This week, Atlanta cops embodied the city’s motto, “Resurgens,” which means “rising again.” Responding to a distress call about an armed man in the Capitol View neighborhood, three cops were shot in the line of duty on May 11. This National Police Week (May 12-18), we should be grateful that it appears that they will all recover. Many cops aren’t so lucky. Sgt. Heather Jayne Glenn, a 47-year-old, 20-year veteran of a rural Indiana police department was killed in the line of duty on July 3, 2023, by an armed domestic-violence suspect. She’s not alone. As of April 30, the Fraternal Order of Police reported that 20 cops have already been fatally shot in 2024. Assaults on police officers are at a 10-year high, according to a recent FBI report. Police departments around the country are feeling the effects. High crime rates in inner cities, hostility from left-wing activists in some communities, and severe budget cuts have adversely affected morale and retention, leaving many departments short-staffed and struggling to ensure public safety. Flanked by fellow Republican lawmakers, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., speaks at a news conference Wednesday at the Capitol at an event recognizing law enforcement as part of National Police Week. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images) Take Washington, D.C., for example. After the city council cut the budget of the Metropolitan Police Department in 2020, the department lost more than 1,000 officers, and currently has a 500-officer shortfall. Not coincidently, crime rates since 2020 in the District of Columbia have spiked, including a 35% increase in homicides last year compared with 2022, an 82% increase year-over-year in motor vehicle theft, and an overall violent-crime increase of 39%. That has left officers worse off and facing dangerous situations. In February, for example, three officers were shot in broad daylight. At the time, D.C. Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton told reporters: We’re going to try to keep these neighborhoods safe, as safe as we can. It’s just impossible for us to do our jobs under these kinds of conditions. Aware that rising crime rates are their political Achilles’ heel, liberals are now boasting about the dip in crime rates in blue cities. What they don’t acknowledge, however, is that those small decreases are dwarfed by the massive spike in crime rates that began in 2018 and the rates remain unacceptably high. Those spikes coincide with the efforts of anti-police activists to mainstream the Defund the Police movement and stoke hostility against cops in some communities of color. And crime rates have only been made worse by the work, in several jurisdictions, of so-called progressive prosecutors (we think the term “rogue prosecutors” is more apt) implementing policies that undercut the efforts of law enforcement officers.  Take Philadelphia, for example. In the five years before Larry Krasner was elected district attorney, there was an average of 271 homicides per year. In the first five years of his tenure in office, there have been an average of 457 per year. That’s an “extra” 186 dead bodies per year.  The same is true in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and other major cities.    “Rogue Prosecutors,” a recent book that one of us (Stimson) co-authored, details how more than 70 prosecutors—whose campaigns were funded or inspired by leftist billionaire George Soros and other wealthy, left-wing activists—have implemented pro-criminal, anti-victim policies. The result across the country has been a system that emboldens criminals, treats the police as the culprits, and ignores the millions of real victims across the country.  Although those prosecutors only represent a small portion of the 2,300 elected district attorneys across the country, by population, they are responsible for enforcing the criminal laws of jurisdictions where 1 in 5 Americans live. Police officers and the residents of those communities deserve better. After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, it was common to thank members of the military, law enforcement, and first responders. But a sense of gratitude for those willing to risk paying the ultimate price in the service of justice has since dissipated in some segments of society.  That’s regrettable. An ordered society depends on adherence to the rule of law, and public safety does not happen by itself, but instead requires sacrifice. Indeed, without patriotic men and women from all backgrounds taking an oath to defend the Constitution and laws of this great country and to serve and protect their communities, our world would be unrecognizable. During this National Police Week, take a moment and think about how your safety is directly affected by local, state, and federal law enforcement officers who risk their lives daily and stand astride the thin blue line protecting the public from those who would do them harm.  And then when you see an officer, thank him or her for serving to protect you.  The post Americans Should Thank a Cop During National Police Week—and the Rest of the Year, Too appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation to slash ‘climate change’ priorities in the state’s energy policy to combat the ‘radical climate agenda’ pushed by ‘green zealots.’ “The legislation I signed today—HB 1645, HB 7071, and HB 1331—will keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state. We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots. Furthermore, we’re going to ensure foreign adversaries like China have no foothold in our state,” DeSantis explained. The legislation I signed today—HB 1645, HB 7071, and HB 1331—will keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state. We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots. Furthermore, we’re going to… pic.twitter.com/G13RcdxIBR — Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 15, 2024 “Florida rejects the designs of the left to weaken our energy grid, pursue a radical climate agenda, and promote foreign adversaries,” DeSantis said. DeSantis signed HB 1645, which “ensures a secure and reliable energy supply in Florida.” Florida rejects the designs of the left to weaken our energy grid, pursue a radical climate agenda, and promote foreign adversaries. pic.twitter.com/Drydhd7XcH — Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 15, 2024 Florida’s Voice reports: The legislation updates various aspects of Florida’s energy policy and how different state departments are to implement their own policies surrounding it. The proposal rescinds a phrase directing the state to address “the potential of global climate change.” The bill also requires the state to study and evaluate the potential technical and economic advantages of using nuclear power technologies. It also prohibits the expansion of certain green energy infrastructure in Florida, including offshore wind energy facilities and certain wind turbines. Some of the bureaucratic revisions include requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to be consistent with the state’s energy policy goals and priorities. It additionally requires rural electric utilities to have at least one mutual aid agreement with another electric utility for purposes of restoring power after a natural disaster. The legislation also encourages the expansion of natural gas resources throughout the state. Unsurprisingly, mainstream media outlets criticized the Republican governor for dismissing the radical climate agenda. Florida Gov. DeSantis erases climate change references from state law before hurricane season https://t.co/r6l47fXhXs — The Palm Beach Post (@pbpost) May 15, 2024 Per The Guardian: Florida is facing rising seas, extreme heat, flooding and increasingly severe storms. The legislation takes effect on 1 July and also boosts expansion of natural gas, reduces regulations on gas pipelines in the state, and increases protections against bans on gas appliances such as stoves, according to a news release from the governor’s office. “This purposeful act of cognitive dissonance is proof that the governor and state legislature are not acting in the best interests of Floridians, but rather to protect profits for the fossil fuel industry,” said Yoca Arditi-Rocha, executive director of the non-profit Cleo Institute, which advocates for climate change education and engagement. “Florida remains heavily dependent on natural gas for power generation, and the science is clear that burning more of it will contribute to climate change, potentially worsening the state’s flooding and heat problems. Overheating ocean waters are fueling stronger hurricanes, and when they hit, rising sea levels make storm surge more destructive,” The Washington Post wrote. “The state’s summers have always been sizzling, but it’s now experiencing more days of extreme heat. Miami had a 34-day run of 90-degree weather last year — its fourth-longest on record,” the outlet added. DeSantis, amid criticism, signs Florida bill making climate change a lesser state priority https://t.co/VS0l9g6EvH — The Associated Press (@AP) May 16, 2024 From The Washington Post: “I’m not in the pews of the church of the global warming leftists. I’m just not,” he said on the 2018 campaign trail. As a presidential candidate, his economic plan called for weakening permitting requirements and ending emissions regulations to speed up oil and gas production. He staged the announcement at an oil rig site in Texas where he described the Biden administration’s climate policies as “part of an agenda to control you and to control our behavior.” He has also taken aim at local efforts to protect people from the effects of climate, signing a law last month that bars cities and counties from writing regulations to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat. This is a growing problem in a state where construction and agriculture are huge industries.

Conservative lawmakers in Florida and Texas won their fight to allow religious chaplains in public schools. Unfortunately, the Satanic Temple wants in on that. The Demons of the Satanic temple say they are not actually Satan worshipers. They are just non-theistic, and claim religion as invading public life. They can’t have it both ways. If […] The post Satan Worshiippers Wants Equal Representation with School Chaplains appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

The man who attacked former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer in 2022 after breaking into their San Francisco home was sentenced to decades behind bars on Friday. The sentencing comes after a federal jury in San Francisco found David DePape guilty in November on one count of assault on the immediate family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement: “David DePape was just sentenced to 30 years in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons for his violent attack on the spouse of the then-Speaker of the House.” A spokesperson for Pelosi said in a statement that the family “couldn’t be prouder of their Pop and his tremendous courage in saving his own life on the night of the attack and in testifying in this case.” “Speaker Pelosi and her family are immensely grateful to all who have sent love and prayers over the last eighteen months, as Mr. Pelosi continues his recovery,” the statement continued. “Given the ongoing state court proceedings, Speaker Pelosi and the Pelosi family will not be offering further comment on this matter at this time.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP A spokesperson for Speaker Pelosi issued this statement on behalf of the Pelosi family: pic.twitter.com/RjbcLb3bDu — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 17, 2024 Prosecutors said DePape broke into the Pelosis’ home in San Francisco with a “violent plan to kidnap Nancy Pelosi,” who was not at the abode at the time, and “to hold her hostage,” according to CNN. Paul Pelosi, who is now 84, managed to call police, and when officers arrived at the house, body camera footage showed DePape attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer before law enforcement took DePape into custody. Paul Pelosi received treatment for a skull fracture, as well as other injuries, and was released from the hospital in early November 2022. He spoke during the trial, sharing details about the harrowing experience and stating, “I’ve made the best effort I possibly can to not relive this.” Daniel Chaitin contributed to this report.