Syrian Journalists And Activists Celebrate Israel’s Attack On Iran: This Is One Of Our Most Joyous Days

IranSyria | Special Dispatch No. 12030

he war between Israel and Iran has generated widespread media and political discourse throughout the Middle East, including in Syria, where many are celebrating the Israeli strikes in Iran and the elimination of numerous senior members of Iran’s security establishment. Many Syrians regard this as historical justice in light of Iran’s consistent support for the Bashar Al-Assad regime throughout the Syrian civil war, up until his downfall on December 8, 2024. During the war, Iran and its affiliated Shi’ite militias, chief of them Hizbullah, established military bases across Syria and took part in the fighting against Assad’s opponents, killing many of them and driving others into exile.[1]

Syrians on social media welcomed the “humiliation” of Iran and the elimination of its officials, presenting this as punishment for its crimes against Syria and other Arab countries such as Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, and as proof that the Iranian era in the region is over. However, the glee at Iran’s misfortune was not accompanied by praise for Israel, which Syrians regard as an enemy as well, especially in light of its current military presence in the south of the country and its repeated attacks on Syrian soil over the years. Some of the writers therefore wished both side success in pummeling each other.

Conversely, the new Syrian regime, headed by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and the Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) organization, has so far refrained from taking a stance on the Israel-Iran war, in contrast to many Arab countries that condemned Israel and sided with Iran.[2]

his report presents a sampling of responses by Syrians welcoming the attacks on Iran.

Syrian Journalist Eiad Charbaji: Look And Revel In The Elimination Of The Leaders Of Evil In Tehran

Syrian journalist Eiad Charbaji called on Syrians to rejoice in what was happening in Iran, writing: “Oh Syrians, look at and revel in the elimination of the leaders of evil in Tehran… We wish the Iranian people health and that this should be an opportunity for it to bring down these Satans who burned us [all] together.”[3]

Eiad Charbaji’s post on Facebook (Source: Facebook.com/eiad.charbaji, June 13, 2025)

Syrian Journalist Ahmad Kamal: The Day Iran’s Nuclear Project Is Destroyed Will Be One Of The Most Beautiful Days In History

Syrian journalist Ahmad Kamal rejoiced at the Israeli strikes on Iran, writing on X: “Today, June 13, 2025, the day of the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program, is one of the most joyous days for the Arabs, because today they are freed from the lethal danger that [Iran] was preparing for them. Today the fangs of the Iranian regime have been extracted, and perhaps even its head will be torn off. Today is one of the three most beautiful days in our modern history: the day of the fall of the ethnic Qardahaite[4] [i.e. Assad] regime in Syria; the day of the assassination of the Shi’ite Lebanese Hizbullah commanders; and today.”[5]

In another post, Kamal lashed out at those defending Iran because of its aid to the Palestinians, stating that this does not excuse it for its many crimes against other Arabs. He wrote: “Oh asses, as a Muslim country, Iran is not forgiven for its crimes against the Muslims in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. On the contrary, oh asses, it makes it even more grave, and base, and more reprehensible. Indeed, when it is your brother who attacks you, it is a thousand times worse than an attack by some foreign element… There is no justification for what Iran has done and is still doing in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, and it cannot be forgotten… no matter what it does in [support of] Palestine. This is because if a criminal rapes four of your sisters, his crimes will not be forgiven [even] if he helps your fifth sister [fend off] another criminal and rapist…”[6]

Syrian Journalist Adnan Abd Al-Razak: The Blood Curse Has Reached The Murderers – Even If It Came Late

Syrian journalist Adnan Abd Al-Razak, of the Qatari Al-Arabi Al-Jadid dailywrote on his Facebook page: “[This] is Allah’s justice on earth. A year ago, at most, the Syrians had almost lost hope in everything, [including in] all of humanity. At that time, the Persians’ plan was almost a reality in the region; the burnishing of the Assad regime’s image had increased, and the Syrians’ dream of freedom and statehood had almost evaporated. Most Syrians had no option left but to feel frustration, appeal to God for help or [pursue] their individual plans. Then came the liberation of Syria and the overthrow of the criminal regime following the assassination of its supporter in Lebanon [i.e. Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah] and the humiliation of its ally in Tehran, in an event that was more like a miracle…

“Today, justice and the natural course of history are continuing, and Iran is humiliated and paying a price for some of what it has done in the region – killing, expulsion, humiliation, distortion of the present and of history, and doing damage to the future…

I am not saying that I am happy, or gloating, but I am saying that the Persians are the lowest and most dangerous thing for the region, for the Arabs, for Islam, and for humanity…”[7]

Syrian Political Activist: Iran, That Spread Chaos And Violence, Has Reached Its End

Ahmad Ramadan wrote on X that the Iranian era had come to an end and that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be eliminated: “Iran, that threatens its neighbors, has come to an end! I have in the past called it a dismantled state and said that its regime is fragile. Its military and security situation reveal it to be a paper tiger, and the coming attacks will strike at political leaders, including Khamenei. Iran, which sowed chaos and violence, deployed militias, and destroyed and participated in the killing of over three million Arabs, has come to an end forever…

“A new regime is coming to Iran and Iraq, and there will be a change in Yemen and Lebanon (the end of the Houthis and Hizbullah). The Iranian era is over, a different Middle East has begun [to form], and we must all get ready.”[8]

Other Syrian Activists Wish Success To Both Iran And Israel

Alongside the condemnation of Iran, several Syrians expressed the wish that Iran and Israel would damage each other. For example, Syrian journalist Nour Abu Hassan wrote on X: “We hope that neither side will act with restraint. Thank you.”[9]

Abu Ali Mahamid from southern Syria wrote sarcastically, “We wish victory to both sides.”[10]

Syrian Journalist In Saudi Daily: This Is The End of The Iranian Era In The Region, And Of The Obama Doctrine

Similar claims to those posted by Syrians on social media appear in the article by Syrian journalist Aliya Mansour in her column in the Saudi daily Al-Majallah: “After the recent Israeli operation in Iran, we can declare the end of the Iranian era in the region, the end of the era of this country’s domination of [other] countries and peoples. We can also declare the end of the disastrous ‘Obama doctrine’ in the region, [conceived by] a man who wanted Tehran to have the influence and authority in this region, in disregard of the region’s identity, [which has a Sunni majority] of the interests of countries that have – or lack – [various] alliances, and of the will of the peoples…

“The first slap sustained by the ‘Iranian Empire’ project was the elimination of [Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force commander] Qassem Soleimani. [Then] came [more] slaps and blows, one after the other,  from the pager operation [by Israel against Hizbullah] to the elimination of Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and the effective removal of [his] party [Hizbullah] from the circle of regional influence, to the elimination  of Hamas political bureau head Isma’il Haniya while he was staying in Tehran and the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime [in Syria], which cut off [Iran’s] supply line [via Syria].

“After all of this, Iran was given a chance. It was invited to negotiate about its nuclear project, but it did not conduct itself properly, did not understand the magnitude of the hour and did not realize that its project was over and that its death would be pronounced [either] at the negotiating table or on the battlefield. Today, whether the war will be brief or prolonged, its outcomes are known [in advance]: Tehran will drink the cup of poison and Iran will be restored to the Iranian [people], which will ensure that this loathsome regime will meet its end and the Iranian people will [be given] their chance to speak.”[11]

SOURCES:

[1] It should be noted that, since October 7, 2023, throughout Isael’s war with the Iran-backed forces in the region and now with Iran itself,  Syrians have frequently welcomed the elimination of officials in the Iranian regime and the Shi’ite militias. See MEMRI reports: Special Dispatch No. 11590 – Syrian Rebels Respond To Assassination Of Hizbullah Secretary-General Nasrallah: ‘The Most Beautiful Day Ever;’ ‘Rejoice, Dance, And Sing!’ – September 30, 2024; MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11580, Syrian Opposition Members Celebrate Killing Of Top Hizbullah Commander In Lebanon: He Starved Syrians And Buried Them Alive, September 24, 2024;  Special Dispatch No. 11064 – Syrian Oppositionists Welcome Assassination Of Senior IRGC Commander Reza Mousavi In Damascus: He Was A Terrorist Who Massacred The Syrian People – January 8, 2024.

[2]  According to a statement by the Turkish presidency, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan advised Al-Sharaa to stay out of the conflict.  Al-Sharq Al-Awdsat (London), June 15, 2025.

[3] Facebook.com/eiad.charbaji, June 13, 2025.

[4] The Assad family is originally from the town of Qardaha in Syria’s Latakia Province.

[5] X.com/ahmadsaleem5, June 13, 2025.

[6] X.com/ahmadsaleem5, June 15, 2025.

[7] Facebook.com/adnan.abdelrazak, June 13, 2025.

[8] https://x.com/AhmedRamadan_SY, June 13, 2025.

[9] X.com/Nuorgolan, June 13, 2025.

[10] Facebook.com/Ahmad.Almhameed.DARAA, June 13, 2025.

[11] Al-Majallah (London), June 14, 2025.

EDITORS NOTE: This MEMRI column is republished with permission. ©All  rights reserved.

DNC Reportedly May Need To Borrow Cash To Keep Lights On

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has been grappling with infighting and a decline in donations in recent months, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

DNC Chair Ken Martin, who was elected in February, has overseen slowing fundraising from major donors, the NYT reported. Some top DNC officials have even floated the idea of whether it may be necessary to start borrowing money to continue paying the bills, according to the NYT.

Six anonymous sources told the NYT that major Democratic donors have been extremely slow to donate to the party this year. Additionally, two anonymous sources told the outlet that senior DNC officials have even floated the idea of potentially borrowing money in the coming months.

Rufus Gifford, who served as the finance chairman of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, told the NYT that Democrats “need to come together and focus on the issues at hand.”

“What they are seeing is headline after headline of incompetence and infighting, and I think that is a real problem not just for the DNC but for the larger Democratic brand,” Gifford told the outlet. “We need to come together and focus on the issues at hand. That’s got to happen now. And I mean today. And if that can’t happen, we need to shift course.”

Democratic Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan told the NYT that the recent drama in the DNC was “worse than some high school student council drama.”

Martin told the NYT that he believes many major Democratic donors were “frustrated” by the results of the 2024 elections.

“People invested more money than they ever had before, they dug deeper than they ever had, and they are quite frustrated by the result,” Martin told the outlet. “They want answers. I don’t take it personally. I wasn’t in charge.”

“I know there’s a lot of people that are carrying grudges, that are still litigating the campaign that their person didn’t win,” Martin told the NYT. “I am not one of those people. There’s no sense of living in the past. I have no enemies other than Donald Trump and the Republican Party.”

The NYT’s report comes shortly after David Hogg, a gun control activist who was elected to serve as one of the DNC’s vice chairs in February, sparked massive backlash in the Democratic Party after he announced in April plans to primary incumbent Democrats. On June 11, the DNC voted to remove Hogg from his vice chair position and require him to run again due to a procedural complaint, Politico first reported.

On June 8, leaked audio revealed that Martin expressed concern about Hogg’s ability to lead the party due to the infighting his decisions had ignited, according to Politico. Martin notably paused twice and appeared to choke up during the recording, according to the outlet.

Moreover, Randi Weingarten, the longtime head of the American Federation of Teachers, and Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, announced they were leaving the DNC, the NYT reported on Sunday. Both of the union leaders had backed Martin’s main opponent in the DNC chair election earlier this year, Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler, according to the NYT.

Still, some Democrats have defended Martin’s leadership, including Maria Cardona, a longtime DNC member, who told the NYT that he “does the work” and “rolls up the sleeves.”

“Everything that Ken has done, regardless of the drama that it has caused, has been the right moves,” Cardona told the outlet. “He does the work. He rolls up the sleeves.”

A DNC spokesperson did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

Ireland Owens

Reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission.©All rights reserved.


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Key Advance in Iran’s Nuclear Program Led Israel to Attack

Israel recently learned from its agents inside Iran — presumably native informants working with Mossad — that Iran’s nuclear scientists had successfully completed tests of their design of a nuclear weapon. This meant that Iran was potentially only weeks away from being able to produce such a weapon, and that intolerable threat had to be dealt with without delay. More on Israel’s discovery that prompted the attack, can be found here: “Israel found Iran carried out key tests for nuke design ahead of strikes — report,” Times of Israel, June 15, 2025:

Ahead of its strikes on Iran, Israel discovered that the Islamic Republic’s scientists had conducted successful experiments in the design process of a nuclear weapon, bringing it weeks away from being able to produce a bomb if it chose to do so, according to a Hebrew media report Sunday.

This “golden information” was presented by intelligence officials to the political leadership before the decision was made to carry out preemptive strikes Friday, along with the concern that Israel didn’t know everything and that Tehran could be at an even more advanced stage in building a nuclear bomb than the available information showed, Army Radio reported, citing unnamed security officials.

According to the report, Iran gathered scientists and split them into several working groups to labor in secret on components of the process of weaponizing nuclear material into an actual explosive device, beginning around the end of 2023 or the start of 2024 — shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, which sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

This aspect of designing a nuclear device ran in parallel to Iran’s enrichment of uranium to levels that have no use for civilian purposes, but are required to build a nuclear bomb. According to an International Atomic Energy Agency report at the end of May, Iran’s stockpile of uranium, if enriched further, was enough to build nine nuclear weapons.

The Israel Defense Forces managed to monitor the secret weapons process, which left Jerusalem with no doubt that Iran had decided to build a nuclear weapon after the massacre in southern Israel, Army Radio said.

A senior Israeli military official said Saturday that “all the scientists eliminated in the opening strikes had, over the years, been involved in developing the nuclear detonation device.”

The IDF named nine Iranian nuclear scientists it assassinated in the opening strikes, and detailed its efforts to kill them.

They were named as: Fereydoon Abbasi, expert in nuclear engineering; Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, expert in physics; Akbar Motalebi Zadeh, expert in chemical engineering; Saeed Barji, expert in materials engineering; Amir Hassan Fakhahi, expert in physics; Abd al-Hamid Minoushehr, expert in reactor physics; Mansour Asgari, expert in physics; Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari Daryani, expert in nuclear engineering; and Ali Bakhouei Katirimi, expert in mechanics.

“All the scientists and experts who were eliminated were significant sources of knowledge in the Iranian nuclear project, and had decades of cumulative experience in the development of nuclear weapons,” the IDF said….

Think of the extraordinary level of planning by the IDF to know exactly where each of those nine scientists lived in Tehran, a city of 9.5 million people, and exactly, too, where each of them would be on a particular day at a particular time.

It likely will take not days, but weeks, to completely end Iran’s nuclear threat, and to destroy as well its vast arsenal of ballistic missiles and its ballistic missile factories. In order to sufficiently damage or destroy the uranium enrichment facilities built underground at Natanz, and those built inside a mountain at Fordow. These sites will have to be repeatedly hit so as to smash through their thick cement walls; should the Americans decide to provide Israel with their largest — 30,000 pound — bunker-buster bombs, and the bombers able to deliver them, this could hasten that destruction.

Meanwhile, Iranian physicists and engineers trained in nuclear physics are likely to be rethinking their career choices. Perhaps teaching high school science classes would be, in every respect, a better choice.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

PODCAST: FBI Reports China Mass Produced Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses in 2020 for the Purpose of Voting Fraud

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the declassification of documents alleging Chinese involvement in producing fraudulent driver’s licenses intended for fake mail-in ballots supporting President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Mr. Patel made the announcement on X and immediately turned the documents over to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley for review.

The FBI intelligence report, originally from the Albany, New York field office and dated September 25, 2020, detailed concerns that Beijing mass-produced fake American driver’s licenses to influence the 2020 election through phony mail-in ballots. The report was subsequently recalled with instructions to destroy all copies and remove it from computer systems, reportedly to re-interview the source.

According to the allegations, the Chinese Communist Party planned to create voter identities for Chinese residents in the United States, enabling them to vote via fraudulent mail-in ballots supporting former President Biden. The FBI learned of this effort in August 2020, but intelligence reports were recalled for unspecified reasons. The plot allegedly involved manufacturing fake driver’s licenses and shipping them to the United States specifically to facilitate election fraud.

Sen. Grassley has requested additional documentation from the FBI, including records related to the report’s recall and re-interview process. He also questioned why former FBI Director Christopher Wray ordered the report’s destruction. The Iowa Republican had previously raised concerns about fake driver’s licenses in the 2020 election and pressed for further FBI investigation.

Customs and Border Protection data supports concerns about fraudulent documents, reporting 1,513 seizures containing fake documents in the first half of 2020, including nearly 20,000 counterfeit U.S. driver’s licenses at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Most shipments originated from Hong Kong and China, with many licenses designed for college-age students.

Some fake Michigan licenses were particularly sophisticated, featuring working barcodes.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

On Israel-Iran War, Trump Administration Finds Itself Playing Diplomatic Chess

One of the foremost tools in the president’s belt is his peerless platform to persuade — what President Teddy Roosevelt called “such a bully [that is, ‘superb’] pulpit.” Some presidents — Joe Biden, for example — never know how to fill the pulpit, often seeing themselves as victims of public opinion rather than shapers of it. But epoch-shaping presidents succeed in hammering out a vision that brings public opinion along with their agenda.

On Israel’s war with Iran, President Trump is striving to be the latter type — both in the U.S. and overseas. Recognizing that — except for committed partisans — neither the world nor the American public has settled into a hardened opinion of the conflict, Trump is working to shape that perception. A prudent smith knows to strike while the iron is hot.

On Monday, Trump made waves at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, when he refused to sign onto a draft statement about the Israel-Iran conflict. The draft “called for both sides to protect civilians and for tight monitoring of Iran’s nuclear facilities,” according to The Telegraph. The other members of the G7 — Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Japan — all agreed to the statement. But Trump insisted that Iran not be allowed to perform any uranium enrichment.

Perhaps surprisingly, given Trump’s rocky history with international leaders, the American president got his way. In the final statement, the G7 leaders affirmed “that Israel has a right to defend itself” and that “Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror.” The call for both sides to protect civilians was modified to “affirm[ing] the importance of the protection of civilians,” without insinuating a fault on Israel’s part. The statement was also “clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

Having bent the heads of the world’s economic powerhouses to his will, Trump jetted back to Washington, D.C. a day early, canceling meetings with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, to monitor war developments from the Situation Room. “I have to be back,” he told reporters. “You probably see what I see, and I have to be back as soon as I can.” After all, the U.S. has numerous bases and troops in range of Iranian missiles.

But Trump did far more than monitor the situation. At 6:30 p.m., he posted on Truth Social, “Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

Trump’s concluding sentence might seem at first like a non-sequitur. But the background for the statement came as Israel was warning Iranian civilians that it would strike “very significant targets, strategic targets, targets of the regime and infrastructure” in Tehran on Tuesday. In other words, it served to warn Iran that more severe Israeli airstrikes are yet to come.

The next morning, Trump added further commentary on his return to the White House. “Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran,” he wrote. “Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!”

How mysterious! Trump certainly knows how to build suspense. Jabs at Macron aside, the world must be wondering what Trump could be working on that is “much bigger” than a ceasefire.

Perhaps the best insight into Trump’s tease involves a look in the rearview mirror, specifically to the overlooked coincidences preceding Israel’s strike on Iran.

Last Thursday offered a curious confluence of events. First, in a motion brought by the U.S. and European allies, the IAEA board ruled that Iran was not in compliance with its treaty obligations to submit to oversight of its nuclear stockpiles, provoking a belligerent response from Iran. Second, Trump said Thursday marked the 60th day of negotiations with Iran on April 12; in March, he gave Iran an ultimatum to reach a nuclear deal in 60 days or face the consequences. Finally, that night, Israel attacked.

It would be a striking coincidence if all these events occurred independently of one another in 24 hours. In fact, it is far more likely that they did not. Recall that the Trump administration was behind the IAEA vote at its June meeting, and the Trump administration was behind both the 60-day ultimatum and the scheduling of each diplomatic meeting. As recently as May 28, Trump told reporters that he was warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But Trump has shown nothing but support since Israel’s attack began Thursday night.

The close proximity of these swift changes raises questions: did the Trump administration plan it this way? Was Israel in on the plan beforehand, or did they simply take advantage of the moment?

Planned or not, Thursday’s events gave Israel the best possible diplomatic cover to attack Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Not only had Iran exceeded the White House’s 60-day deadline, but it also received its first-ever formal rebuke by U.N. nuclear inspectors — to which Iran responded with an angry snarl. How often can Israel legitimately claim that the U.N. is on its side about anything? The result is, Iran was exposed for the irresponsible rogue actor that it is; in fact, it irrevocably cast itself as the bad guy.

If the Trump administration did orchestrate the timing, then it prepared the world to look more favorably on Israel’s assault when it finally came.

Israel “clearly couldn’t wait any longer for their own good,” said Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). “Nobody is on the clock quite like Israel when it comes to the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran. So, I don’t blame them a bit for doing it. I’m grateful to see President Trump’s strong support for it.”

“I’m equally grateful,” Cramer continued, “to see that we haven’t risked any American lives in the effort.” This raises another aspect of the president’s calculation: that some elements of his “America First” base are resistant to drawing our nation into the war.

Thus far, the Trump administration has effectively argued that the U.S. has taken no part in strikes against Iran, although it has helped Israel shoot down incoming missiles. This — along with Iran’s preoccupation with more pressing issues — has spared American bases from any imminent attacks. In fact, Trump is playing “good cop” to Israel’s “bad cop,” offering to resume negotiations with the Iranian regime if it becomes willing to reach a deal.

But this phase in the relationship may not endure forever. The U.S. military is moving additional equipment closer to the region. Two dozen tanker planes relocated from North America to Europe this week, and the U.S.S. Nimitz carrier strike group is racing from the Pacific theater towards the Middle East. As President Trump shuffles pieces around the board, the most important question in chess looms in the forefront: what’s the next move?

AUTHOR

Joshua Arnold

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.


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VIDEO: The Rightful and Popular Leader of Iran Makes Plea for Persians to Hit the Streets and End the Mullah Regime

From Reza Pahlavi—the exiled Crown Prince of Iran

The Islamic Republic Has Come to an End’: Exiled Crown Prince Urges Iranians to Rise Up and Overthrow the Regime

Reza Pahlavi—the exiled Crown Prince of Iran—has released his most brazen appeal yet for regime change, urging millions to pour into the streets and finish off the theocracy that has ruled since 1979.

“Fellow compatriots, The Islamic Republic has come to an end and is about to fall. Khamenei, like a scared mouse under the ground, and has lost control of the situation. What has begun is irreversible.
“The future is bright and together we will overcome this sharp curve of history.

Declaring that Tehran’s “suppression mechanism is in a state of collapse,” Pahlavi insists the final blow must come from the streets:

“Only a mass uprising is necessary for this nightmare to come to an end forever.” Now is the time to stand up. Now is the time to reclaim.”

He summons every province to join the revolt:

“All together. From Bandar Abbas to Bandar Anzali, from Shiraz to Isfahan, from Tabriz to Zahedan, from Mashhad to Ahvaz, from Shahr-e-Kord (city) to Kermanshah, let’s make our presence known And end this regime.”

Anticipating fears of post-revolution chaos, the former prince—who left Iran in 1978 and now champions a secular democracy—offers a roadmap:

Do not worry about the future after the fall of the Islamic Republic.
Iran will not become a place of civil war and instability.
We have plans for the future of Iran After the collapse.
We are ready for first the 100 day plan after the fall of the Islamic Republic, and the establishment of a national and democratic government for the people of Iran and in the hands of the people of Iran.”

Pahlavi pleads with soldiers, police, and bureaucrats to abandon the dying order:

“Do not try to preserve the corrupt and rotten regime that has begun its fall, and it is certain. Stand with the people and do not stand against the People of Iran. Do not sacrifice yourself for a rotten regime. By standing with the people, save your lives.”

He closes with a promise of renewal:

Play a historical role in the building of Iran and contribute to the future of Iran. A free and prosperous Iran is ahead of us.”

With Iran’s economy in free-fall, protests simmering, and regional tensions at a breaking point, Pahlavi’s message lands like a match on dry tinder. Whether the call ignites a nationwide uprising or is smothered by the regime’s remaining loyalists will shape the destiny of 85 million Iranians.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Vlad Tepes Blog column with video posted by is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Supreme Court Greenlights Tennessee’s Ban On Sex-Change Procedures For Kids

The Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s law banning child sex change procedures on Wednesday.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court held that Tennessee’s law does not violate the Equal Protection clause.

“This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “The voices in these debates raise sincere concerns; the implications for all are profound. The Equal Protection Clause does not resolve these disagreements.”

“Having concluded it does not, we leave questions regarding its policy to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process,” Roberts continued.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

“[The majority] also authorizes, without second thought, untold harm to transgender children and the parents and families who love them,” Sotomayor wrote.

Sotomayor wrote that those searching for evidence of transgender discrimination “need look no further than the present,” referencing several policies implemented by the Trump administration.

“The Federal Government, for example, has started expelling transgender servicemembers from the military and threatening to withdraw funding from schools and nonprofits that espouse support for transgender individuals,” she wrote.

Tennessee passed its law, which restricts minors from receiving medical treatments intended to help them live as an identity “inconsistent” with their sex, in 2023. The Biden administration challenged the law as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) changed its position on the case in February but urged the Supreme Court to move forward with issuing a ruling.

Trump signed an executive order in January cutting federal funding for child sex changes, where he called the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) “junk science” and banned federal agencies from citing its guidance. The Biden administration relied on WPATH standards in its briefs filed before the court.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

AUTHOR

Katelynn Richardson

Investigative Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Supreme Court Allows Trump Admin To Enforce Transgender Military Ban

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


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‘Two Very Simple Words’: Trump Makes His Stance On Iran Unequivocally Clear

President Donald Trump clarified his demands for the end of the conflict between Israel and Iran.

“Two very simple words, unconditional surrender,” Trump told Jennifer Griffin of Fox News on Wednesday.

“I’ve had it, I give up,” Trump added, referring to Iran. “You know, the three for 40 years they’ve been saying death to America, death to Israel, that to anybody else that they didn’t like. They were bullies. They were schoolyard bullies.”

Trump clarified that “war is very complex” and that “I wouldn’t say that we won anything yet,” but that they “sure as hell made a lot of progress.”

Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social, calling for “unconditional surrender.”

“We’re not looking for long-term war,” Trump addressed his base on Wednesday at the installation of the White House’s new flag pole. “I only want one thing: Iran can not have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump warned that Iran’s access to a nuclear weapon could result in them using it on the U.S. and other nations, adding that they “would be a terror all over the world.”

“All I’m doing is saying you cannot have a nuclear weapon, and I tried to do it nicely, and then on day 61, I said, ‘Let’s go’ because we can’t let that happen. And I’ve been saying it for 20 years,” Trump concluded.

AUTHOR

Derek VanBuskirk

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘I Will Not Abandon This Post’: Mike Huckabee Texts Trump Saying He Has Biggest Choice Since Truman In 1945

RELATED VIDEO: Israel, Iran, and Clarity Between False Dichotomies

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Trump’s Posture On Israel-Iran War Appears To Reflect His Voters’ Views

Many 2024 voters who supported President Donald Trump appear to line up with his support of Israel against Iran while calling for limits, according to polling data.

Two polls, released by Democracy Institute (DI) and Gray House respectively, asked Trump voters about direct U.S. military action against Iran. DI specifically asked the question “Should America Go to War, Including Deploying Ground Troops, Against Iran,” according to a screenshot obtained by the Daily Caller. The survey polled 2024 voters generally and provided specific percentages for working class 2024 voters and Trump 2024 voters.

Of the 1,150 Trump 2024 voters DI surveyed, 64% voted against use of ground forces while 26% voted in favor, meaning approximately 736 voted “no.” Fifty-three percent of all 2024 voters surveyed also opposed deploying ground troops while 60% of 2024 working class voters voiced opposition, the screenshot shows.

The poll was conducted from Saturday to Monday and carries an across the margin of error (MOE) of ±3%. The results fall within a 95% confidence interval. 1,500 total 2024 voters and 1,250 working class 2024 voters participated, according to the screenshot.

CHART: Poll from the Democracy Institute, “Should America Go to War, Including Deploying Ground Troops, Against Iran”

Sixty-seven percent of Trump 2024 voters strongly supported Israel’s attack on Iran while 16% somewhat supported it, according to a Gray House poll titled “Israel Iran Poll Results” that surveyed 450 people. On Israel’s Gaza military operations, 70% expressed strong support while 15% were somewhat supportive.

35% strongly supported direct American military intervention to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons while 37% somewhat supported doing so. Notably, the question does not mention ground troops.

Fifty-seven percent considered Iran a “very serious threat” to U.S. nationals security while 74% said they were “very concerned” about Iran possibly developing a nuclear weapon.

Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed strongly supported providing Israel with offensive weapons while 68% of respondents expressed strong support for providing defensive ones. Respondents favored intelligence sharing even more, with 76% strongly supporting the U.S. helping Israel in this manner.

48% of respondents strongly supported the U.S. providing military support to help Israel defend itself against Iranian attacks. Gray House’s survey was conducted between Saturday and Sunday, with a margin of error of ±4.8%.

Israel attacked Iran on June 12, targeting the country’s nuclear program. They also killed multiple Iranian officials and nuclear scientists. Trump responded Friday — the same day Iran retaliated — by saying he gave the mullahs a 60-day deadline to reach an agreement and reiterating his call for negotiations. He has also repeatedly said Iran should not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.

Talks over the 60-day period made little progress as Tehran insisted on maintaining civilian-grade uranium enrichment, something Trump has opposed. Trump said Sunday that the U.S. was not directly involved but acknowledged that future involvement was a possibility.

He has reportedly considered a strike on Iran and claimed Tuesday on Truth Social that “we know” the precise location of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Trump left the Group of Seven Summit early Monday and ordered that the National Security Council come in for a high-level Situation Room meeting. This took place Tuesday.

Vice President JD Vance praised Trump for showing consistency and restraint and highlighted “crazy stuff” online in a Tuesday post amid criticism and calls for the president’s impeachment.

The White House is exploring the possibility of a meeting this week between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to move toward a nuclear deal and cessation of hostilities, four sources briefed on the matter told Axios.

AUTHOR

Ashley Brasfield

Reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

If You Ever Had Any Doubts About Stopping Irain’s Deadly Impacts Against Jews Watch This!

EXCERPT: Amid our reliance on Allah, and out of faith in our people’s right to wage an armed struggle to take back its stolen homeland… the assault groups set out on Friday night, Dec. 31, 1964, and fully carried out the actions that were required of them inside the occupied land [i.e., intended bombing of Israel’s National Water Carrier, Fatah’s first terror attack].

The messages conveyed to Palestinian children via this publication confirm that the goal of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah was always, and remains, not two states, but rather Israel’s destruction and replacement by “Palestine.”


Teaching Terror to Tots

Fatah’s children’s magazine lays bare its true goal: the destruction of the Jewish state.

WATCH: Interview with PMW Director Itamar Marcus on PMW’s report: “Teaching Terror to Tots”

Dec. 12, 2022 / JNS

Palestinian Media Watch recently published a report on Fatah’s Waed children’s magazine, covering every issue published over the last eight years. The messages conveyed to Palestinian children via this publication confirm that the goal of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah was always, and remains, not two states, but rather Israel’s destruction and replacement by “Palestine.”

The following is an executive summary of the report, titled “Teaching Terror to Tots,” which will be released in full at the GPO’s Christian Media Summit in Jerusalem this week.

Fatah, the ruling political movement of the Palestinian Authority, runs a youth movement for Palestinian children ages 6-15, which publishes a children’s magazine called Waed (Arabic for “Promise”). The magazine is published on the youth movement’s website and distributed at Fatah and P.A. activities and in P.A. schools. Waed is the antithesis of peace education. Whereas not all the material in the magazine promotes hatred of Israelis and Israel, all references in it to Israelis and Israel are hateful.

Waed’s fundamental messages are that Israelis are foreign colonialist invaders, and therefore Israel has no right to exist. Palestinians, led by Fatah, will continue the heroic “armed struggle” until the invaders are defeated and leave. There is no hint of Israel’s legitimacy, nor of the possibility that Israel will coexist alongside a liberated Palestine.

A fictitious past creates a violent future

Fatah’s rewriting of the past generates its vision for the future. A fictitious 5,000-year-old “Canaanite Palestinian Arab” people is invented as the pretext for all Palestinian rights. The erasure of authentic Jewish history in the land is the pretext for denying Jews any rights there today. Israelis are branded as “foreigners who came from all ends of the earth, foreigners who did not know Palestine and did not live in it – neither them nor their fathers and forefathers” (Waed, Issue 36, p. 2). Every city in Israel and every centimeter of Israel are said to be parts of the “stolen” Palestinian “homeland.”

Accordingly, Israel is delegitimized as the “thieving entity” and Israelis are demonized as the “Jewish invaders” and “Zionist invaders.” Fatah proclaims it will destroy Israel by “liberating Palestine from the thieving Zionist entity” (Waed, Issue 32, p. 3). Israel’s destruction is packaged in various euphemisms, such as: “the period of Zionism will eventually pass,”and “there is no invader who… did not leave it [Palestine] defeated.” (Waed, Issue 27, p. 23).

This inevitable “liberation” of Palestine will be nothing less than Palestinian “victims” achieving justice, since the Palestinians have the “absolute right” to “take back [their] rights in full” (Waed, Issue 26,p. 12).

Waed is emphatic that Fatah’s goal is to end Israel’s existence, and not merely Israel’s control over the West Bank. The references to “Palestine,” “stolen homeland” and “occupation” always include all of Israel. So do all the maps of “Palestine.”

Demonization

In addition to delegitimizing Israel the state, the P.A./Fatah demonizes Israelis as individuals, calling them evil, racist, bloodthirsty killers, through expressions like the “giant Israeli murder machine,” “Zionist gangs” and “the blood of Gaza’s children did not quench the thirst of the Israeli monster.” Among the many libels it disseminates, the magazine accuses Israel of Nazi-like horrors.

For the P.A./Fatah, this fabricated history is the foundation of Palestinian destiny. The Waed message: Israel was created by theft, its continued existence is a crime, and its termination via “armed struggle” is justified and inevitable.

This hate education will be the driving force for the next generation of Palestinian terrorism.

Itamar Marcus is the founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, which originally published this article.

AUTHOR

Itamar Marcus

Itamar Marcus is the founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch.

©2025 All rights reserved.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jewish News Syndicate – JNS column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Trump: “I Have No Desire to Negotiate with Iran. I Expect Nothing Less than Their Complete Surrender.”

President Donald Trump arrived in Washington, D.C., early Tuesday morning after abruptly leaving the G7 summit in Canada to address the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

Trump had reportedly requested that the National Security Council be prepared in the situation room.

Trump said Tuesday: “I have no desire to negotiate with Iran. I expect nothing less than their complete surrender.”

“I have not reached out to Iran for ‘Peace Talks’ in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is just more highly fabricated, fake news…”

“Today we are about to strike very significant targets—strategic, governmental, and infrastructure—inside Tehran,” Defense Minister Israel’s Minister of Defense Israel Katz said. “The IDF spokesman will issue an evacuation call in Persian.”

“There are over 10 nuclear targets in the Tehran area. We are on the verge of destroying them. Fordow is also a matter that will certainly be addressed.”

Iranian strikes on Israel escalate, killing at least 24 and damaging US Embassy branch in Tel Aviv

At least 24 people have been killed in Israel as Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes targeting civilian areas. A U.S. Embassy branch in Tel Aviv suffered minor damage.

Covered by: Greg NormanLandon MionAshley J. DiMella Liz FridenAmelie Botbol Alex MillerLouis CasianoBradford Betz and Christina Shaw

President Donald Trump said Tuesday as he was landing in Washington, D.C., that he has not reached out to Iran for peace talks “in any way, shape, or form.”

“I have not reached out to Iran for ‘Peace Talks’ in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is just more HIGHLY FABRICATED, FAKE NEWS!”

“If they want to talk, they know how to reach me,” he continued. “They should have taken the deal that was on the table – Would have saved a lot of lives!!!”

Trump arrived in Washington Tuesday morning after abruptly leaving the G7 summit in Canada to address the conflict between Israel and Iran.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, it’s very simple,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One during his overnight flight back to Washington.

He accused Iranian leaders of being unwilling to reach an agreement over their nuclear program, and suggested he was now less interested in talking with them.

“They should have done the deal. I told them, do the deal,” Trump said. “So I don’t know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga, on urged prayer for U.S. troops and the innocent people in Israel and Iran amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

“Pray for our troops,” Greene wrote Tuesday on X. “Pray for the innocent people in Israel and Iran.”

“War has bad consequences,” she continued.

The Republican firebrand added: “We voted for America First.”

The day before, she said people are now “finding out who are real America First/MAGA and who were fake and just said it bc it was popular.”

“Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA,” she said, adding that “wishing for murder of innocent people is disgusting” and “we are sick and tired of foreign wars.”

“Real America First/MAGA wants world peace for all people and doesn’t want our military killed and forever injured physically and mentally … We have spent TRILLIONS in the Middle East and we have dealt with the aftermath of death, blown apart bodies, never ending suicides, and disabling PTSD,” she continued.

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

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Military Precision vs Civilian Terror

EDITOR NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Netanyahu Says Iran Tried to Assassinate Trump, Twice

Netanyahu said during an appearance on Fox News that Iran tried to assassinate Donald Trump twice, which is not far-fetched considering Iran’s reputation for using its proxies to kill. But yet again, some media are misrepresenting what Netanyahu stated, in order to accuse him of trying to “justify Israel’s recent waves of missile strikes in Iran,” which is nonsense. Israel has long stated its intent of stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, given Iran’s repeated threats to obliterate the Jewish state.

According to Politico, in a report last November:

The Iranian government ordered an operative to assassinate Donald Trump before the 2024 election, Manhattan federal prosecutors said Friday, the latest in a string of assassination plots directed at the former and future president in recent months.

Prosecutors charged Farhad Shakeri with murder-for-hire and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He is believed to be in Iran and remains at large, prosecutors said.

“Netanyahu reveals Iran marked Trump as ‘enemy number one’ with assassination plot,” by Taylor Penley, Fox News, June 15, 2025:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed in his first interview since Israel launched its blistering attacks on Iran that the country’s Islamic regime had pinpointed President Donald Trump as a threat to its nuclear program and actively worked to assassinate him.

“They want to kill him. He’s enemy number one. He’s a decisive leader. He never took the path that others took to try to bargain with them in a way that is weak, giving them basically a pathway to enrich uranium, which means a pathway to the bomb, padding it with billions and billions of dollars,” the prime minister told Fox News’ Bret Baier during a special Sunday edition of “Special Report.”

“He took up this fake agreement and basically tore it up. He killed Qasem Soleimani. He made it very clear, including now, ‘You cannot have a nuclear weapon, which means you cannot enrich uranium.’ He’s been very forceful, so for them, he’s enemy number one.”

Netanyahu revealed he was also a target of the regime after a missile was fired into the bedroom window of his home. He went on to call himself Trump’s “junior partner” in threatening Iran’s ability to weaponize nuclear arms.

Netanyahu said his country was facing an “imminent threat” of nuclear destruction and was left with no choice but to act aggressively in the “12th hour.”

“We were facing an imminent threat, a dual existential threat,” he said.

“One, the threat of Iran rushing to weaponize their enriched uranium to make atomic bombs with a specific and declared intent to destroy us. Second, a rush to increase their ballistic missile arsenal to the capacity that they would have 3,600 weapons a year…. Within three years, 10,000 ballistic missiles, each one weighing a ton, coming in at mach 6, right into our cities, as you saw today… and then in 26 years, 20,000 [missiles]. No country can sustain that, and certainly not a country the size of Israel, so we had to act.”…

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

PODCAST: Missiles, Assinations, Riots, Parades, Nukes, NO Kings but a Duly Elected President!

“Will Not Settle For a Bad Nuclear Deal With Iran…UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.” — President Donald J. Trump

President trump has made it clear that U.S. policy is a nuclear Iran is not acceptable. Now is not the time to negotiate any deal with this brutal regime, and all sanctions must be fully enforced — no sanctions relief. The committee will work to ensure Iran’s full compliance with IAEA investigation into undeclared nuclear sites. Combat Threat of Iran Drones and Missiles. Iranian drones are fueling conflicts around the world, including attacks on U.S. servicemembers in the Middle East, Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, and the conflict in Ethiopia.

Protect Americans.. The Trump administration will take significant action to deter Iranian a plots against Americans and Iran-backed proxy attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East. Iran must immediately release American citizens being held hostages, and the administration must prioritize freeing these hostages as soon as possible.

‘No Kings’ protest fliers found in car of man suspected of shooting Minnesota lawmakers…

Fliers associated with Saturday’s nationwide protests of President Trump were found in the car of a man accused of killing Minnesota’s former House speaker and her husband and wounding two others. The Minnesota State Patrol warned residents to avoid “planned demonstrations” across the state Saturday, “out of an abundance of caution” as they hunt down the shooter. Police warned residents in the area not to open their doors for a cop impersonator as they hunt for the man they said is armed and dangerous. Rep. Melissa Hortman, the former speaker of the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, were killed, Gov. Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, were shot multiple times in a separate attack by the same suspect and are undergoing surgery.

©2025 . All rights reservec.

Election Forensics Expert Finds Vote Manipulation Concerns in Pennsylvania

LAS VEGAS, NV /PRNewswire/ — A leading expert in election forensics, Dr. Walter Mebane, Jr. of the University of Michigan, has found statistical evidence of vote manipulation in the 2024 U.S. election. His working report analyzing the 2024 Pennsylvania election results corroborates the findings of Election Truth Alliance’s (ETA), a non-partisan nonprofit that recently shared an analysis of election results in three counties in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Mebane states in his Pennsylvania analysis that it is possible that “the election was decided or nearly decided by malevolent distortions of electors’ intentions”. Mebane is recognized internationally as a leading authority on election fraud detection, and his analysis of Pennsylvania employed his independent “eforensics” model.  This model has been validated in professional scientific publications and has been used to evaluate the integrity of elections in countries such as VenezuelaTurkey, and Kenya.

Mebane’s analysis examines 7,040,360 votes across 67 Pennsylvania counties. The eforensics model estimates that between 25,000 and 225,440 votes in the Presidential race were possibly fraudulent. The range is due to Dr. Mebane applying several different forensic models in completing his evaluation.

The ETA recently conducted an independent analysis of election results from three Pennsylvania counties: Philadelphia CountyAllegheny County (which contains Pittsburgh), and Erie County. Their analysis identifiedpatterns consistent with vote manipulation in all three counties, particularly in election day voting result data.

Working with Pennsylvania residents, the ETA has submitted ballot inspection requests in several counties across the state. The organization has also requested a meeting with the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth, Al Schmidt, in their continued pursuit of a hand audits of paper voting records from the 2024 U.S. General election.

“Statistics, no matter how accurate, cannot provide definitive proof of voting fraud or election manipulation,” said Nathan Taylor, Executive Director of the ETA.  “Actual proof can only be found by comparing paper ballot audits to electronic voting records. However, statistical information from eforensics and other data analysis approaches can, and should, be used to identify precincts and counties where election fraud is most likely to have occurred.”

The Election Truth Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that supports election analysis, informed discussion, and peaceful action to identify and highlight potential election manipulation, interference, and irregularities.

Dr. Mebane’s full report on 2024 Pennsylvania election results is available at: https://websites.umich.edu/~wmebane/PA2024.pdf

ETA’s summary of Dr. Mebane’s findings is available at: https://electiontruthalliance.org/mebane-pa-working-paper

©2025 , All rights reserved.

Political Violence Grips Nation as Progressives Push against Trump Agenda

Reactions to President Donald Trump’s deportation program have been violent, starting with riots in California and now expanding to reportedly include the assassination of an elected official in Minnesota. Here’s the latest on the protests, riots, violence, and unrest spreading across the country.

Anarchy in the U.S.

On June 6, Los Angeles erupted in riots, with activists violently targeting federal agents conducting immigration raids in the city. The surge of looting, arson, and assaults on federal and local law enforcement officers prompted Trump to federalize the California National Guard and deploy U.S. Marines to maintain peace. While the most violent of confrontations have largely subsided, L.A.-based civil rights attorney Jesus Arias led a group of hundreds of protestors against Marines on Sunday, urging the uniformed men to leave the city. Protestors chanted, “Marines go home!” and “Shame! Shame!” among other, more insulting phrases.

Golden State Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass (D) have both been critical of the president’s decision to deploy military troops to quell the mayhem that has engulfed the city for over a week, instead faulting Trump himself for the violence. In fact, the same day that protestors confronted Marines, Bass claimed that there are no Marines in the city. “I have to say that yesterday I spent time in the helicopter, so I went all over the city in search of these Marines. And I’m sorry, but I just didn’t see them,” the mayor said in a CNN interview. She added, “We don’t want them here. They don’t need to be here. Our local law enforcement [has] complete control of this situation.”

After days of rioters waving foreign flags, vandalizing property, dropping cinder blocks and concrete slabs on police vehicles, and launching fireworks and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement, Bass described Saturday’s “protests” as “overwhelmingly peaceful.” However, the “protests” in question included vandalism across much of downtown L.A. and a violent confrontation outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

Newsom and Bass have both been castigated for their failure to respond to the rioting. Actor and director Mel Gibson, a conservative Catholic and one of Trump’s ambassadors to Hollywood, blasted the Democratic duo in a podcast appearance Sunday. “Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have already proven their incompetence and poor leadership during the Los Angeles wildfires,” said Gibson, whose home was burned down in the catastrophic conflagration earlier this year. He continued, “Now, as we experience rampant lawlessness and civil unrest, it’s never been more clear. They’re unable to respond effectively and responsibly during calamity. Whether it’s sheer incompetence or outright malevolence, the reality is stark: California’s in a state of turmoil.”

The director of “The Passion of the Christ” called on his fellow Los Angeles residents to vote the Democrats out of power. “Why are Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass still in office? How much more of their destructive decision-making masquerading as leadership are we going to tolerate?” he asked. Gibson asserted, “It’s time to take back our community and our state and put the power and the privilege in the hands of competent leaders whose goals are to protect us and the way of life this nation was founded upon and promises to offer.”

Congressional Republicans are also asking why Newsom and Bass have failed to respond to so many serious crises. On Friday, the House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into Newsom’s and Bass’s management of the violent riots. “The rioters in Los Angeles committed vicious acts of violence and fearmongering directed at law enforcement and others. They set fire to vehicles and property around the city and assaulted officers with deadly weapons such as rocks and Molotov cocktails,” wrote Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee Chairman Clay Higgins (R-La.) in a letter to Newsom.

“In response to this violence … President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and yourself protested President Trump’s action to quell the violence caused by the rioters in Los Angeles, even resorting to falsely blaming him for the actions of violent rioters,” the congressmen wrote. They continued, “You champion California’s sanctuary policies, which prevent local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities. You have also made it clear that you intend to block the objectives of the federal government, and defend aliens, regardless of their immigration status, criminal activity, anti-American views, or incitement to riot.”

But Los Angeles is not the only city that has been wracked with riots. The Washington Stand previously reported that anti-deportation protests in other cities — including Chicago, New York, Omaha, Seattle, and Spokane — quickly devolved into riots. Over the weekend, police in Portland arrested multiple rioters. According to press releases, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) made at least three arrests Saturday night in connection with protests and riots outside an ICE detention facility and several more arrests Sunday night at the same location.

Rioters vandalized the ICE facility and assaulted federal agents, including throwing rocks at windows and the agents themselves. While the district attorney emphasized that charges may still be brought against others present at the riots who were not arrested over the weekend, the PPB emphasized Portland’s “sanctuary” status and reminded the public that PBP officers do not cooperate in immigration enforcement. Police were also busy in Austin, Texas, arresting eight people during a violent confrontation between rioters and ICE agents.

Was ‘No Kings’ a No-Show?

Shortly after riots broke out in Los Angeles, progressive activists announced a series of protests scheduled for Trump’s birthday, June 14. Entitled “No Kings,” the rallies were ostensibly hosted in opposition to the president’s agenda, including deportations. Mainstream media outlets have suggested that up to five million protestors attended the events across the nation, but others disputed these claims over social media, citing their own experiences attending or watching the protests.

One U.S. military veteran who visited two different “No Kings” rallies reported that the median age of protestors was around 70 years old, with women over the age of 50 making up the vast majority of attendees. In the video he attached showing one of the rallies, multiple protestors can be seen in wheelchairs or electric mobility scooters. Other social media users disputed claims that “thousands” of protestors attended the events, saying that the rallies were really attended by “several hundred not exceeding a thousand,” made up of “80% White retired age females.” The National Conservative account agreed that every “No Kings” rally “outside of California appears to be 95% White and completely dominated by women aged 55-75,” while another social media user reported that there was “not a soul under 45 at our local ‘no kings’ protest. Multiple people in walkers.” Blaze News reports have also asserted that the majority of “No Kings” rallygoers were “predominantly middle-aged” and “white.”

While Mel Gibson went to bat against Newsom and Bass, his Hollywood colleagues showed up to support the “No Kings” events. Susan Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo were both seen at the New York City rally. Self-styled comedian Jimmy Kimmel and actors Marisa Tomei, Kerry Washington, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Leah Thompson, Jon Cryer, and singers Moby and Gracie Abrams showed up at other events across the country, according to Deadline. Other Hollywood elites, like actress Glenn Close and television personality Kathy Griffin, wrote social media posts in support of the rallies.

While many of the “No Kings” rallies were largely uneventful, a few did escalate into violence. According to the New York Post, multiple arrests were made in New York City, and violence erupted at “No Kings” rallies in areas like Atlanta. One rallygoer was fatally shot in Salt Lake City, Utah. Security guards at the event accidentally shot and killed 39-year-old Arthur Folasa Ah Loo when another individual, carrying a rifle, ran towards the rally. The rifleman, later identified as 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, was subdued and arrested. The Texas State Capitol building in Austin was evacuated Saturday after the red state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) identified a “credible threat” against state legislators. Texas DPS later confirmed that it had arrested an unnamed individual in connection with the threat, but no further information was provided.

Murder in Minnesota

Up north, threats against lawmakers tragically turned deadly. Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party, and her husband were shot dead at their home Saturday in what Governor Tim Walz (D) called a “politically motivated assassination.” Less than 24 hours after Hortman cast the deciding vote in the state legislature backing a provision denying state-funded health care to illegal immigrants, 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter allegedly showed up at her front door wearing a face mask and impersonating a police officer. He shot and killed both Hortman and her husband. State Senator John Hoffman (DFL) and his wife were also shot but survived. Boelter was located and arrested late Sunday evening.

Controversy surrounds the motivation behind Boelter’s shootings. Mainstream media outlets have noted that Boelter is reportedly an evangelical Christian who has spoken out against both abortion and LGBT activism, while Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions Commissioner Drew Evans said Saturday, “It would be premature for me at this point to really say exactly what the motivation might be,” based on texts Boelter sent and an alleged “manifesto” he left in one of his cars. Minnesota Democrats have claimed that they themselves were on a hit list.

Other Democrats across the country have shifted the blame to Trump, arguing that the president’s rhetoric has inspired violence. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) claimed that Trump’s rhetoric “encourages” political violence and Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who was recently detained for rushing at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference, said, “I think it’s more than appropriate to step back and say, ‘Why are tensions so high?’” He continued, “I can’t help but point to the beginning of not just the first Trump term, but the beginning of the campaign, the tone with which the president had launched his first campaign for president, served throughout his first term, and continues in this term.” Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) blamed “MAGA’s legitimization of political violence” for the assassinations. Perhaps referring to the multiple assassination attempts against Trump in 2024, he added over social media, “Yes, Republicans have also been the target of inexcusable violence, but this isn’t a ‘both sides’ issue.” In statements following Boelter’s arrest, Walz explicitly compared the assassinations to “mean tweets” and “demeaning someone.”

However, others have contradicted the narrative that Boelter is a violent, right-wing extremist. One report observed that Boelter was appointed to a state Workforce Development Board by Democrat and then-Governor Mark Dayton in 2016 and reappointed to the board by Walz in 2019. According to Minnesota state police, there was a stack of “No Kings” rally fliers in the car Boelter parked outside Hortman’s house. The police urged the public to avoid the progressive-run rallies amid concerns of political violence.

As of the time of writing, police have not yet publicly released any of Boelter’s writings but have suggested that he may not have been acting alone.

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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