Republican lawmakers, the Arizona Police Association, and the Trump administration castigated Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) this week over her suggestion that it may be reasonable to shoot masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.Mayes made no secret of her contempt for ICE in her interview with KPNX-TV's Brahm Resnik, suggesting, for instance, that ICE officers are engaged in "thuggish, brutish behavior" and causing chaos, confusion, and anxiety in Minneapolis.'How do you know they are a peace officer?'"It's a combustible situation, let's be clear about that," said Mayes. "It's a combustible situation being caused by ICE right now, wearing masks."After noting that she was "outraged and sickened" to see ICE agents outside her building and claiming that "real cops don't wear masks," the Democrat — who is seeking re-election — made a point of stressing that Arizona is a "stand your ground state.""We also have a lot of guns in Arizona," she said with a smile. "You know, it's kind of a recipe for disaster because you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks, and we have a stand your ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you are in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force."Resnik pumped the brakes and said, "I want to be careful with that and understand what you are saying because you know how that could be interpreted."RELATED: Anti-ICE radical who took credit for the invasion of Minnesota church ARRESTED by feds (Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Image"But it's the fact," said Mayes.While Mayes clarified that you still cannot gun down peace officers in the Grand Canyon State and that she was not giving anyone license to start doing so, she appeared to give would-be killers an excuse, stating, "How do you know they're a peace officer?""If there's a situation where somebody pulls out their gun because they know Arizona is a stand your ground state, then it becomes 'did they reasonably know that they were a peace officer?'" said Arizona's top law enforcement officer.When Resnik once more pressed her for clarification that she was not "telling folks you have license if you are threatened," Mayes said, "Well," and smirked."No," she continued, "but again, if you're being attacked by someone who is not identified as a peace officer, how do you know?"Republican Arizona Rep. David Schweikert noted, "Let's not pretend this was some careful legal seminar.""This was the attorney general of Arizona freelancing a scenario where bullets start flying and then shrugging it off as 'just the law.' That is reckless on its face," wrote Schweikert. "If your job is to enforce the law, you do not go on TV and hand out a permission structure for violence, then act surprised when people hear it as a green light. Words matter. Especially when they come from the state’s top lawyer."Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R), who is running for state attorney general, noted, "Mayes should be fully aware of her dangerous rhetoric — and how people will construe, apply, and execute her comments. Mayes' comments were reckless, dangerous, and disqualifying."The Arizona Police Association also condemned Mayes' remarks, emphasizing that "words from elected officials matter."APA Executive Director Joe Clure stated that the Democrat's framing was "deeply troubling and dangerous" especially as "law enforcement officers at every level including state, local, and federal agencies do not always wear traditional uniforms" — including members of Mayes' own investigative teams."This does not diminish their legal authority or status as law enforcement," said Clure. "Publicly speculating about how someone might legally justify shooting an ICE agent sends a dangerous and irresponsible message, particularly in an already tense and polarized environment."Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the New York Post, "This is [a] direct threat calling for violence against our law enforcement officers — this kind of rhetoric is going to get someone killed."Blaze News has reached out the Justice Department for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific no longer comes in bursts. It has become dangerous and systematic for America.A recent long-range patrol by Chinese forces, conducted alongside Russia, prompted Japan to scramble fighter jets. It marked the latest in a string of incidents after months of heightened Chinese military activity around the Senkaku Islands.If Washington and Tokyo keep strengthening this partnership, they can make the Indo-Pacific more difficult for Beijing to bully and far more stable for everyone who depends on it.These shows of force don’t happen by accident. China uses them to normalize military pressure, probe red lines, and test the unity of U.S.-led alliances.This latest episode also made one thing clear, at least: The Trump administration is watching closely.In a visible show of solidarity with Tokyo, U.S. strategic bombers joined Japanese fighter aircraft for high-profile drills. Days earlier, Chinese military aircraft conducted takeoffs and landings inside Japan’s air defense identification zone and shadowed Japanese aircraft with their radar off near Okinawa. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s State Department expressed concern and reaffirmed its commitment to a “strong and more united” U.S.-Japan alliance.Washington increasingly recognizes what Tokyo has understood for years: China’s behavior doesn’t just destabilize the region. It challenges the security order that has kept the Indo-Pacific from tipping into open conflict.That reality puts a premium on reliable partnerships. No partnership matters more than the U.S.-Japan alliance.Nowhere does that matter more than Taiwan. China’s large-scale military exercises, dubbed Justice Mission 2025, have pushed tensions in the Taiwan Strait to the highest levels in decades. Beijing aims to intimidate Taipei, warn off “external interference,” and alter the status quo through pressure rather than persuasion.The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy arrived in that environment. While headlines still focus on Europe and the Middle East, the document makes the administration’s priorities clear: The Indo-Pacific remains central to U.S. strategy.The NSS describes the Indo-Pacific as a critical economic hub that accounts for nearly half of global GDP. It commits the United States to a “free and open” Indo-Pacific by securing sea lanes and upholding international law.RELATED: Inside China’s plan to beat the US at big tech forever MF3d via iStock/Getty ImagesThat framework didn’t start in Washington. Japan first advanced the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and the region later adopted it through partnerships such as the Quad — the informal grouping of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia.Rather than announcing a new direction, the NSS reinforces a familiar one: Alliances form the core of deterring China. Unlike the Trump playbook in Ukraine, the administration treats alliances as the bedrock of Indo-Pacific security against Beijing’s expanding military reach.Japan sits at the heart of that network.China pressures Japan across its waters and airspace, making Tokyo a frontline state. Japan also serves as the United States’ indispensable partner in the region, with basing, interoperability, and shared strategy that no other ally can match at the same scale. Under new conservative leadership, Japan has begun acting with urgency.Japan’s defense minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, has emphasized that urgency, warning that the country now faces its most severe security environment since World War II. Japan has deepened coordination with the U.S. and other like-minded partners while strengthening its military capabilities by accelerating security reforms and easing restrictions on defense equipment transfers.Japan has also moved up its plan to raise defense spending to 2% of GDP — from 2027 to now. That headline matters less than where the money goes.Tokyo has prioritized capabilities suited for a long-term, high-risk environment: unmanned aerial vehicles, expanded surveillance platforms, and submarines equipped with vertical-launch missile systems.RELATED: Hypersonic missiles are the new arms race. Can America catch up? Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty ImagesJapan’s objective looks straightforward. It aims to become a more capable military partner that complements U.S. forces rather than relying on them by default. That shift aligns with President Trump’s demand that allies reduce dependence on American power by strengthening their own defense industries and readiness.The U.S.-Japan alliance has also moved beyond drills and declarations toward defense-industrial cooperation. Expanded maintenance and repair coordination, along with eased export controls, have begun laying the groundwork for a durable security partnership.This collaboration marks a shift from rhetoric to endurance. Aligning strategy with industrial capacity won’t eliminate risk. It will raise the cost of Chinese coercion and reduce the chances that Beijing miscalculates.Koizumi has stressed that 80 years after World War II, the U.S.-Japan alliance still embodies reconciliation and remains the best instrument to deter China’s rising aggression.If Washington and Tokyo keep strengthening this partnership — in capability, production, and resolve — they can make the Indo-Pacific more difficult for Beijing to bully and far more stable for everyone who depends on it.

A Chicago female recently was arrested in connection with an alleged string of beatings that took place after she allegedly failed to appear in court for an earlier battery case, CWB Chicago reported.Records show that 37-year-old Diamond Miller failed to appear in court on a pending misdemeanor battery charge on Dec. 2, the outlet said, adding that court records show that Judge Peter Gonzalez ordered the court clerk to send Miller a postcard reminding her of her court dates rather than issuing a warrant.Miller allegedly struck the woman in the face with a broken beer bottle, the outlet said, adding that the woman began bleeding immediately and suffered cuts to her face and a deep cut to her bottom lip.Later that month, Miller allegedly went on a physical attack spree.Prosecutors said that while she was "in AWOL status" from the pending misdemeanor battery case, Miller allegedly attacked three people within minutes near Pulaski Road and Cermak Road around noon on Dec. 21, CWB Chicago reported.The first attack occurred on a southbound CTA #53 Pulaski bus after a 33-year-old man asked Miller to quiet down so he could hear his wife during a phone call, the outlet said, citing prosecutors during a detention petition. Miller approached the man and struck him in the face "with great force," causing him to experience "pain and dizziness," CWB Chicago said, citing the filing. The bus driver stopped at Pulaski and Cermak and called police and EMS, the outlet noted.RELATED: NYC subway rider pays brutal price after asking fellow passenger to stop talking loudly on cell phone Diamond Miller. Image source: Chicago Police DepartmentProsecutors said Miller exited the bus and walked to a nearby bus shelter, the outlet reported.At 12:17 p.m., a second victim and her friend approached the shelter, where Miller was acting erratically and telling them to give her space, the outlet said, citing prosecutors. The victim and her friend walked away — but Miller allegedly followed them, CWB Chicago said. The victim told police that while she stood on the sidewalk with her back turned, Miller approached from behind and struck her in the face with a white plastic bag that contained a hard object that felt like ice, the outlet said, adding that the victim called 911.Miller returned to the bus shelter minutes later, when a 54-year-old woman — the third victim — and her 74-year-old mother approached while switching bus lines, CWB Chicago said, citing prosecutors. The detention filing said Miller yelled at them and accused them of following her, according to the outlet. The daughter helped her mother — who uses a walker — away from the shelter, but Miller allegedly followed them and continued yelling, CWB Chicago said. The daughter saw a CTA bus idling on the corner and asked the driver if her mother could board and wait until the next bus arrived, but the driver declined, the outlet said, citing the filing. As the woman and her mother walked away, Miller allegedly struck the woman in the face with a broken beer bottle, the outlet said, adding that the woman began bleeding immediately and suffered cuts to her face and a deep cut to her bottom lip.The second victim saw the attack on the third victim and recorded part of it with her phone, the outlet said, citing prosecutors.The first victim — the man from the bus — was taken to St. Anthony Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, CWB Chicago said, adding that prosecutors said the third victim received five stitches.Police said they arrested Miller at 12:50 p.m. the same day and charged her with three felony counts of aggravated battery and one misdemeanor count of aggravated assault of a person older than 60.Judge Robert Kuzas detained Miller, CWB Chicago said.Records indicate Miller was booked into Cook County Jail on Dec. 24, and she has no bond. Her next court date is Feb. 19, jail records say.CWB Chicago said Miller spent three days in jail in connection with four retail theft cases in October. A fifth retail theft case was dropped in November, the outlet said, even though Miller didn’t appear in court. However, records indicate the store’s representative didn’t show up for court, either, the outlet noted. A separate misdemeanor battery case was dropped in August, CWB Chicago added.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Liberals will often claim Christians are not acting in line with their religion when they support strict immigration laws — but that claim could not be further from the truth.“Remember Romans 13, that the government was instituted by God to reward those who do good and to punish those who do evil. Those who think that it is immoral or it is unjust to deport people who are here illegally have no problem locking their own doors, having their own walls, dead-bolting their own fences,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says on “Relatable.”“And the truth is, nations are like families. The government is supposed to put the interest in the well-being and the safety of our people first. Just because you lock your door and you don’t let any stranger come into your home doesn’t mean that you hate your neighbors,” she says.“It doesn’t make you bigoted. It means that you love your children. If you allowed people that you don’t know, that you haven’t vetted into your home to sleep in your kid’s bed and to eat your kid's food, you wouldn’t be a good neighbor, you would be a bad parent,” she continues.And the same could be said for our government.“If they were not sending ICE into these cities to deport illegal aliens who are not only here illegally, that would be enough to deport someone, by the way. Every government has that right and responsibility to maintain that sovereignty that we just talked about but also to deport the worst people in the world. We’re talking about people who raped a child. And you want to impede that justice,” Stuckey says.“That is the God-given and righteous responsibility of any government. And Christians should be for that because we serve a God of peace, not a God of disorder. We understand that disorder and chaos are curses for a nation. And that God is a God of order who placed us in a garden, not a jungle,” she continues.“Tough immigration policy is good,” she says, adding, “It would have been good for Laken Riley ... it would have been good for all of those children who were raped or assaulted or kidnapped or harmed. The people who were killed, the people who have died because an illegal alien was driving under the influence. If we had tough immigration policy, those people would be alive.”Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

In the tumultuous wake of Renee Good’s death, a video from Minnesota’s Becker High School is going viral on social media.The footage captures social studies teacher Dr. Heather Abrahamson heatedly arguing with a student about the fatal shooting of Good — the 37-year-old anti-ICE protester who struck ICE agent Jonathan Ross with her vehicle while deliberately impeding an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis on January 7.On a recent episode of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered,” Sara played the footage and discussed the radical politicization of our teachers’ unions and the leftist indoctrination of our youth with Teacher Freedom Alliance CEO Ryan Walters. In the clip, Abrahamson insists that Officer Ross should have de-escalated the situation. “Your job as a police officer is to de-escalate,” she spat, gesturing dramatically at the dissenting student, who fired back, “He had a split second.”“Watch the video! He was not in danger,” Abrahamson retorted, ignoring the fact that footage from the incident captures Ross being propelled backward as Good’s vehicle makes contact with him and numerous reports that Ross suffered internal bleeding following the incident.“Just because you’re yelling doesn’t mean you’re winning an argument,” the student said, refusing to bend.“Just because you’re alive doesn’t mean you are intelligent,” Abrahamson clapped back.The recording of this chaotic encounter, distributed by Libs of TikTok, has amassed nearly 4 million views on X and sparked intense debate over political indoctrination in classrooms.“This is a very pervasive issue,” Sara says, displaying the following memo recently distributed by the National Education Association arguing for increased anti-ICE activism. This kind of left-wing activism poisoning America’s classrooms, Walters says, is “a coordinated effort from the teachers’ unions.”“‘Tell your students that the police are the enemy, that ICE is the enemy’ — and this is exactly what they're pushing into our schools,” he says. “It’s not a one-off. It’s not, well, you know, here’s some crazy left-wing socialist teacher. No, this is the teachers’ unions utilizing their foot soldiers to ... undermine this country through the classrooms.”Sara brings up a recent Fox News article that exposed the NEA — the largest teachers’ union in the United States and the largest labor union overall in the country — for funneling millions in union funds during the 2024 fiscal year to various far-left and social justice-oriented groups and ballot initiatives.“In a lot of these places, the teachers don’t have a choice. They have to join the union. They have to pay the fees,” Sara says. “I mean, it’s adding insult to injury that you’re essentially stealing from someone because they want to have the occupation as a teacher and then you’re using it to fund [left-wing] causes.”Walters says that it’s paramount that we stop them.“We have to defund them. Every teacher, you should opt out. Go to optouttoday.com. Get out of the union. Quit paying union fees to destroy this country. ... And every state should be passing legislation to rail back on the union’s power. There shouldn’t be teachers’ unions,” he says.“What you have in the teachers’ union is this huge apparatus of power. They have a ton of money. They have a ton of resources. They are embedded in the Democrat Party. They are one of their biggest funders,” he continues.Walters warns that if we fail to defeat teachers’ unions, the consequences are potentially massive: “They’re going to gear up all this before the congressional elections, just like they did for Kamala Harris when over $400 million went from the teachers’ union to her presidential campaign. Same thing’s going to happen in this election cycle.”But the money is just the weapon — the real war is in our classrooms.Teachers’ unions, Walters says, have been instrumental in brainwashing younger generations into becoming America-hating, die-hard Democrats.“We didn’t just wake up one day ... [with] millions of kids that sit here and think we’re an evil, racist country. They think cops are bad guys. That didn’t just happen. It happened because of a coordinated attack,” he says.The viral video of Dr. Abrahamson insulting a student’s intelligence because he refused to condemn an ICE agent he believes acted in self-defense is merely one thread in a vast tapestry of proof.“We’ve got to turn this around 180 degrees in the other direction and go back to a patriotic education, love of country, love of American values. We’ve got to get back to that,” Walters urges.To hear more of the conversation and see the viral video, watch the episode above.Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.