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YouTube star Jesse Ridgway doubled down on his and his wife’s decision to end the life of their unborn child because of a Down syndrome diagnosis, lashing out at those who said they should have kept the baby. “We stand by it. No amount of hate and crazy death threats or calling me a murderer is going to make me change my mind,” he said in a recent video uploaded to social media. “Abortion is legal. We’re in the state of New Jersey, and you can, you’re within your right to do that.”The video came after Ridgway received massive backlash, including from House Speaker Mike Johnson, after he announced to his 350,000 followers on X he and his wife aborted their child because they didn’t want to raise a child with Down syndrome. “As long as you can live with yourself and you’re happy with the decisions that you’re making and the intention is pure, you’ll be OK,” he said. “If you’re getting angry at random strangers on the Internet, on social media, I would encourage you to take a look at your own life.” Nobody is coming to save you. pic.twitter/qGNEJLqEq4— Jesse Ridgway (@McJuggerNuggets) June 12, 2026Ridgway added that he and his wife hoped to have a “clean pregnancy” next time, meaning the child would not have a disability because he so “desperately” wanted to be a parent. He said people should “stop being so bitter at some couple who’s just had an abortion, and is making the best decision possible for their family. Just because you don’t believe in whatever we believe in, or whatever, doesn’t mean you can’t still be supportive, and people can’t still be sad.”“Think whatever you want,” he added. “I’ll be enjoying my life.”Between 350,000 and 400,000 Americans have Down syndrome, meaning they were born with an extra chromosome. When polled, these individuals consistently say they are satisfied with their lives and are happy they were born. Studies generally show that at least 67% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in the United States are aborted. Very few states have protections against disability-based abortions. Speaker Johnson criticized Ridgway’s decision, saying it showed a sick culture. “Because God made us all in His image, it means EVERY SINGLE PERSON has inestimable DIGNITY and VALUE — and our value is not related in any way to the color of our skin, what zip code we live in, what our talents are, our health condition, or any other factor,” Speaker Johnson said. “Our value is inherent, because it is given to us by our loving Heavenly Father.”

Law enforcement officials discovered the alleged plot to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House over the weekend after a concerned mother called police, according to an FBI criminal complaint.Officers showed up at the home of 19-year-old Tycen Proper on the evening of June 10 after they received a phone call about a “disturbance” from his mother. Proper would later tell investigators that he and multiple others planned to stage a terror attack involving the exploding drones and sniper rifles, FBI Task Force Officer Christopher Betts said in a criminal complaint. Proper and four other men have been arrested for their involvement in the alleged plot which appeared to be motivated in part by the government’s handling of the Epstein files. The complaint said that Proper’s mother told police she was “concerned about her son” due “to his recent conduct, including firearms purchases and communicating with certain individuals online.”Credit: Wired in LiveAfter officers arrived at the home, they spoke with Proper and his parents. His father told police that he “had recently met random people online and had been planning ‘recons’ with these individuals.”In a later interview with the FBI, Proper’s mother claimed that he had “recently begun interacting with a group online that was comprised of individuals who claimed to be ex-military and Christian-based. She didn’t know the name of the group, but they expressed ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments, specifically citing grievances about government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions.” Proper’s mother also said “she observed him recently engaged in physical training” and “researching and mapping locations in the area just northwest of Washington, D.C.” “She stated that she also observed additional images and maps being sent to him from unknown individuals through texts and Discord messages, and she would overhear PROPER talking to these individuals verbally on his phone,” the complaint said. The FBI said that the plot aimed to target the wealthy and Republican politicians who the plotters accused of being compromised by Israel, including Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Senator Jim Justice (R-WV), Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV), and Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV). “The members of that group stated that they wanted to protect the United States, which they believed was headed in the wrong direction,” the FBI complaint said. “Members of that group believed that the United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt.”

Law enforcement officials discovered the alleged plot to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House over the weekend after a concerned mother called police, according to an FBI criminal complaint.Officers showed up at the home of 19-year-old Tycen Proper on the evening of June 10 after they received a phone call about a “disturbance” from his mother. Proper would later tell investigators that he and multiple others planned to stage a terror attack involving the exploding drones and sniper rifles, FBI Task Force Officer Christopher Betts said in a criminal complaint. Proper and four other men have been arrested for their involvement in the alleged plot which appeared to be motivated in part by the government’s handling of the Epstein files. The complaint said that Proper’s mother told police she was “concerned about her son” due “to his recent conduct, including firearms purchases and communicating with certain individuals online.”Credit: Wired in LiveAfter officers arrived at the home, they spoke with Proper and his parents. His father told police that he “had recently met random people online and had been planning ‘recons’ with these individuals.”In a later interview with the FBI, Proper’s mother claimed that he had “recently begun interacting with a group online that was comprised of individuals who claimed to be ex-military and Christian-based. She didn’t know the name of the group, but they expressed ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments, specifically citing grievances about government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions.” Proper’s mother also said “she observed him recently engaged in physical training” and “researching and mapping locations in the area just northwest of Washington, D.C.” “She stated that she also observed additional images and maps being sent to him from unknown individuals through texts and Discord messages, and she would overhear PROPER talking to these individuals verbally on his phone,” the complaint said. The FBI said that the plot aimed to target the wealthy and Republican politicians who the plotters accused of being compromised by Israel, including Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Senator Jim Justice (R-WV), Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV), and Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV). “The members of that group stated that they wanted to protect the United States, which they believed was headed in the wrong direction,” the FBI complaint said. “Members of that group believed that the United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt.”

The man accused of being the ringleader of a group planning to attack the UFC 250 White House event last weekend is an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Abraham Alvarez, who the Justice Department said was “responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the planned attack,” overstayed his visa after being brought into the country as a child. He was first granted deportation relief under former President Barack Obama, Fox News reported Thursday. “From his home here in Nebraska, Alvarez allegedly directed and recruited others across the country to conduct a horrific attack against government officials in a mass casualty event. Our team worked around the clock to locate and apprehend Alvarez, take him into custody, and collect crucial evidence,” said FBI special agent Eugene Kowel on Tuesday. This is a breaking story. Refresh for updates.

Anthony Fauci pushed American intelligence officials to steer questions about the origins of COVID, according to dozens of new documents declassified by outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. On her last day in the Trump administration, Gabbard published 67 new documents and emails showing Fauci’s involvement with the Intelligence Community’s probe of the origins of COVID. Gabbard also said she found proof of retaliation against intelligence officials who advocated for the now widely-accepted lab leak hypothesis of COVID over the natural origin pushed by Fauci.“I’m releasing never before seen communications and documents that expose exactly how Fauci worked with politicized career leadership in the intelligence community to suppress the truth about his actions, the virus’s lab leak origins, and his role in directing U.S. funding for this dangerous research that caused immeasurable harm and countless lost lives,” Gabbard said in a video posted Thursday night. Gabbard added that “the intelligence community almost always incorporated Fauci’s recommendations.” One email from July 13, 2021, showed Intelligence Community investigators discussing how “Dr. Fauci recommended that the IC reach out to the below individuals,” appearing to refer to the authors of a paper pushing the claim that COVID had a natural origin. In reply on July 14, 2021, from an unidentified intelligence official, the person claimed Fauci knew “who the real Coronavirus experts are.” “In this particular case, given Dr Fauci’s background we absolutely would like to follow-up on his outreach suggestions. In this case he’s not a policymaker … he’s a [Subject Matter Expert] with a wealth of knowledge about current and historical research who probably knows better than most who the real Coronavirus experts are.” The unclassified documents reveal that Fauci met with the CIA’s Weapons and Counterproliferation Mission Center on June 4, 2021, where they discussed the origins of COVID and he pushed them to continue going down the natural origin path and encouraged them to contact advocates who thought the virus had a “natural origin.” This raises questions about Fauci’s testimony in 2024 when he was vague with lawmakers about his interactions with the Intelligence Community. “I can’t give you the specifics of it,” Fauci replied before pivoting to discussions of anthrax when asked if he had spoken to any U.S. intelligence agency about viral research before, during, or after the COVID-19 pandemic. “Politicized, self-serving leaders, like Dr. Fauci, covered up their own wrongdoing and abuses of power, manipulated intelligence, lied to Congress, and undermined a duly elected president by restricting his access to the vital facts he needed to keep the country safe. It’s time you know the truth,” Gabbard said. In response to the release of the documents, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) suggested that he would take further action based on the new information. “This release includes additional documents revealing the truth about the lab-leak origins and Fauci’s lies to Congress under oath. I’ve referred Fauci to the DOJ MULTIPLE times for criminal prosecution over his web of lies. Thank you, Director Gabbard,” Paul said. “More to come.”During his final days in office, President Joe Biden issued a blanket pardon to Fauci to preempt any criminal investigation.

Convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony has a new lawyer representing his appeal, according to court records. Anthony, who was convicted this month for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, will now be represented by court-appointed lawyer Lara Bracamonte Davila, Collin County Court records show. Anthony is currently behind bars after a jury sentenced him to 35 years in prison for murdering Metcalf at a track event in Frisco, Texas, in April 2025. Fox News first reported the news that Bracamonte Davila had been appointed to take over the appeal process. Before Bracamonte Davila was appointed, criminal defense attorney Donny Perales represented Anthony for a short time. “It is expected that the Anthony family will be retaining an attorney for the appeal,” Perales told Fox News. Bracamonte Davila describes herself as a lawyer who is “compassionate but tough.” “There are many people who don’t have the courage, strength, or knowledge of how to stand up for themselves,” her website says. “I strive to be the voice for the voiceless, whether that’s a teen in trouble, a woman in an abusive situation, a father struggling to gain parental rights, or any individual charged with a crime.”If someone is found guilty, she says her job is “to ensure the punishment doesn’t exceed the crime.”One day after a jury sentenced him to prison, Anthony filed a notice of appeal. The filing begins the formal process of challenging both his conviction and sentence, which can take years to progress through the courts and does not guarantee a new trial.Anthony’s parents have falsely claimed that the jury that sentenced their son was “all white” and blamed racism for the outcome. Kayla Hayes, Anthony’s mother, also claimed that her son was just defending himself when he stabbed the unarmed Metcalf. “My son is no murderer. My son didn’t intend to hurt anyone,” Hayes said. “My son was defending himself, and that’s what hurts so bad.”The judge who oversaw the high-profile case said the jury made the correct decision. “Yes,” said Judge John Roach. “They did because they were picked based upon the law, they listened to the facts, it happened in this courtroom, and they got a verdict.”

The Trump administration will probe whether Major League Baseball is discriminating against Christian players who pushed back against “Pride” month messaging.Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon told MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will investigate the league for religious discrimination. The notification came after the league warned several players who wrote Bible verses on the “Pride” caps they were issued for a game. “The Civil Rights Act prohibits MLB and its franchises from unreasonably burdening the rights of players with religious objections to serving as the League’s vehicle for pro-Pride messages,” Dhillon wrote in a letter to Manfred.Dhillon suggested that she did not buy the MLB’s claims that they only warned the players because of a policy against writing on uniform equipment. “Yet, MLB has allowed players to wear uniform patches reading ‘Black Lives Matter.’ This double standard — under which players may not inscribe Bible verses on hats for one game only but may wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ patches for one game only — calls MLB’s true motives into question and raises serious concerns about MLB’s compliance with Title VII,” Dhillon wrote. “The Trump Administration is committed to combatting religious discrimination,” Dhillon added. “The Department of Justice will use all available means to hold employers accountable for violating the religious rights of their employees.”The controversy started last week when San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Landen Roupp wrote a Bible passage found in Genesis onto his cap, right next to the LGBT-themed rainbow logo he was directed to wear. Fellow players JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker also added Bible verses to their caps. MLB’s Chief Communications Officer Pat Courtney told The Athletic on Monday that these players have been “warned” about “future violations.” He said that writing on the team’s baseball caps “violates our rules.”Those warnings spurred backlash from elected officials who argued the MLB was targeting Christians. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to Manfred asking him to provide further detail about the league’s policies. “The freedom to live out one’s faith does not end at the ballpark gate. Americans of every creed are entitled to confidence that the institutions of our national pastime will not single out religious expression for punishment while celebrating messages of the league’s own choosing,” he said. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said that the MLB should expect to be hearing from his office “soon.”

Former President Barack Obama said Thursday that America’s Founding Fathers “fell terribly short” when they adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776 because they did not immediately abolish slavery. Obama made the remarks ahead of the official opening of his sprawling presidential library in Chicago, flanked by other former presidents, including Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Joe Biden. The library, which kicked off its opening day with a land acknowledgment, cost $850 million to construct and opened 3,437 days after Obama left office. “In forming our union, the founders fell terribly short of the Declaration’s promise, leaving slavery intact, allowing states to restrict the franchise to white men who owned property,” Obama said of the document’s proclamation that “all men are created equal” and are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”“But in drafting a Constitution and a Bill of rights, they did have the foresight, the genius, to provide us with a framework that allows each generation to make our union more perfect,” Obama added. Credit: C-SPAN“Over more than two centuries, through petitions and protests, marches and strikes, moral appeals from the pulpit and conversations at the family dinner table, men and women from all walks of life, of every color, every faith, every region took up the cause of democracy and made it their own. Until we the People came to include not just some of us, but all of us,” Obama added later.The Obama family has been infamously critical of America’s past, with former first lady Michelle Obama once claiming that the first time she was ever proud of the United States as an adult was during her husband’s first presidential campaign. “For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback,” she said on the campaign trail in 2008. Obama’s comments come as the nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration.In recognition of that milestone, President Donald Trump has promised to have the “largest fireworks show in history” to celebrate Independence Day. Trump said that the festivities will kick off on June 24 with music performed by the Army and Marine Corps military bands and Lee Greenwood. He said that Air Force fighter jets and stealth bombers would fly over for the ceremony taking place on the National Mall.

A Trump-backed candidate appears set to take the reins in Colombia after the country was governed for four years by a far-Left president. Right-wing lawyer Abelardo De la Espriella defeated leftist Senator Iván Cepeda, according to initial results. The Trump administration congratulated De la Espriella Sunday night after he took 49.7% of the vote to his opponent’s 48.7%. “National dignity has triumphed, hope has triumphed. Today is a wonderful night in which democracy shone and Colombia demonstrated its greatness. This is the night in which we mark a new order: the Homeland Miracle,” De la Espriella said on X. Ha triunfado la dignidad nacional, ha triunfado la esperanza.Hoy es una noche maravillosa en que brilló la democracia y Colombia demostró su grandeza.Esta es la noche en la que marcamos un nuevo orden: la Patria Milagro.Firme por la Patria. 🫡(A.D.L.E) 🇨🇴🐅 pic.twitter/aaaWi0ZM8p— Abelardo De La Espriella (@ABDELAESPRIELLA) June 22, 2026While De la Espriella declared victory, leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed no one could yet be declared victor until the election was certified by judges. He alleged that voting machines had been compromised by Israel. Petro said that “software was compromised and others wrote data for polling stations and voting posts” and that the “only entity in the world capable of doing that is the state of Israel.”President Donald Trump, who endorsed De la Espriella earlier this month, said in a Truth Social post that “he won, BIG.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he looked forward to working with De la Espriella. “The Trump Administration looks forward to working closely with your incoming administration to advance regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen our economic ties,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a social media post. “Colombia’s best days are ahead.”Commenting on Rubio’s post, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said that the Trump administration’s anti-drug trafficking efforts in partnership with Latin American leaders would “change the entire future of the Western Hemisphere.”In his endorsement, Trump said that De la Espriella would crack down on crime, illegal immigration, and drug trafficking. De la Espriella ran on a law-and-order platform involving taking a firm approach to rebel groups that have plagued the country for years. “The results of this election are very important to the future of Colombia and its relationship with the United States,” Trump said in his endorsement. “Because of his tremendous accomplishments in life, and his political support for me personally, it is my honor to give Abelardo my complete and total endorsement.”A wave of Right-wing leaders has been elected in Latin America in recent months including in Honduras, Costa Rica, Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico recently suggested that the November election will not be “free and fair.” But when in a position to improve election integrity in his state, Talarico said he hated the effort with “every fiber of my being.”As a state lawmaker, Talarico was one of the Democrats who fled the state after a Republican-backed effort in 2021 to require proof of identity when voting by mail and increasing the oversight of poll watchers. After Democrats failed to block passage of the bill, Talarico called the election safeguards “voter suppression” and said he hated the proposal.Five years later, Talarico says he is worried that he will have to overperform to beat Republican Ken Paxton in a critical Senate race because he does not think the election will be held under “free and fair” conditions. But he has historically fought measures that would ensure secure elections.Talarico described the 2021 Texas election integrity bill that tightened up mail-in voting as “an immoral, anti-American, anti-Democratic bill,” adding that it was “one that I hate with every fiber of my being.” He also critiqued the bills provisions on poll watchers and added that he didn’t think that poll watchers “should be in the polling place at all.”Those comments were made in 2023 during an appearance on the “Lone Star Left” show unearthed by The Daily Wire. “We flew to D.C. to really beg national Democrats, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the leaders in the House and the Senate, to pass federal voting rights legislation, because that’s the only way that we were going to stop the voter suppression bill here in Texas,” Talarico said. After he and fellow state Democrats realized that the Senate would not void the filibuster to ram through a bill targeting state election integrity laws, they returned to Texas to weaken the proposal from Republicans. The law opposed by Talarico created uniform statewide voting hours, added a requirement for people to provide an ID number when voting by mail, ended drive-through voting, and enhanced the jurisdiction of poll watchers. Now running against Paxton, Talarico said he will have to overperform to get past “voter suppression” and other “shenanigans” during the November election. “We already have a lot of voter suppression in Texas. It’s baked into our laws. I fought fiercely against many of those laws when they were coming through the legislature,” Talarico said recently. “We’re probably gonna have to win by a little more than we would normally have to in a completely free and fair election.”Paxton has made a key plank of his campaign support for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) Act, which would require photo identification to vote in federal elections. He promised to drop out of the Texas GOP primary if the Senate passed the SAVE Act which did not happen before he defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn.Talarico, for his part, has said he opposes requiring ID to vote. “I oppose having to have a driver’s license to vote,” he said. “I oppose voter ID. Currently it’s the law in Texas, but I opposed that law… there are a lot of Texans, currently hundreds of thousands who don’t have a driver’s license.” To get a driver’s license in Texas, a person must provide documentation to complete an application form, provide proof of citizenship or legal residency, proof of Texas residency, and pass a written and driving exam.“James Talafreako is openly admitting his only path to victory in ruby red Texas is eliminating voter ID and allowing illegal aliens to vote,” GOP spokesman Zach Kraft told The Daily Wire. “MAGA Warrior Ken Paxton will slam the door on Democrats’ election fraud nonsense by getting the SAVE America Act signed into law to ensure only Americans vote in our elections.”