Category: Opinion

A Drag queen in Pennsylvania has been charged with 25 counts of child pornography, according to authorities.

Brice Patric Ryschon Williams was charged with 25 counts of child pornography and 18 counts of criminal use of a communications facility.

The bail is set at $100,000 and Williams is unable to post bail, according to the docket.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Child Predator Section on May 18, 2020, reporting that 76 files containing child pornography were uploaded to a Dropbox file. The Dropbox account was linked to Anastasia Diamond, aka Williams’s stage persona.

Special agent Travis Nye obtained a search warrant for Williams’ home on June 22, 2022, and carried it out early Thursday morning.

According to a criminal complaint, “Brice denied having ever uploaded, downloaded, or sought child pornography,”

“In a preview of Brice’s Samsung Note 9 located in his bedroom at least twenty-five (25) video files of child pornography were located,” the complaint read.

In a Facebook profile promoting Williams shows, he encourages residents of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, to take a survey to “help LGBTQ organizations develop programs that best serve our community.”

Video footage shared on Instagram from 2017 shows Williams dancing explicitly for children. In July, a local Pennsylvania news outlet reported that Williams would be working with an organization that provides a “safe space” for gay and transgender children of color.

On his personal Facebook account, Williams describes himself as a “genderqueer social worker and drag queen.”

The docket lists the case status as “awaiting a preliminary hearing.” The preliminary hearing is set for July 5, according to a public court summary.

An Oklahoma man is in jail after leading authorities on a chase that ended with him hiding in cow manure for several hours.

Wolf October Berry, 23, fled from officers who attempted to make a traffic stop for not wearing a seatbelt.

Officers pursued Berry down a county road before he crashed and continued fleeing on foot.

Authorities say Berry had been hiding in cow manure for several hours before he was finally located.

Berry is charged with eluding police, running a roadblock, possession of stolen property over $1,000, and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

A loaded 9MM semi-automatic pistol was found in Berry’s truck along with stolen property he acquired by burglarizing two nearby properties.

A Cherokee Nation Tribal Judge set Berry’s bond at $25,000.

Nowata County is located roughly 50 miles north of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ahead of their summit on Sunday, several G7 leaders joined British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in making fun of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Throughout this week, the leaders will be gathering in Bavaria for the G7 conference.

While seated at a table with others, including U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Johnson cracked a joke.

“Jackets on? Jackets off? Shall we take our clothes off?” Johnson said, indicating the extreme temperature of the room.

Trudeau advised they keep the jackets on long enough to take pictures.

The jokes were not addressed by Biden.

Putin has always tried to present himself as an accomplished athlete and outdoorsman in public photographs.

The discussion took place a few hours after the Biden administration charged that Russia had invaded Ukraine on Sunday using torture and electrocution. Biden has urged Putin to stand trial for war crimes on numerous occasions.

The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture was recognized by a White House statement.

“Any instance of torture is one too many, and yet every year countless victims suffer this brutal violation of their human rights and dignity,” Biden said. “This year we have been shocked by the horrific acts committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, including multiple, credible reports of torture such as beatings, electric shocks, and mock executions.”

“In Mali and Burkina Faso,” he added, “terrorist groups have been documented to have massacred and tortured local populations, while in Mali and Central African Republic, Kremlin-aligned Wagner mercenaries have reportedly employed similar cruel and unlawful tactics.”

Don’t let this distract from the fact that Ukrainian is prosecuting about 16,000 cases of alleged war crimes carried out by Putin’s forces.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Georgia death row inmate on Thursday who wants to be executed by firing squad instead of by lethal injection, which is the only authorized method of execution in the state at this time.

Michael Nance was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 2002 for shooting and killing a bystander after a bank robbery in 1993.

Nance argued in a petition that sedatives used in the lethal injection protocol would fail to “render him unconscious” due to medication he takes for back pain and that his veins are “severely compromised,” which could cause “intense pain and burning.”

Nance further argued that execution by firing squad, on the other hand, would lead to a “swift and virtually painless” death.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the 5-4 majority in Thursday’s opinion that Nance can challenge the state’s method of execution through a civil rights lawsuit.

“A death row inmate may attempt to show that a State’s planned method of execution, either on its face or as applied to him, violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on ‘cruel and unusual punishment,” Kagan wrote.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor sided with Kagan.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the dissent, arguing that the court is “looking too far down the road.”

“In my view, the consequence of the relief that a prisoner seeks depends on state law as it currently exists,” Barrett wrote. “And under existing state law, there is no question that Nance’s challenge necessarily implies the invalidity of his lethal injection sentence: He seeks to prevent the State from executing him in the only way it lawfully can.”

Lori Loughlin, who gained fame for her wholesome role of Aunt Becky in “Full House” attended her first event since the college admissions scandal in 2019. On Saturday, the 57-year-old actress appeared at the DesignCare 2022 Gala for the HollyRod Foundation in Los Angeles, California.

The foundation, led by Holly Robinson Peete and her husband Rodney Peete, works to help families with loved ones who have been diagnosed with autism or Parkinson’s Disease.

Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were arrested in March 2019 for involvement in the college admissions scandal. The couple was among the highest-profile defendants charged in the scheme, that shows the lengths some wealthy parents will go to get their children into elite universities. Authorities said parents funneled bribes through a fake charity run by an admissions consultant to get their kids into top schools with fake athletic credentials or rigged test scores.

The couple admitted in May 2020 to paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits even though neither girl was a rower. Their guilty plea was a shocking reversal for the couple, whose lawyers had maintained their innocence and accused investigators of fabricating evidence against them.

The only public comments either Loughlin or Giannulli, 59, made about the case since their arrest came at their sentencing hearings. Loughlin told the judge her actions “helped exacerbate existing inequalities in society” and pledged to do everything in her power to use her experience as a “catalyst to do good.”

Loughlin received two months in jail, a $150,000 fine, and 150 hours of community service. Giannulli received a five-month jail sentence, a $250,000 fine, and 250 hours of community service.

Loughlin started her prison sentence in October 2020. She was released later that year in December. Giannulli was booked into federal prison in November 2020 and released from home confinement in May 2021.

Former “The Voice” contestant Kata Hay was arrested Tuesday in Sumner County, Tennessee, for having sexual contact with a friend’s 16-year-old son.

Hay, 35, had been staying with the friend and her friend’s family when her behavior towards the teenager became questionable. Hay began by making inappropriate comments about the teen in his parent’s presence and then her behavior escalated to unwanted physical contact.

Hay has been accused of making out with the boy and forcing him to touch her in inappropriate ways a number of times. The boy said it was all against his wishes.

The boy’s mother told police she had confronted Hay about the allegations her son brought forward and Hay acknowledged one incident. Legal documents indicated the mother recorded the conversation and captured Hay’s admission.

The mother further claimed Hay appeared under the influence during their interaction. 

In addition to her arrest for having sexual contact with a minor, authorities processed Hay for a purported probation violation pertaining to a DUI case, according to TMZ.

The man who killed two California police officers during a shootout on Tuesday night died by suicide after the shooting.

Justin William Flores, 35, killed two El Monte, California police officers who were responding to reports of a stabbing at a motel.

When officers, Cpl. Michael Paredes and Officer Joseph Santana approached the suspect, a shootout ensued and both officers were shot. They were later pronounced dead at a Los Angeles area hospital.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office determined that Flores died by suicide as a result of a gunshot wound to the head.

Flores had a previous strike conviction and also received two years of probation for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Flores was a gang member and on probation at the time of the shooting for a weapons charge after he received a lenient sentence through a plea deal.

The Gascon policy allowed Flores to plead no contest and get a light sentence, despite a strike being on his criminal record.

Sources within the district attorney’s office said Flores would have likely been handed a sentence of up to three years in prison if he had been prosecuted in February 2021.

Gascon’s office said Flores didn’t have a “documented history of violence” at the time he was sentenced.

“The sentence he received in the firearm case was consistent with case resolutions for this type of offense given his criminal history and the nature of the offense,” the statement says. “At the time the court sentenced him, Mr. Flores did not have a documented history of violence.”

President Biden is given precise instructions in pictures shot at a White House meeting with cabinet officials.

On Thursday, Biden spoke at a “Meeting on Federal State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership” while holding a binder containing talking points and receiving a chart comparing the heights of the under discussion offshore wind turbines to famous structures like the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower.

Later, he read from one side of a separate note card that he held up.

A list of instructions for the president was, however, on the side of the note card that was visible to the cameras.

The card reads: “YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants. YOU take YOUR seat.”

The directions continue, “Press enters,” then, “YOU give brief comments,” with a parenthetical comment stating , “2 minutes.” Biden ended up speaking for roughly eight minutes.

The final bullet points say, “YOU thank participants” and “YOU depart.”

This is a very typical approach used by politicians and government representatives at public events, a White House official tells Fox News.

Obama also employed a similar note-taking technique when president, according to Hannah Hankins, a former White House communications director for him.

Biden’s notes have previously gone viral on the internet. During a news briefing on the Russia-Ukraine war in March, he was seen with a card that said, “Tough Putin Q&A Talking Points.”

According to a poll of probable voters in New Hampshire, the state that hosts the first primary in presidential elections, only 9% of people “absolutely” want President Biden to run again, while 20% said he should “probably” do so.

According to a University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll issued on Wednesday, the percentage of respondents who are unambiguously opposed to Biden running again rose from 43% in 2021 to 52% in 2022.

Just 54 percent of prospective Democratic voters believed that Biden should run for office again, a significant decline from the 74 percent of Democrats who classified themselves as such in the University of New Hampshire study from 2021.

A Wednesday poll evaluating support for possible 2024 candidates found that Vice President Kamala Harris has far lower approval ratings in New Hampshire than President Joe Biden.

Biden’s net unfavorability, which was set in May 2020, just before he received the Democratic presidential nomination, is tied for the lowest ever at – 30 percentage points.

In light of the president’s dismal approval ratings, worries about his age, and the prospect for a devastating election cycle for Democrats, speculation about choosing a Democratic nominee other than Biden has grown recently.

Voters viewed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis more favorably than former President Donald Trump in the University of New Hampshire poll that featured included candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.

39 percent of prospective Republican primary voters said they would endorse the first-term governor of Florida, while 37 percent said they would support the former president. DeSantis’ advantage was comfortably within the survey’s sample error. Respondents were given a list of probable candidates for the GOP presidential candidacy in 2024.

In a hypothetical general election contest in 2024, the survey reveals that DeSantis would defeat Biden 47 percent to 46 percent in New Hampshire while Biden would defeat Trump 50 percent to 43 percent.

845 probable voters for the 2024 general election, including 318 likely GOP primary voters, were surveyed online for the UNH Survey Center survey from June 16 to 20. With a sampling error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points for likely GOP primary voters, the survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Joe Exotic, also known as “The Tiger King”, is known for “Looking for love in the wrong places” as his wedding plans with his prison fiancé have been called off.  Joe has referred to many of his partners as his husbands despite them not being legally married, but this one seemed different.

Joe Exotic who is currently serving a 21-year sentence for plotting the murder of Carole Baskin, called it quits with his fiancé and fellow inmate John Graham. Joe’s divorce attorney Autumn Blackledge revealed that Joe believed he’d fallen in love with John Graham but since Graham’s release from federal prison in Texas, he’s moved on and ended things with Joe.

Joe Exotic, who is also a former chief of police, said that he found love in all the wrong places but still speaks well of his ex. He also plans to continue a close relationship with John’s son and some of his family members.

In a soap opera-type twist, Joe is rumored to currently be romancing another inmate. Joe filed for divorce from Dillon Passage in March because of his love for John. However, the two were estranged for more than a year before Exotic filed divorce papers from jail.

Sources reveal the mystery man is an old flame who recently came back into his life, someone picking up where they left off before.

Exotic is known for his eccentric personality and has faced substantial criticism, concerning the controversies surrounding his feud with Baskin and the treatment of animals at the G.W. Zoo.

Joe was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to prison on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire for the plot to kill Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin. Earlier this year, Joe’s sentence was reduced by 1 year.

Joe’s first partner,  Brian Rhyne, died of complications from HIV in 2001. Since then, Joe has been involved with several men. Last year, Exotic announced a contest “The Bachelor King” wherein men could fill out applications online to become Joe’s husband.