A 40-year-old man was killed in a crash in Chicago on his way to work last week after a group of robbers sped away from a smash-and-grab heist at a Louis Vuitton store on Michigan Avenue. One of the seven suspects charged in connection with the crimes was a community “peacekeeper” and posed for a photo with Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker just one week before the storefront raid. Kellen McMiller, 35, is now facing a list of charges that include murder, burglary, and felony theft, Fox 32 Chicago reported. McMiller, who recently posed with Pritzker while wearing his “peacekeeper” uniform, also has outstanding warrants in four states, including Illinois, Florida, Indiana, and Wisconsin, CWB Chicago reported. Fox 32 also reported that McMiller was a “peacekeeper,” an individual involved in violence-prevention work, and had “at least four fugitive warrants, according to authorities.” Peak Illinois and left-wing “criminal justice reform.” Dude was wanted in FOUR STATES & ended up posing for a photo with Pritzker as a non-police “peacekeeper.” Days later, the perp allegedly participated in a fatal smash-and-grab robbery in Chicago. https://t.co/4EFAdM4iBE pic.twitter.com/VVNOSZ8avg — Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 18, 2025 Footage of the crime reportedly showed the suspects backing a pickup truck through the store windows. The suspects then stole around $700,000 in merchandise, according to court records. Dejuan Wingard, the 30-year-old man who was allegedly behind the wheel of the getaway car, was driving nearly 100 miles per hour when he crashed into the vehicle that 40-year-old Mark Arceta was driving. Pritzker met with “peacekeepers” in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago two weeks ago as he continues to rail against the Trump administration’s desires to send in federal agents and National Guard troops to address violent crime in the city. Pritzker claimed that the “peacekeepers” are “doing the hard work” of preventing violent crime, adding that “troops on the ground” would hinder that effort. “In Englewood today to meet with Peacekeepers who are working to create safer communities,” Pritzker wrote on Facebook. “It’s folks like these that we need more of doing the hard work of community violence prevention, not troops on the ground to undermine efforts fighting crime.” Chicago’s “Peacekeepers Program,” which began under the Office of Firearm Violence in 2018, aims to rely on “the influence of community residents” to prevent violent crime and partner with “young men and women who live in neighborhoods that are at a high risk for violence.” Pritzker and Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson have called for federal funding to go toward “violence interruption programs” while arguing that President Donald Trump’s push to send in the National Guard to clean up Chicago is a dangerous power grab. “I would love it if he would restore funding for police, would restore funding for violence interruption programs, which we are the best in the country at, I might add,” Pritzker said earlier this month. A press release issued by the governor’s office on September 5 showed McMiller posing with Pritzker, but the photo was quickly removed after reports of McMiller’s suspected involvement in the smash-and-grab robbery and the fatal crash that followed, according to CWB Chicago. The Daily Wire reached out to the governor’s office, asking if Pritzker believes that non-police “peacekeepers” are the best way to address Chicago’s continued violent crime problem. Arceta, killed in the smash-and-grab, never met his baby boy, who was born the day after his death, Fox 32 reported. At least three of the other suspects in the crime have been arrested multiple times in the past. Darius Bowdry, a 30-year-old man accused in the smash-and-grab, has been arrested 12 times as an adult in Chicago. Alton Jackson, 37, was released on parole in May after he was sentenced to two years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. It’s the fifth time Jackson has been arrested as an adult in Chicago. Trump, who has hinted for weeks that National Guard troops would be deployed to Chicago, said on Monday that Chicago is “probably” the next city on his list after he signed a memo directing a crackdown on crime in Memphis, Tennessee.

Hollywood is freaking out over “Jimmy Kimmel Live” being pulled “indefinitely” following comments the late-night host made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Comedian Wanda Sykes expressed her frustration via a video on Instagram, saying she was scheduled to appear on Kimmel on Wednesday night.  “Let’s see. He didn’t end the Ukraine war or solve Gaza within his first week. But he did end freedom of speech within his first year. Hey, for those of you who pray, now’s the time to do it. Love you, Jimmy,” Sykes said. Comedian Rosie O’Donnell shared a photo of Kimmel on Instagram. She wrote in the caption, “[T]his is unacceptable — f*** this fascist administration and corrupt corporate executives — bowing to the orange monster — america [sic] is no more.” “I’ve spent a lot of time in public + private defending comedians I don’t agree with,” comedian Mike Birbiglia posted on Instagram. “If you’re a comedian + don’t call out the insanity of pulling Kimmel off the air — don’t bother spouting off about free speech anymore.” “This isn’t right,” wrote “Zoolander” actor Ben Stiller in response to the news. “Please, take it from me, it is very important to have Jimmy Kimmel’s back right now. Be vocal. Be an ideological consumer. Money is all their crown cares about,” comedian and actress Kathy Griffin said. Singer John Legend reposted a quote from senior editor at The Atlantic and MSNBC contributor David Frum to his Instagram Stories that said, “How dare you call us fascists just because our appointees threaten government retaliation against broadcast networks if their comedians don’t say what we want them to say.” Not everyone in Hollywood was mad, though. Comedian Roseanne Barr pointed out the hypocrisy of those upset about Kimmel being indefinitely suspended, who had previously supported her being taken off the air.  “Yeah imagine an administration putting pressure on a television channel to fire a comedian they didn’t like,” she wrote, responding to Frum’s complaints about the situation. A spokesperson for Disney’s ABC on Wednesday explained the decision to take Kimmel’s show off the air. “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division. “Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue,” he added. Sinclair, one of the largest broadcast companies in the United States, said Wednesday night that it would air a special tribute to Charlie Kirk this Friday in the late-night time slot that Jimmy Kimmel’s show had occupied.

“South Park” announced that it wouldn’t be airing a new episode on Wednesday night as planned because they “didn’t get it done in time.” The update came from series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, per Variety. “Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done,” they said. “This one’s on us. We didn’t get it done in time. Thanks to Comedy Central and ‘South Park’ fans for being so understanding. Tune in next week!” This will be the first new episode of “South Park” since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was parodied on the August 6 episode called “Got a Nut.” Cartman appeared as a character meant to mimic Kirk’s method of debate. At the time, Kirk reacted by laughing at the bit, writing, “Not bad, Cartman,” and saying it was “eerily spot on.” At one point during that episode, a character who wins the “Charlie Kirk Award for Young Master Debaters” says, “You can’t trust Jews, white people are the underprivileged, and women belong at home.” After Kirk was assassinated while giving a campus talk last week, the episode was removed from Comedy Central reruns, but was still available to watch on Paramount+, the outlet noted. Andrew Kolvet, an executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” and a friend of Kirk’s, said the Turning Point USA founder would have wanted the episode to stay up. “As someone who can speak with some authority on this, Charlie loved that he was featured in ‘South Park,’” Kolvet wrote on X. “He told me many times. He would want the episode back up.” This season of the series has been going hard with jokes about the Trump administration, including the president, Vice President JD Vance, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The season 27 opener started with a bit about Trump being in a romantic relationship with Satan, and the writers have continued pushing that trope in subsequent episodes. While President Trump has yet to react to the bit publicly, Vance tweeted, “Well, I’ve finally made it,” after an episode featuring his likeness aired. Noem reacted by telling Glenn Beck, “It never ends, but it’s so lazy to constantly make fun of women for how they look. It’s always the liberals and the extremists who do that. If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly, they can’t. They just pick something petty like that.” Homeland Security used the show to advertise its ICE recruitment currently underway. “We want to thank ‘South Park’ for drawing attention to ICE law enforcement recruitment,” the agency said in a statement just ahead of the “South Park” episode airing. We are calling on patriotic Americans to help us remove murderers, gang members, pedophiles, and other violent criminals from our country.” A new episode of “South Park” is slated to debut on Wednesday, September 24.

A coalition of conservative activists is urging Congress to reinstate a ban on one of the “swampiest” practices used by lawmakers in the nation’s capital.  Led by the organization Advancing American Freedom, 24 conservative advocates sent a letter to every member of Congress on Wednesday asking them to reinstate a ban on earmarks as they consider government funding for the next fiscal year. Earmarks are provisions inserted into appropriations bills by lawmakers to allocate taxpayer dollars to a particular project or entity they want to fund.  “As the United States Congress proceeds with Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 appropriations, many of your colleagues will once again seek to direct taxpayer dollars to their favorite pet projects through earmarks, one of the swampiest features of policymaking in Washington, D.C.,” wrote Advancing American Freedom President Tim Chapman in a letter obtained by The Daily Wire.  The letter says that earmarked funds from fiscal year 2024 went toward leftist projects, including “abortion centers, transgender indoctrination, radical climate activism, and entities engaged in crass antisemitism.” An appropriations bill is currently making its way through the House with a September 30 deadline before the previous funding bill expires. The current House bill is a seven-week continuing resolution, meaning that spending would continue at previous approved levels.  Chapman and the other signatories want Congress to reinstate a ban on earmarks that Congress agreed to in 2011 that lasted until around 2021.  “Historically, conservatives recognized the problem with using earmarks to lure legislators into supporting reckless budget agreements,” the letter said. “For good reason, the House Republican Conference prohibited earmarks for more than a decade. In fact, earmarks were so broadly unpopular that President Obama committed to vetoing any bill containing earmarks, and former Speaker Pelosi refrained from reinstating the practice for the first two years of her tenure.” Other signatories of the letter included Eagle Forum President Kristen Ullman, Open the Books CEO John Hart, Students for Life Action Government Affairs Coordinator Savanna Deretich, and former Virginia Representative Bob Good.  “In the 2024 elections, voters delivered a clear mandate to Republicans to overturn a broken status quo, granting them a federal trifecta,” they wrote.  Earmarks in the past have sent millions of dollars towards projects such as the American LGBTQ+ Museum, the  “National Great Blacks in Wax” museum, and the Universal Hip Hop Museum.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States is attempting to take back Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan after the base fell to the Taliban during the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal in 2021. Trump made the comment while speaking at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the United Kingdom. The president blasted former President Joe Biden’s “total disaster” in Afghanistan, adding that during his first term in office, the Trump administration was planning on leaving the country “with dignity” and wanted to keep Bagram Air Base under U.S. control. “We gave it to [the Taliban] for nothing,” Trump said. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way. That could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back.” “One of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” the president added. China has nuclear facilities in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwest China that borders Afghanistan. ? BREAKING: President Trump just said the U.S. is seeking to *RECLAIM* Bagram Air Base in AFGHANISTAN, where Biden botched the withdrawal. Whoa. “That could be some breaking news. WE WANT THAT BASE BACK!” “One of the reasons – it’s an hour away from where CHINA makes its… pic.twitter.com/gN6O8B9CkQ — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 18, 2025 Trump did not specify how exactly he would attempt to reclaim the base. Afghanistan is still under the Taliban’s control. U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from Bagram in early July 2021, which allowed the Taliban to take it over from the Afghan government days before a suicide bombing at the Kabul International Airport killed more than 180 people, including 13 U.S. troops. After gaining control of the massive U.S. base, the Taliban reportedly released terrorist prisoners who were held there. As the Taliban took control of Bagram and the rest of the country, U.S. forces rushed to evacuate troops, U.S. officials, and Afghan allies. Trump recently called the Afghanistan withdrawal the “most embarrassing” moment in U.S. history. The Taliban also confiscated billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. military equipment following Biden’s withdrawal.

'Couldn’t have happened to a better guy'

'Refusal of foreign drivers to embrace our national language'

'I am horrified'

'Just call it stealing'