they will meet with U.S. embassy officials in El Salvador.
Evidently unfazed by the credible accusations lodged against Garcia — of human trafficking and domestic abuse — as well as an immigration court's determination that he is a "danger to the community," the Democrats will also advocate for Abrego Garcia's release.
"Donald Trump and his Administration are running a government-funded kidnapping program — illegally arresting, jailing, and deporting innocent people with zero due process. Kilmar Abrego Garcia is Trump's latest victim," said Frost.
"While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported," Rep. Garcia said in a statement. "We are demanding the Trump Administration abide by the Supreme Court decision and give Kilmar and the other migrants mistakenly sent to El Salvador due process in the United States."
An Obama judge ordered the Trump administration on April 4 to bring a deported MS-13 member back to the United States, which he originally stole into without inspection in 2011.
On April 10, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the lower court's ruling in part, stating, "The order properly requires the Government to 'facilitate' Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador."
The court noted, however, that the "scope of the term 'effectuate' in the District Court's order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court's authority," and that the lower court "should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs."
White House officials indicated that the release and return of Abrego Garcia is up to El Salvador.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "That's up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us. The Supreme Court ruled that if El Salvador wants to return him ... we would facilitate it: meaning, provide a plane."
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele indicated in the Oval Office last week that doing so is not possible.
President Donald Trump made clear Friday that contrary to Democrats' characterization of Abrego Garcia as a "Maryland man" traduced, the Salvadoran bears the markings of his gang affiliation. Rather than leave the markings to the imagination, Trump shared a picture of the gang tattoo online.
'Americans are increasingly saying the country is on the right track when it comes to immigration policy.'
"This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such 'a fine and innocent person,'" wrote Trump. "They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he's got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc."
— (@)
A new Gallup poll found that confidence in Democratic congressional leaders is at an all-time low — only 25% of respondents signaled confidence in the leftist lawmakers' ability to do or recommend the right thing. Democrats' lowest confidence rating was previously 34%, which was recorded in 2023.
The four Democrats' protest in El Salvador is unlikely to improve their relationship with voters. After all, a recent Washington Post poll found in February that the majority of Americans support deporting all illegal aliens presently in the United States.
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Iranian spy manages to infiltrate FAA, become US citizen
An Iranian spy managed to worm his way into the Federal Aviation Administration and even became a U.S. citizen even though he previously served in a foreign military organization associated with terrorism.
On Wednesday, Abouzar Rahmati, 42, pled guilty to acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the attorney general as well as conspiracy.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Rahmati frequently interacted with high-ranking Iranian officials between December 2017 and June 2024, passing along critical information regarding American aviation infrastructure without authorization.
During his scheme, Rahmati worked as an FAA contractor, a job that granted him "access to sensitive non-public information about the U.S. aviation sector," the DOJ said. Rahmati also obtained "open-source and non-public materials about the U.S. solar energy industry" that he then passed along to Iranian leaders.
Rahmati 'lied' to US officials about his past military experience to secure work with firms that contract with the federal government.
While working for a federal contracting company, Rahmati downloaded at least 172 GB of data, including "sensitive" documents about the National Aerospace System and its airport surveillance radar networks. He then sent this data to members of the Iranian government on their orders in April 2022, the DOJ claimed.
That same month, he sent his brother, who lives in Iran, similar materials about "solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, U.S. airports, and U.S. air traffic control towers" with the understanding that his brother would pass along the information to Iranian intelligence, the DOJ added. Once again, he did so under the direction of the Iranian government.
Court documents claimed Rahmati "applied for multiple positions with private companies and U.S. government entities that would afford him access to sensitive information."
The documents reiterated that "at no time" was Rahmati ever in a diplomatic or other official position that would have made such communications at least reasonable. He also never notified the U.S. attorney general that he intended to act as an agent or official of a foreign government.
Considering his background, it is a wonder that Rahmati managed to secure employment positions with access to such critical American information. Rahmati was born in Iran and earned an undergraduate and a master's degree in technology-related fields from the University of Tehran.
From June 2009 until May 2010, he was conscripted to serve in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an Iranian military and counterintelligence group that the U.S. government designated to be a foreign terrorist organization in 2019. He eventually rose to the rank of first lieutenant.
According to court documents, Rahmati "lied" to U.S. officials about his past military experience to secure work with firms that contract with the federal government.
When he moved to the U.S. is unclear, though he did earn a master's of science and a Ph.D. from an American university, court documents said. The news of his conviction comes as liberals across America bewail the revocation of student visas for foreign natives who express hatred for the U.S. or who otherwise align themselves with terrorist organizations.
Rahmati is now a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Great Falls, Virginia.
With his guilty plea, Rahmati faces up to 10 years in prison for acting as a foreign agent without prior notification to the attorney general and five years for conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 26.
H/T: The Post Millennial
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Sen. Van Hollen's bizarre mission to bring MS-13 associate back to US is a humiliating bust
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen is among the Democrats who decided that bringing a deported MS-13 associate — found by more than one immigration court to be a "danger to the community" — back to the United States is somehow a worthy cause.
After failing to secure a meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele during his visit to Washington, D.C., on Monday, Van Hollen declared that he was headed to El Salvador to visit with alleged gangster Kilmar Abrego Garcia, "show solidarity" with the Salvadoran national's family, and possibly bring about his return.
Van Hollen's trip — which came amid the release of more damning information about the MS-13 affiliate whom he seeks to liberate from accountability — has been a complete bust.
The Democratic junior senator indicated during a press conference in San Salvador Wednesday that Vice President Félix Ulloa decided not to let him visit Abrego Garcia in the Terrorism Confinement Center where Abrego Garcia is presently detained. The foreign leader apparently noted that if Van Hollen wants to arrange a tour of the prison, he will "need to make earlier provisions."
"I asked him if I came back next week whether I would be able to see Mr. Abrego Garcia," said Van Hollen. "He said he couldn't promise that either."
The Democratic senator said that Ulloa suggested that a video call with the MS-13 associate was similarly out of the question.
'This is an unsustainable and unjust moment.'
The Salvadoran vice president apparently also rebuffed Van Hollen's request for Abrego Garcia's release.
Van Hollen had trouble handling the rejection and for good reason — he has vowed not to stop fighting and not to rest until El Salvador relinquishes custody of its gang-affiliated citizen.
"Why is the government of El Salvador continuing to imprison a man where they have no evidence that he's committed any crime and they have not been provided any evidence from the United States that he has committed any crime?" Van Hollen told reporters. "So they should just let him go, and they should let him go, and we will find a way to get him from El Salvador to Maryland."
Van Hollen noted that other Democrats are making their way to El Salvador, apparently in hopes of succeeding where he has failed.
"I may be the first United States senator to visit El Salvador on this issue, but there will be more, and there will be more members of Congress coming," said Van Hollen. "This is an unsustainable and unjust moment, so it cannot continue."
Democrats' preferred narrative concerning Abrego Garcia — where he is a traduced "Maryland man," a hardworking father unjustly separated from his home and family by a callous Trump administration — has collapsed under the weight of mounting details about the Salvadoran's past.
Abrego Garcia stole into the U.S. illegally and without inspection in 2011.
He was summoned eight years later to appear in removal proceedings. During a bond a hearing, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated that a confidential informant flagged Abrego Garcia as an active member of MS-13. The illegal alien's bond was denied, with the court reportedly finding "that Abrego Garcia was a danger to the community."
The Salvadoran MS-13 associate — whose lawyers claim the gang label is false — appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals, where an immigration judge reasoned in April 2019 that "the determination that the Respondent is a gang member appears to be trustworthy and is supported by other evidence in the record."
While the court found that Abrego Garcia was removable, he ultimately secured withholding of removal on the basis of the claim that he might face violence back home in El Salvador.
While good news for the Salvadoran national, this may not have been good news for his wife.
Court documents show that the alleged gangster's wife, Jennifer Vasquez, petitioned a Maryland court for a domestic violence protective order against Abrego Garcia in 2021. Vasquez also filed and received a protective order the previous year.
According to the documents, Abrego Garcia allegedly grabbed, punched, bruised, and scratched his wife, as well as ripped off her shirt in front of their then-infant.
Vasquez told the New York Post Wednesday that she asked for protection from Abrego Garcia in 2021 because she was "acting out of caution" "in case things escalated" and that their marriage has since grown stronger.
— (@)
The Tennessee Star revealed in a bombshell report Wednesday that the alleged wife-beater Van Hollen is trying to bring back to Maryland may have been involved in human trafficking.
Tennessee Highway Patrol reportedly pulled the Salvadoran national over on Dec. 6, 2022, and discovered that he was transporting seven passengers from Texas to Maryland.
The THP officer realized that Abrego Garcia, who did not have a valid driver's license at the time, was on a terrorist watch list but not on a deportation list. One of the alleged gangster's passengers also was apparently on a terrorist watch list.
The officer, concerned that Abrego Garcia was engaged in human trafficking, reportedly notified the Biden FBI, which instructed him to take pictures of Abrego Garcia and his passengers, then to release them.
While Van Hollen has gone far out of his way to bring the alleged domestic abuser and potential human trafficking gangster back to the United States, the mother of Rachel Morin indicated that the Democratic Maryland senator did not bother to reach out to her when her daughter was raped and murdered in Maryland by an illegal alien from El Salvador.
Unlike Van Hollen, the Trump White House has shown interest in Morin's tragic story.
The White House gave Patty Morin an opportunity Wednesday to speak to the nation about her daughter. The Angel Mom expressed confusion about why Van Hollen, "who didn't even acknowledge or barely acknowledged [her] daughter and the brutal death that she endured," would waste "taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that's not even an American citizen."
"I don't understand this," said Morin.
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