Texas fugitive wears hoodie with chilling message on it amid arrest in connection with woman's 'suspicious death'



A Texas fugitive was dressed in a hoodie with a menacing message on it amid his arrest in connection with what authorities called a woman's "suspicious death."

The Azle Police Department said in a statement that it had worked with United States Marshals, Texas Rangers, the Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division, and the Parker County Special Crimes Unit to locate and arrest Kruz Dean Wanser on Jan. 15.

'She will be remembered for her creativity, humor, and the unwavering love that radiated from within her.'

Police said Wanser was a "wanted fugitive, who was sought in connection to the suspicious death of 37-year-old Margaret Pennington."

Police said Pennington was found dead inside an Azle residence on Jan. 11.

"At this time, the cause of death is still pending," law enforcement stated; the Tarrant County Medical Examiner is conducting the autopsy.

Police on Jan. 12 announced that Wanser was a "person of interest" in the suspicious death investigation and offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Police said Wanser was arrested three days later and charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, and parole violation.

In his mugshot, Wanser wore a blue hoodie with the following message on it: "I will put you in a trunk and help people look for you. Stop playing with me."

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Police did not reveal any relationship between Wanser and Pennington and did not name a motive for her death.

According to Tarrant County court records the New York Post reviewed, Wanser was charged with evading police with a vehicle in 2021 and drug possession in 2022 and in July 2025.

Pennington's obituary states she was "deeply loved by her family and friends."

"Margaret had a creative and sentimental spirit. She found comfort in baking, crocheting, enjoyed music, had a keen interest in genealogy, and loved collecting vintage treasures that carried history and meaning," her obituary reads.

Pennington is survived by her mother, father, former husband, and his three children, and she "cherished her role in helping raise" the kids.

"Margaret's life was a tapestry of complexity, yet she embodied the essence of humanity and the profound love she shared," the obituary reads. "She will be remembered for her creativity, humor, and the unwavering love that radiated from within her."

The obituary cites 1 Corinthians 13:4, 7: "Love is patient, love is kind. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Police are urging anyone with information about the case to contact them at 817-444-3221.

While police don't mention Wanser's hoodie message in their Facebook post, plenty of commenters sure noticed it. The following are but a few of the more than 1,000 reactions:

  • "You know that saying, 'Dress for the job you want, not the job you have' really applies here," one commenter wrote.
  • "I don't know if what the hoodie says can be used as evidence, but please find DNA on it and photograph it as evidence so it at least makes it into the court documents," another user said.
  • "I mean, have we checked the trunk?" another commenter asked.
  • "Sometimes jokes write themselves..." another user observed.
  • "The hoodie is not a good look bud," another commenter stated.

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BlazeTV host shares 3 personal experiences PROVING the Islamification of America is happening RIGHT NOW



BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales has been sounding the alarm on the Islamification of the United States — the deliberate plan to replace traditional American culture, laws, and national identity with Islamic values, cultural practices, and Sharia-influenced demands — but she fears people aren’t taking the threat seriously enough.

On this episode of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered,” Sara shares three personal experiences that make it clear just how far the plan to Islamify America is already underway.

#1: Meta banned Sara’s anti-Sharia ad

Sara is the vice president of Texas Family Project, a conservative advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening the state of Texas by prioritizing parental rights, protecting the innocence of children, and reforming how the state government and its institutions view families.

When TFP recently tried to purchase an ad from Meta (Facebook and Instagram), it was denied.

The ad simply stated: “Sharia has no place in Texas.”

“[Sharia law] is incompatible with this country ... the Constitution ... the laws in the state of Texas,” says Sara. “That should be something very simple and noncontroversial. We're not saying ‘get out if you're brown. Get out if you're Islamic. Get out if you're Muslim.”’

Even still, Meta rejected TFP’s ad request with a message stating, “Your ad contains content that is not allowed on Meta’s advertising platforms.”

“You're not allowed now to say on Facebook, on Meta, that Sharia law has no place in this country, in the state of Texas. That's how far we're in with this whole Islam thing,” says Sara.

#2: Dallas suburbs turning into foreign enclaves

“The Texas Muslim population is approximately half a million people. By the way, these are conservative estimates ... but just know I believe it's far larger, far larger,” says Sara.

“I walk around in the DFW suburbs — Plano, Richardson, Irving, Carrollton. I don't see anyone like me,” she adds.

“I don't want that to sound like, ‘Oh, if they have a different color skin, they can't be here.’ No — it's just like they're speaking different languages; they're wearing clothing that we don't wear here in America.”

On top of these huge cultural differences, Sara’s experience with these foreign-born Texans hasn’t exactly been up to the Lone Star State’s hospitality standards.

“They have no intention of speaking to me or becoming friendly with me. That is very clear,” she says.

#3: Public school sending multi-language ‘holiday’ emails

Sara displays an email about a “holiday party” from a large public school in the DFW metroplex. As you can see in the tweet below, the message is available in multiple languages, including Farsi, Urdu, Arabic, Pashto, and Spanish.


— (@)

“They couldn't call it the ‘Christmas party’ ... [and] why do we need that many translations for a school newsletter in America?” scoffs Sara.

“How is this Texas? How is this America?”

While the examples above are personal to Sara, her list of ways Texas is rapidly changing under Islamic influence goes on and on. To hear more about the dangers Texans — and Americans at large — face as the country becomes increasingly inhabited by people whose religious doctrine commands them to kill anyone who refuses to convert, watch the full episode above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Texas Army sergeant arrested after video of 3-year-old boy being brutally beaten goes viral



A Texas Army sergeant stationed at Fort Hood was arrested after video showing a 3-year-old boy being brutally beaten went viral on social media.

Waco Police said Paul Thames, 29, is the male seen in a Ring doorbell camera video beating the child, KWTX-TV reported, adding that the clip was recorded at the Legend Apartments and shared with law enforcement.

'Are you going to stop playing?'

Thames is being held on a federal detainer at the McLennan County Jail, the station said.

A spokesperson with the 1st Cavalry Division confirmed to KWTX in an email that Thames is a sergeant stationed at Fort Hood.

“We are aware of the arrest of Sgt. Paul Thames for abuse of a child. The 1st Cavalry Division is in communication with law enforcement. We are disgusted by the video that has been posted,” the official told the station. "The behavior of Sgt. Thames does not reflect the values of the 1st Cavalry Division or the U.S. Army.”

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The video shared with KWTX shows the male picking up the toddler and hitting him at least five times in the torso with a clenched fist, the station said.

The boy is heard crying as the man pulls him up by the face and asks, “Are you going to stop playing?” KWTX reported, adding that the male then walks away with the child.

Police were dispatched around 5:20 p.m. Friday to the apartment complex located at 2400 Corporation Parkway to investigate the incident, the station said.

Police added to KWTX that the child was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where medical personnel evaluated him, and he was later released.

Thames surrendered to authorities and was booked into the McLennan County Jail late Friday night, the station said, adding that he was charged with injury to a child, a third-degree felony.

Thames' bond was set at $200,000, but KWTX said the county jail confirmed that he was being held on a federal detainer.

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Illegal-alien patients drain Texas hospitals, racking up billion-dollar bill — in less than a year



Unsurprisingly Texas bears a disproportionate share of the burden from illegal immigration due to its expansive southern border. Now state leadership has released the numbers to prove the massive financial burden illegal aliens have had on one sector in particular: hospitals.

New data has been released by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission showing a baffling 10-figure financial burden on Texas hospitals in fiscal year 2025, Texas Scorecard first reported.

The total cost tipped over the billion-dollar mark: $1,050,642,864.

According to the new data, the total visits between November 2024 and August 2025 reached 313,742 for those "not legally present."

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Photographer: Desiree Rios/Bloomberg via Getty Images

And the total cost tipped over the billion-dollar mark: $1,050,642,864.

The year-end totals show that the burden is not only on one type of care either.

A large portion of the visits come from the "Emergency Department - Non-Medicaid/Non-CHIP" category, though the lion's share of the cost comes from the "Inpatient Discharges - Non-Medicaid/Non-CHIP" category, meaning that the hospital system is being burdened by illegal aliens seeking both emergency and long-term care.

This data was collected and released pursuant to an executive order signed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in August 2024. The order directed hospitals to begin collecting data on illegal alien patients in Texas hospitals beginning in November 2024.

As Texas Scorecard noted, these numbers are therefore not reflective of the full fiscal year, and the actual totals very likely exceed these figures.

Abbott argued in the executive order that Texans ultimately bear the burden of public financial support through higher taxes and more expensive medical care as well.

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'Total ban' on Sharia law is on the horizon, Texas Gov. Abbott tells Glenn Beck: 'That will pass overwhelmingly'



Republican Gov. Greg Abbott highlighted in his conversation on Wednesday with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck the efforts underway in Texas to combat radical Islam and indicated that a "total ban" on Sharia may be imminent.

Abbott designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations on Nov. 18 — a designation CAIR claimed was defamatory and had "no basis in law or fact."

'They deleted that they were not a threat to national security.'

The Dallas Fort Worth and Austin CAIR chapters promptly sued the state, claiming that Abbott's proclamation violated their First Amendment rights. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a response making mince meat out of the radical groups' claims and stating, "Radical Islamist terrorist groups are anti-American, and the infiltration of these dangerous individuals into Texas must be stopped."

Abbott told Beck that "because of the strength of our response, they were required to file an amended pleading in court" in which the plaintiffs dropped multiple assertions from their original complaint, including the claim that they were in full compliance with federal and state law.

"They deleted that they were fully in compliance with federal state law," said Abbott.

"They deleted what they previously said, that they were not affiliated with any foreign organization. They deleted that they would not engage in terrorism. ... They deleted that they were not a threat to national security."

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Mosque in Plano, Texas. Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images.

The governor suggested these deletions amounted to concessions "on their part that actually they are not in compliance with the federal and state law; that they are engaged in terrorism; that they are a threat to national security."

Blaze News has reached out to the Dallas Fort Worth and Austin CAIR chapters for comment.

— (@)

This is hardly the only battle that Islamists are poised to lose in Texas.

When asked by Beck about the "rising threat of Sharia law" in Texas, Abbott indicated a crackdown is underway and a Republican ban is in the works.

Abbott ratified legislation in September banning residential property developments like the East Plano Islamic Center community from "creating Sharia compounds and defrauding and discriminating against Texans." The following month, he directed Paxton, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the district attorneys and sheriffs of Collin and Dallas Counties to "investigate efforts by entities purporting to illegally enforce Sharia law in Texas."

Abbott acknowledged in his directive that the First Amendment's protection of religious freedom "provides wide berth for religious institutions to order their own affairs under the 'church autonomy' doctrine," allowing for houses of worship to adjudicate questions regarding religious doctrine, ecclesial governance, selection of clergy, or internal discipline of members.

The governor, who underscored in February that "Sharia law is not allowed in Texas," noted that "it is different entirely, however, for religious groups to set up courts purporting to replace actual courts of law to evade neutral and generally applicable laws."

Abbott told Beck that while state agencies have taken action against Sharia and there are already laws on the books addressing the Islamic legal system, Texas Republican voters have an opportunity to go a step further in the upcoming state GOP primary elections on March 3.

"Texas should prohibit Sharia Law" will appear as proposition 10 on the Texas GOP primary ballot.

"That will pass overwhelmingly," said Abbott.

"It will lead to a new law with a total ban on Sharia law in the state of Texas and then it will impose a duty on the attorney general to fully enforce that ban on Sharia law."

— (@)

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'Despicable': Woman accused of posing as grieving parent of dead Camp Mystic girl to bilk donors



Deadly flash floods swept the Lone Star State's Hill Country region on July 4, killing at least 135 people, including 27 people at Camp Mystic.

Among those who perished at the Christian camp outside Hunt, Texas, was Chloe Childress, an 18-year-old counselor remembered by her family for her "contagious joy, countless friends, unending faith, and unimaginable energy."

While Wendie and Matthew Childress were dealing with the sudden loss of their daughter, a Florida woman was allegedly impersonating the bereaved parents online in an attempt to make a quick buck.

'This is bottom feeding.'

Maitlin White, a 28-year-old with ties to Crestview, Florida, has been charged with two felony counts of online impersonation. White allegedly pretended to be Matthew Childress and created SpotFund and GoFundMe pages where she solicited public donations to support the fallen teen's family.

"Using a young woman’s tragic death to scam people is despicable," wrote Harris County Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen.

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Maitlin White. Courtesy of the Office of Harris County Constable Pct 1 Alan Rosen.

Dane Schiller, a spokesman with the constable's office, told MySA that Childress' family reported the accounts, which first appeared on the crowdfunding platforms on July 8.

"Right out the gate, they [the family] called it to our attention and said, 'We have nothing to do with this,'" said Schiller.

Rosen announced on July 11 that his office had launched an investigation into a case where a scammer was pretending to be Matthew Childress. While the fraudulent pages were promptly shut down, Rosen indicated the GoFundMe donation page had already brought in approximately $1,500.

After shutting down the pages, authorities reportedly tracked banking and online records back to White, who Schiller indicated admitted to the fraud scheme on a phone call with officials.

"This is bottom feeding, seeking to exploit people’s emotions and abuse the memory of a young woman who died in such a horrific tragedy all to make a quick and illegal buck," stated Rosen. "Such cruelty to the family, as well as our entire community will not be tolerated."

GoFundMe said in a statement obtained by KRIV-TV that it has "zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and bad actors who seek to take advantage of the generosity of others," adding that they "acted quickly to remove the fundraiser back in July, refund donors, and ban the account from future fundraising on GoFundMe."

The crowdfunding platform indicated that the alleged fraudster was unable to access the funds.

White, who is reportedly not yet in custody, is hardly the only person who allegedly exploited the tragic flood.

For instance, a number of liberals tried to put a political spin on the deaths of American children, in one case insinuating that the parents of the dead were racists.

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'Messed with the wrong mama': Male teacher allegedly slaps 4-year-old girl in face twice in class — and girl's mom is fuming



The mother of a 4-year-old girl said a male substitute teacher slapped her daughter in the face twice inside a pre-K classroom at a Texas elementary school last week, KPRC-TV reported.

“Messed with the wrong mama, that’s all I gotta say," Marissa Braughton told the station. "I will not back down until this is figured out and until this is done."

'No child — especially my baby girl — should have to go through this.'

The Spring Independent School District is investigating the allegation, KPRC added. Spring is a little over 30 minutes north of Houston.

Braughton told the station the incident occurred Tuesday afternoon at Smith Elementary School and that her daughter was screaming and crying when she picked her up.

“I get down to her level. I’m like, 'Baby, what’s wrong? Tell Mama what happened.' And she immediately is like, 'The teacher hit me.' I said, 'The teacher hit you?' And she said, 'Yes, the boy teacher, the substitute teacher.' I said, 'The boy teacher?' And she’s like, 'Yes, Mama. He hit me twice. And I heard my neck make a sound,'" Braughton added to KPRC.

Braughton told the station she reported what her daughter told her to the school's assistant principal and that she was informed that it would be looked into the next day. Braughton added to KPRC that she also filed a police report.

But the mother believes more should be happening, the station said. “Why haven’t we talked to these students yet? We’re about to go into the weekend where these kids might forget what they saw. They’re 4-year-olds."

KPRC said it received the following statement from the school district:

Spring ISD was made aware of an allegation involving a substitute teacher and a student at Smith Elementary School on Tuesday evening. Campus and district administrators immediately began an investigation. The substitute teacher has been removed from the classroom pending the outcome of the investigation.

The safety and well-being of students remains our top priority. Due to the ongoing investigation, we are unable to share additional details at this time.

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“Every school district takes these types of allegations very seriously,” Spring ISD AFT union lawyer Chris Tritico told the station, while adding that federal law limits what school districts can publicly disclose.

“That does not mean they’re not doing anything," he noted to KPRC. "It just means they can’t tell them that they’ve interviewed these students, who they are, and what they’ve told them."

Tritico also told the station that state law mandates that school districts "investigate these things immediately. Within 24 hours of the allegation, whether they’ve done anything or not, they have to report it to the State Board for Educator Certification and the [Child Protective Services]. That report was made, and the state agencies are conducting their investigations."

KPRC asked Tritico what parents can do in situations like this.

“God bless her for wanting to take care of her child and being concerned,” he replied to the station. “But just because they can’t do it in the timeline the parent wants doesn’t mean it’s not being done."

Regardless, Braughton told KPRC her daughter is traumatized and she’ll remain resolute in her fight.

“She’s 4 years old," she added to the station. "No child — especially my baby girl — should have to go through this."

Braughton also told KPRC that she removed her daughter from the school and is homeschooling her.

The district confirmed to the station that the substitute teacher has been removed — but whether the teacher can return will depend on the investigation's outcome.

KPRC reported that in a letter sent to parents Friday — three days after the alleged incident — the school district said the substitute teacher "made inappropriate use of force on a student."

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