Suspect killed, food vendor with Concealed-Carry License hurt in exchange of gunfire in Austin (Chicago neighborhood)

CHICAGO (WLS) — A food vendor with a Concealed-Carry License shot and killed a man who pulled a gun on him Friday night, Chicago police said.

Police said the shooting happened in the South Austin neighborhood’s 300-block of South Central Avenue just before 9 p.m.

A 30-year-old man approached a 35-year-old man, who is a food vendor, and there was a brief struggle, police said.

Police said the 30-year-old took out a gun, and the 35-year-old, who is a CCL holder, also took out a gun.

There was an exchange of gunfire, and the 30-year-old, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his body, was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The Cook County Medical Examiner later said 34-year-old Demitrius Manning was killed in the incident. Police had reported earlier the man who died was 30 years old.

The 35-year-old food vendor, shot in his right arm, was transported to Stroger Hospital in good condition, police said.

Police said the incident is being investigated as an attempted robbery.

There were two firearms on the scene, and Area Four detectives are investigating, police said.

Police did not immediately provide further information about the shooting.

BLUF
Learn and memorize your rights, exercise them, and protect them every single day.
If you truly want politics and government to leave you alone to live your life in peace, you have to pay attention. That is your ultimate responsibility.

Citizen Responsibilities

As far back as elementary school, I remember teachers telling kids that we, as citizens of the United States, had responsibilities to ourselves and the country. I know that a lot of people would prefer to avoid politics and political topics altogether. I get it. Politics is frustrating, angering, annoying, and at times boring (ever try to read a policy proposal? I highly recommend them if you have insomnia and don’t want to take any drugs). But we as adult citizens have a responsibility to keep this country running as well as possible, oppose bad policies, and most importantly, we have a responsibility to pay attention so that we are fully aware of what is going on with our politicians and institutions. It’s our responsibility to pay attention and stop them from going off the rails.

I don’t care that you don’t want to pay attention to politics. YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SO. Especially if you want everything to become or remain “normal.”

I will discuss equality of opportunity versus equity of outcomes in a future post. That is not the topic for today.

Responsibilities of citizenship go beyond simply turning up to vote every couple of years. Although that is one of the most important activities you can do. HOWEVER, if you are an uninformed voter, you are not helping anyone. Uninformed voters simply go along to get along and vote as they’re told or as they always have without regard to any changes in party platforms, policies, candidates, funding sources, anything. All of those things should inform you, the voter, as to whether or not your preferred party is engaging in business as usual or has changed course. Or no longer matches your values and preferred outcomes.

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BREAKING: NIH Chief Admits COVID Global Health Initiatives Were “Completely Made Up;” Reveals COVID Vaccines Don’t “Stop You From Getting COVID”.

Raja Cholan, Chief of the Health Data Standards Branch at the U.S. National Library of Medicine for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has raised eyebrows with his candid remarks on COVID vaccines, global health strategies, and their broader implications.

Cholan admitted he has chosen not to receive the latest COVID vaccine boosters, citing mixed evidence of their efficacy: “I haven’t gotten the latest COVID shots, and I’m not going to… there’s mixed evidence about if it really does anything.” He also expressed concerns over the risks the vaccine poses to younger individuals, saying, “For people that are 30 or under, it really increases your risk for heart conditions. The data does show that… I’m close enough to 30 to where I don’t want to have a heart attack.”

Cholan further questioned the vaccines’ effectiveness, stating, “I don’t even know if these vaccines stop you from getting COVID. They don’t.”

Cholan also linked the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to funding research in Wuhan, China, alleging, “There is some evidence out that the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases… they might have funded Wuhan, a lab in Wuhan, China, to make COVID.” He pointed to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s former role at NIAID, claiming, “That’s where Fauci was the director. Like they might have funded some labs to do vaccine studies and disease, like to prepare for an outbreak.”

Criticizing the expedited vaccine approval process, Cholan noted the contrast with the measles vaccine, which requires multiple rounds of testing: “The measles vaccine requires several rounds of approval, but the COVID-19 vaccines were accelerated through the approvals for all of us to get our boosters.” He also highlighted the financial motivations behind the vaccines, saying, “Pfizer and Moderna are just getting a bunch of money from it.”

Cholan concluded by commenting on the difficulty of implementing reform, even under an administration led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He pointed to the entrenched relationships between federal agencies and pharmaceutical companies, adding, “Anything that RFK would want to do probably would just, like, wouldn’t happen.”

O’Keefe Media Group reached out to Cholan for comment regarding his statements but did not receive a response. On release day of the first installation of the NIH Tapes, Cholan deleted his LinkedIn account, sparking further speculation about his involvement in the issues raised.

Tom Cotton slams ‘partisans and obstructionists’ in DOD reportedly plotting to block Trump plans

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., blasted anyone within the Defense Department working to safeguard certain norms or policies that they expect the incoming Trump administration to target.

“It appears that partisans and obstructionists inside the Department of Defense are laying groundwork to defy or circumvent President Trump’s plans for both military and civil-service reform,” Cotton wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in reference to reports of such strategizing among DOD employees.

“These actions undermine civilian control of the military and our constitutional structure of government.”

Earlier this month, it was reported that there were “informal discussions” occurring among Pentagon officials on what the department would do if Trump ordered the military for a domestic purpose or if he fired a significant number of employees, per CNN.

One anonymous defense official was quoted in the report saying, “Troops are compelled by law to disobey unlawful orders.”

“But the question is what happens then – do we see resignations from senior military leaders? Or would they view that as abandoning their people?” they reportedly asked.

President-elect Trump promised during his campaign to shake up the federal government, whether it be through staffing changes or reorganization. Some reports have indicated specific people are being looked at for termination once he enters office again. An ally of Trump, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, has been vocal about his belief that the federal government must be shrunk in size.

Ramaswamy has been tapped by Trump, along with billionaire business magnate Elon Musk, to lead his planned Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in his new administration. The proposed department has the goal of reducing the size of government, cutting spending and increasing efficiency.

Cotton criticized Lloyd in his letter for “promulgating false claims that the incoming administration plans to arbitrarily fire uniformed leaders.”

Further, he slammed the secretary for a message after the election that the military would specifically follow “lawful orders” from Trump. Cotton said this was “a thinly veiled and baseless insinuation that President Trump will issue unlawful orders.”

“I have to observe that these actions and reports only prove the need for reform and fundamental change at the Department of Defense. And, of course, while inappropriate and annoying, these tactics are also useless because no action by the outgoing administration can limit the incoming president’s constitutional authority as commander-in-chief,” the Arkansas Republican wrote.

Cotton was recently elected to serve as chairman of the Senate Republican conference in the new Congress. He is also expected to take Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s place as the head of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

The DOD did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital for purposes of this story.

November 28, 2024

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Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Outside the United States, it is sometimes called American Thanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions. The modern national celebration dates to 1863 and has been linked to the Pilgrims 1621 harvest festival since the late 19th century. As the name implies, the theme of the holiday generally revolves around giving thanks with the centerpiece of most celebrations being a Thanksgiving dinner.

 

Trump Cabinet Nominees And Administration Appointees Threatened, Swatted Before Thanksgiving.

Former President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees faced a series of threats overnight and on Wednesday morning.

“Several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt wrote in a press release on Wednesday morning.

The threats, which came the night before Thanksgiving eve, “ranged from bomb threats to “swatting,’” in which a suspect falsely reports an emergency to trigger a police response against his target, according to the release. Police and “other authorities” quickly acted for the “safety of those who were targeted.”

“President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action,” Leavitt wrote. “With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us.”

Trump has so far faced at least two attempted assassination attempts. In the first, a would-be assassin shot Trump in the head at a Pennsylvania rally, and in the second, a shooter waited in the bushes on a Florida golf course to ambush him, as The Federalist previously reported. Apparently this violence is now being directed toward Trump’s associates.

Leftists have consistently incited violence against Trump by calling him a “Nazi,” peddling the recent Madison Square Garden media hoax and refusing to abandon their incendiary rhetoric in the days after the first assassination attempt.

FYI, they’re ‘often called silencers’ because 1, the inventor, Hiram P. Maxim called them that and 2, that’s what they’re called in federal law; NFA-34

Major Medical Group Endorses Firearms Silencers to Prevent Hearing Loss

Sound suppressors, often called silencers, help protect gun owners’ hearing.

That’s the conclusion one of the largest ear-doctor organizations, with more than 13,000 members, reached this month. The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) issued a position statement backing the use of the noise-reducing devices. It pointed to three different studies that found suppressors help prevent hearing loss.

“Sound suppressors are mechanical devices attached to the barrel of a firearm designed to reduce harmful impulse noise of firearms at its source,” the group’s statement reads. “CDC research has shown that ‘The only potentially effective noise control method to reduce [shooters’] noise exposure from gunfire is through the use of noise suppressors that can be attached to the end of the gun barrel.’ Suppressors reduce muzzle blast noise by up to 30 dB.”

The backing of a major medical organization could help boost the use of suppressors among gun owners. It could also lend support to efforts to reform the laws governing their purchase and possession. While the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has opened up online suppressor registration and increased the speed they process those registrations, the devices remain heavily regulated under the same federal law that governs machine guns.

Reform is what Dr. Timothy Wheeler was hoping for when he proposed the statement alongside six colleagues. Wheeler, a board-certified otolaryngologist and AAO-HNS life fellow, is also the founder of Doctors For Responsible Gun Ownership. He said he hopes AAO-HNS’s adoption of the statement leads to a different approach to gun ownership at major medical organizations.

“My personal hope is that this represents maybe a change of heart for at least one small part of academic medicine,” Wheeler told The Reload. “Academic medicine has a very long way to go to climb out of the credibility gap that they have created for themselves in the public eye because they’ve been pretty much taken over by a lot of social and political crusades, including gun control, going way back to the late 1980s.”

He emphasized the AAO-HNS statement doesn’t advocate for any law or policy changes.

“It’s purely a scientifically based observation,” Wheeler said. “They are saying nothing beyond what’s in the statement.”

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BLUF
The patience of the Second Amendment community is wearing thin, and this reply captures it very well. We have been given the runaround for too long. Justice has been denied through delay. Judicial processes have been manipulated to serve only one end: the affirmation of unconstitutional infringements.

It’s time for those games to come to a crashing end and for our Rights to be restored.

Dear SCOTUS: Percolation Tests Are For Septic Tanks, Not Second Amendment Infringements

When faced with a problem, politicians have a tendency to not actually find the root cause of that problem and come with effective solutions to solve that problem. Their primary motivation is to appear like they’re solving the problem in order to ensure their chances of reelection.

When looked at from this lens, “assault weapon” bans, and indeed the majority of gun control laws, make perfect sense. When crooks and crazies do bad things, the easiest and laziest thing that a politician can do is to demonize those who did not commit those evil deeds and don’t have a mean bone in their bodies to ever commit such evil deeds in their lifetimes. But it’s easy for politicians to say, “Look, your serf, if only you gave up your rights can we all be at peace.”

“Assault weapon” bans are a crystallization of this logic. Most readers of this website are well aware, but for the tiny minority who aren’t, an “assault weapon” is nothing more than an arbitrarily created category of arms. They are not functionally different from other arms. Banning them serves two purposes: 1) allow the politician to look good, and 2) set the legal stage, intentionally or not, for the ban of more arms by reclassifying them as “assault weapons.”

Second-Amendment organizations have been challenging these bans for a long time. Their lawsuits have been moving at a glacial pace, getting bounced around like a ping-pong ball from court to court. In 2022, the bans got their day in Court, when two bans – Miller v. Bonta (California), and Bianchi v. Frosch (Maryland) – were effectively overturned by the Supreme Court and sent back to lower courts for reconsideration.

But the Supreme Court underestimated the intransigence and dishonesty of the lower courts. After a couple of years worth of judicial games, lower courts have rubber-stamped “assault weapon” bans, and one of those cases – Snope v. Brown (a reincarnated version of Bianchi v. Frosch), is knocking on the Supreme Court’s door again.

Maryland, of course, wants the Supreme Court to not hear this case. One of their pretexts is “percolation”:

Whether assault weapons are covered by the text of the Second Amendment following Bruen, and whether a ban on such weapons is supported by this Nation’s historical tradition, are questions that have only begun to percolate in the courts of appeals.

Jurisdictions in at least eight circuits have some form of ban on the possession of assault weapons. Yet to date, only two courts of appeals—the Fourth Circuit and the Seventh Circuit—have considered Bruen’s application to assault weapons bans. And the Seventh Circuit has done so only in reviewing decisions whether to grant preliminary injunctive relief.

There is no reason why this Court should stray from its usual practice of allowing questions to percolate in multiple courts of appeals, with arguments tested and refined in cases litigated through final judgment on the merits, before granting certiorari.

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And This Is Why the Public Doesn’t Trust the DOJ

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released its annual report identifying the top management and performance challenges currently facing the federal agency.

Among the OIG’s findings, a lack of public trust in the DOJ remains a “longstanding” problem, Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced Monday, and strengthening such trust poses “a significant challenge.”

However, in its 59-page report highlighting incidents that have contributed to the department’s confidence crisis, the DOJ watchdog largely overlooked transgressions under the Biden-Harris administration, which still reigns. Instead, the OIG looked farther back to Trump’s time in office, his first term, as we head into the president-elect’s second.

Based on the OIG’s oversight work, the inspector general’s office blames a medley of Trump-era episodes as reasons why public trust in the institution has eroded over time.

First, the OIG report points to public statements that former federal prosecutor David Freed, a Trump-nominated U.S. attorney, made about an ongoing criminal probe into alleged ballot tampering during the 2020 presidential election.

Freed had said several mail-in military ballots, mostly cast for Donald Trump, were discarded (tossed into the trash) at a Pennsylvania election office in pro-Trump Luzerne County.

Ultimately, the OIG concluded that Freed’s comments “unnecessarily inserted partisanship into the investigation” and “created a false impression” that the incident was “much more serious than DOJ leadership knew it to be.”

The report also calls attention to another OIG inquiry into claims that senior DOJ appointees placed “political pressure” on the trial team prosecuting Roger Stone, a close confidant of Trump, so that they lowered their sentencing recommendations.

While the OIG did not find evidence that the prosecution’s revision was the result of “improper political considerations,” the report chastises the “unusual substantive involvement,” though not prohibited by law or policy, of then-Attorney General Bill Barr and other high-level DOJ officials in the second sentencing recommendation’s preparation and filing.

Their embroilment in the case against the president’s political ally “affected the public’s perception of the Department’s integrity, independence, and objectivity,” the OIG says.

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