With anti-ICE fury, Democrats are playing with fire.

Democrats are playing with fire, but it’s the whole country that’s likely to get burned.

For a democratic republic to function, you need certain key elements.

First, elections must be generally regarded as honest.

Second, candidates and their supporters have to abide by the results of those elections when they occur.

Third, winners of elections must not behave in a way that makes losing the contest a matter of life and death (or lifetime imprisonment).

Democrats are undermining — or just outright wrecking — all three.

On the electoral trustworthiness front, Democrats are standing united against measures to ensure that only legitimate voters can cast votes, and that the votes cast are counted honestly and transparently.

When it comes to abiding by elections, the Democrats have treated President Donald Trump’s victories in both 2016 and 2024 as illegitimate. (In fairness, he did the same in 2020 — but accepted Joe Biden’s presidency after Inauguration Day.)

In Trump’s first term, Democrats formed a “resistance” movement — as if the administration of a duly elected president was analogous to a German occupation government in World War II — and pushed the patently false claim that his victory was a “hacked election” or the product of (nonexistent) “Russian collusion.” 

In his second term the “resistance” is expanding, with suggestions that Trump is ruling as a “king” — and now with the often violent protests aiming to block the legitimate enforcement of duly enacted immigration laws.

Democratic governors and mayors in Minnesota, Oregon and Illinois have gone so far as to actively enable the chaos by withdrawing police protection.

Finally, winners of elections must not pose an existential threat to the losers; they can’t carry out, or even hint at, mass imprisonment or blanket prosecution.

Take a lesson from history: Julius Caesar led his army across the Rubicon to seize power in Rome because his political enemies were plotting to subject him to political prosecutions that could have led to his death or exile.

Caesar saved himself (for a while) — but his action, and the behavior of his opponents that triggered it, killed off the Roman Republic.

Historically in American politics, electoral losers have accepted the results, however grudgingly, and concentrated on winning the next election.

This new trend of treating Republican electoral victories as inherently illegitimate is a departure — and very dangerous.

It’s made more dangerous by widespread threats from important Democratic figures to prosecute not only Trump and his administration, but lower-level officials — and now, even federal law-enforcement agents.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been raising this specter for months, and other prominent leftists are following his lead.

In September, Jeffries said that Democrats would prosecute members of Trump’s Justice Department once they regain power: “Donald Trump and this toxic administration will be long gone, but there will still be accountability to be had.”

In December, he issued a message on X to “all these GOP extremists and [Trump] sycophants . . . the statute of limitations is 5 years! It will be well beyond the end of the Trump admin.”

We’ve heard similar statements from Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Democratic consultant James Carville and ex-CNN gadfly Jim Acosta.

This month, the drumbeat got louder amid stepped-up immigration-enforcement operations in Minneapolis, Minn.

Leftist commentator Jennifer Welch recently used her podcast to push “relentless” prosecutions of Trump, Elon Musk, Stephen Miller and other Republicans if Democrats regain power, arguing it would be necessary for “true national reconciliation.”

And just last week Jeffries was back warning rank-and-file ICE officers to expect a Democratic administration to prosecute them for any crimes it could discover (or perhaps, given the history of efforts to prosecute Trump in the past, invent).

“Every single one of these people who we see brutalizing the American people, they’re gonna be held accountable,” Jeffries said of ICE agents. “And the statute of limitations . . . is five years.”

As Caesar’s experience demonstrates, you can’t have a democratic republic if every election is an existential struggle in which the loser risks extinction.

People don’t want to be rendered extinct, and they can be expected to take steps to prevent it.

If Democrats keep up this thuggery, Republicans will be all but forced to respond in their own defense — and any action they may take could destabilize the nation even further.

The last time such a breach happened in the United States was in 1860, where pro-slavery Democrats seceded from the country rather than abide by the results of a presidential election.

That resulted in a Civil War that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and devastated much of the nation — a war driven by Southern “fire-eater” rhetoric that’s not unlike what we’re hearing from some Democrats today.

It needs to stop, or the consequences might be much worse this time around.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Minnesota’s Muslim AG to Christians: Church Ambushes Are ‘Just Something You’ve Gotta Live With’

Somewhere out there in the great cosmos, Saul Alinsky is cackling with glee over the way Democrats are providing top cover for the commie radicals running roughshod over the rule of law in Minnesota.

The latest elected official to earn Alinsky’s approval, while also making a mockery of law and order, is Minnesota’s Attorney General himself, Democrat Keith Ellison. Ellison, who is Muslim and the top law enforcement officer in the state, appeared Monday on Don Lemon’s livestream to discuss the Sunday ambush of services at Cities Church in St. Paul by a horde of anti-ICE agitators.

Lemon, it should be noted, could be in a great deal of legal trouble himself over the disgraceful incident, having possibly colluded ahead of time with the agitators who stormed the church. As Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Harmeet Dhillon, revealed Monday, Lemon could face federal charges, saying, “He went into the facility, and then he began ‘committing journalism.’ As if that is a shield from being an embedded part of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t.”

During his conversation with Lemon about Sunday’s ambush, Ellison remarked, “None of us are immune from the voice of the public.”

Here’s exactly what Ellison told Lemon:

“The protest is fundamental to American society. This country started in a protest. It’s freedom of expression. People have a right to lift up their voices and make their peace. And none of us are immune from the voice of the public. So I, quite honestly, I think that you’ve got the First Amendment freedom of religion and First Amendment freedom of expression – and I think it’s just something you’ve just gotta live with in a society.”

Harmeet Dhillon likely sees things very differently from Ellison. Dhillon noted Monday that both the FACE Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act could be used to prosecute those who “threaten[ed], hurt, or intimidate[d] people to prevent them from exercising their God-given rights.”

Keith Ellison knows full well that the ambushers had no right to enter the private property of the church and stop the faithful from worshipping. He’ll happily turn a blind eye to it, of course, as long as the brown shirts for whom he provides cover continue to create chaos. Chaos, of course, is Ellison’s justification for seizing more power.

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Anti-ICE Protest Leader Who Invaded Minnesota Church Just Did the Dumbest Thing Imaginable

As RedState reported, a group of anti-ICE protesters crossed a redline on Sunday, storming a church in Minnesota and occupying it. Supposed journalist Don Lemon was part of the chaos, with claims that one of the pastors works for ICE being used as justification for the attack.

The scene was part of an ever-escalating war against ICE, which has increased operations in Minneapolis and the surrounding areas due to a complete lack of cooperation by state and local authorities. Despite largely targeting illegal immigrants who have allegedly committed heinous crimes, including sex crimes against children, left-wing activists have taken to the streets to obstruct, impede, and assault federal agents.

A church isn’t the streets, though. It’s a privately-owned house of worship, and activists do not have a right to invade and occupy one, no matter how deranged their motivation is. But while Minnesota authorities are unlikely to take any serious action, the federal government is a different story. DOJ civil rights division head Harmeet Dhillon has already stated that they will use the FACE Act to go after these agitators.

Don’t get me wrong, the FACE Act is garbage, and has previously been used to go after pro-life activists for simply standing outside abortion clinics, but it is currently the law. Unless the Supreme Court one day changes that, the Trump administration should use all tools at its disposal.

That’s what makes protest leader Nekima Levy Armstrong’s move after the assault on the church so incredible, and not in a good way for her. Instead of maintaining some deniability, she actually posted all the participants of the attack on Facebook and admitted why they invaded it.

One of those listed is Don Lemon, along with multiple Black Lives Matter organizations, the Racial Justice Network, and numerous individual names. It’s basically a confession wrapped neatly with a bow for the DOJ to move forward with. It’s ill-advised, but hey, let her cook.

You can understand why these people would act without fear of any consequences and flaunt their alleged crimes. For years, Minnesota has allowed these activists to run amok, violating the law and terrorizing normal people, with the George Floyd riots of 2020 being the most striking example. Perhaps Armstrong and her cohorts believed they wouldn’t be subject to any federal investigation or possible charges. She thought wrong, though.

The DOJ shouldn’t wait for Minnesota officials to keep dithering in the face of these almost certainly illegal aggressions. Go after these activists with the full force of the law while there’s still a chance.

U.S. Forces Kill Al-Qaeda Affiliate Leader Linked to ISIS Ambush on Americans in Syria

USCENTCOM

January 17, 2026
Release Number 20260117-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAMPA, Fla. — U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted a strike in northwest Syria on Jan. 16, that resulted in the death of a leader affiliated with Al-Qaeda who had direct ties to an ISIS terrorist responsible for an ambush which killed two U.S. service members and an American interpreter on Dec. 13, 2025.

Bilal Hasan al-Jasim was an experienced terrorist leader who plotted attacks and was directly connected with the ISIS gunman who killed and injured American and Syrian personnel last month in Palmyra, Syria.

“The death of a terrorist operative linked the death of three Americans demonstrates our resolve in pursuing terrorists who attack our forces,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. “There is no safe place for those who conduct, plot, or inspire attacks on American citizens and our warfighters. We will find you.”

CENTCOM launched large-scale strikes in Syria in response to the Dec. 13 attack. The operation, dubbed Hawkeye Strike, resulted in U.S. and partner forces hitting more than 100 ISIS infrastructure and weapons site targets with over 200 precision munitions.

Additionally, U.S. and partner forces have captured more than 300 ISIS operatives and killed over 20 across Syria during the past year, removing terrorists who posed a direct threat to the United States and regional security.

Personal Defense Tip: The Castle Doctrine Isn’t Absolute.

As part of January’s general grab-bag of weirdness, a Texas man is being charged with murder after he shot an armed home intruder. I know what you’re thinking: What about the castle doctrine? Not to mention it’s Texas. So what’s going on?

The comment section on the rather vague news reports are filled with opinionated social media experts claiming this guy will be out in no time and that he should totally sue local law enforcement for wrongful imprisonment. So, what’s the truth?

The truth is the castle doctrine isn’t absolute. That means you can’t do whatever the heck you feel like in your own home. Rules, people…there are rules.

Disclaimer: As always, please remember that I’m not an attorney and this isn’t legal advice. It’s simply information (and a dose of supposition) based on experience.

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The Trump admin tried to merge DEA and ATF. After pressure, it quietly abandoned the plan

After pushback from both gun rights and gun control groups, the Trump administration has quietly abandoned its plan to merge the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to people briefed on the matter.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced plans last year to merge ATF into the DEA, a proposal that would require Congressional budgetary approval and is part of the early administration-wide effort to shrink the size of federal government agencies.

Officials involved in the proposal told CNN at the time of Blanche’s proposal that the two agencies had different missions — ATF is tasked with investigating violent crime, gun trafficking, arson and bombings, while DEA agents enforce the nation’s drug laws — but they naturally went hand-in-hand.

“Where there are drugs there are usually guns, and where there are guns there are usually drugs,” one of the officials previously told CNN.

The effort was re-affirmed in June, when Justice Department officials suggested eliminating the ATF “as a separate component, with its functions merged into the Drug Enforcement Administration,” leaving the DEA as “a single component that will address violent crime, drug enforcement, and crimes relating to firearms” in their budget proposal.

Administration officials’ expectations that pro-Trump gun-rights groups would welcome the plans were dashed almost immediately.

Some conservative and gun-rights groups have long called for the ATF’s abolishment but raised concerns that a merger with another agency would empower the agency’s gun-related efforts, not weaken them. The MAGA groups want ATF gone and the laws it enforces repealed. Giving its powers to another agency makes things worse, a gun rights source told CNN.

“Regulating guns is a hot potato. Everyone is for eradicating illegal drugs. Not everyone is for gun regulation,” one person involved in the Trump administration discussions that followed the Blanche memo told CNN.

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Florida House Wastes Little Time Repealing Parkland-Era Gun Control Law

It didn’t take long for the Florida House to approve a bill that would allow adults 18 and older to once again purchase long guns in the state, undoing a measure adopted after the Parkland shootings in 2018 that raised the age to purchase a firearm to 21. The 2026 session kicked off in Tallahassee on Tuesday, and by Thursday afternoon the repeal bill had already cleared the lower chamber in a 74-37 vote.

House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois, a Merritt Island Republican who is sponsoring this year’s bill, said the Parkland shooting was a “tragedy.” But he said lowering the minimum gun-buying age to 18 is about Second Amendment rights.

“The legislation seeks to restore the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens,” Sirois said.

But Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, a Parkland Democrat who was the city’s mayor at the time of the mass shooting, said the law that increased the minimum age to 21 has “stood the test of time” and that it has been found constitutional by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“This bill today is going to hurt families,” Hunschofsky said.

It’s true that the Eleventh Circuit upheld Florida’s law using the bizarre argument that “minors” couldn’t enter into legal contracts at the time of the Founding, which it considered analogous to depriving young adults of their ability to purchase a firearm today. But Hunschofsky failed to acknowledge that other appellate courts have concluded that adults under the age of 21 are fully vested with their Second Amendment rights, and the Supreme Court is currently hanging on to close to a half-dozen cases dealing with the conflict, including the NRA’s challenge to Florida’s law.

The law in question has been in place less than a decade, so it’s hardly stood the test of time. It has, however, remained in place despite the fact that the Florida House of Representatives has voted to repeal it for four years straight. Over the past three years the Florida Senate has failed to follow suit, and it sounds like gun owners once again have their work cut out for them in the upper chamber.

When asked Tuesday about the issue, Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, noted that last year, senators “were not supportive of it. I have not heard anything different this year.”

“We are clearly a responsible gun-law state and we have a lot of freedoms here with the Second Amendment, which I’m proud of,” Albritton said. “But as it relates to that bill, it will be determined by the (committee) chairs in the Senate and the Senate appetite for such a bill as a whole.”

Albritton himself has been noncommittal about repeal, but former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who chairs the powerful Senate Rules Committee, has been vocally opposed to undoing the gun control law. Albritton could always use some parliamentary slight of hand and assign the House bill to another committee, but at this point he’s expressed no interest in doing so.

Florida gun owners should be contacting their state senators and demanding they restore the right to keep and bear arms to young adults in the Sunshine State. I think there’s a very good chance the Supreme Court will eventually say that it’s unconstitutional to block adults under the age of 21 from purchasing or possessing firearms, but we’re still probably a couple of years away from that decision. In the meantime, the rights of under-21s continue to be curtailed, and its up to the Florida legislature to correct its error. The House has done its part. Now it’s time for the Senate to do the same.

DeStefano flown to New York City, prepping for court hearings

by Lee Williams

Indie Guns owner Lawrence Michael DeStefano was picked up from Florida’s Orange County Jail by New York detectives this week after serving nearly 90 days in custody and flown to New York City aboard a private jet.

When they landed, the officers took a group photo and then rushed DeStefano to an NYPD precinct to be booked, and then to a quick court hearing in Queens. Afterward, he was taken to Rikers Island, a notorious 413-acre state prison located in the East River near the Bronx, where he remains incarcerated.

At the court hearing, a New York State prosecutor tried to portray him as an “evil gun runner,” DeStefano said, but the judge cut her off.

“The judge looked at her and said, ‘I have a 65-year-old man with no criminal record and you’re saying all these bad things about him.’ Then he turned to me and said, ‘You’ve got some real serious charges against you. If you’ve got somewhere to stay, I will let you out on bail,’” DeStefano said over a jail phone Friday morning. “This is going to be a fight and the gloves are off. I am going balls-to-the-wall on this. It’s going to get ugly.”

DeStefano’s court-appointed defense attorney was of little help. She showed up just seconds before the hearing began.

“She had no idea what was going on,” he said.

He will appear in court for a bail hearing in two weeks, DeStefano said.

“I need to figure out how to get a message to the gun community,” he said. “If I am out on bail, I could win this. I know what I need to do to win this. I need to do research, but they’re seizing it for evidence. They already deleted my Telegram account after they got my password,” he said.

Throughout the trip, the detectives were talking furiously with the New York State Attorney General’s Office about whether to issue a press release, DeStefano said.

“It was chaos. Everyone was on their phones. They decided to issue a press release,” he said. “You guys really think you’re doing a press release? You’re helping me. The gun culture is a tight-knit family.”

New York State Attorney General Letitia James issued a massive press release late Wednesday, titled, “Attorney General James and NYPD Commissioner Tisch Announce Indictment of Florida Man for Illegally Shipping Firearms and Ghost Guns to New York.”

It contains a link to a 42-page indictment that charges DeStefano with 71 felonies, which could see him jailed for a total of 521 years.

“Lawrence Destefano and his company Indie Guns are accused of flooding New York with illegal firearms, and we are determined to bring him to justice,” James said in the press release. “I will not tolerate illegal and dangerous weapons in our communities, and I thank our partners in law enforcement for their work to shut down this ghost gun supplier.”

Despite the allegation and the centuries behind bars DeStefano faces, the press release indicates that only a dozen actual firearms were recovered, along with “two ghost gun kits, 28 high-capacity magazines, and over 1,400 rounds of ammunition, which were mailed to locations in Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau County.”

The press release also mentions the default judgement James won in a civil suit against DeStefano, which he ignored.

“In March 2024, Attorney General James secured a $7.8 million judgment and court order against Indie Guns prohibiting it from selling firearms in New York,” the press release states.

The lengthy press release even includes quotes from NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel and USPIS Inspector in Charge Ketty Larco-Ward of the New York Division. All strongly supported James for “disrupting the dangerous illicit weapons pipeline,” and for “dismantling gun trafficking networks.”

DeStefano knows he will be severely outgunned in court.

“I am ready for the fight,” he said.