The haunted house in Hinsdale is perhaps the most famous haunted house in New York State. Mysterious history, bizarre sightings, unexplainable events, and a few exorcisms.In September 2009 Florence and Joseph Misnik lived in a haunted house, but they will tell you that the gawkers are more frightening than the ghosts. (Note: Joe passed away on August 21, 2010...Florence died 2 months later)The two-story structure, thought to have been built before the Civil War, is perhaps Western New York's most infamous haunted house.It was the site almost 40 years ago of a highly unusual exorcism by a priest from St. Bonaventure University and has been the subject of a book, a Discovery Channel docudrama, and endless fascination by paranormal enthusiasts.The Misniks have never been afraid of the prospect of ghosts in their presence."We made an agreement with them: You leave us alone, and we'll leave you alone," Joe said.Early on, Flo laid down the ground rules."I went into the middle of the kitchen, and I said, "You can stay here if you want to, but I'm not leaving.'"With the house in desperate need of repairs and the Misniks both in their 80s, some paranormal enthusiasts are now trying to figure out how they might obtain the McMahon Road property and someday create a research center there."There is no paranormal research center in the world that is built on an active site," said Michael Rambacher, a friend of the Misniks' who bills himself as a medium and paranormal investigator. "We'd be able to do the science, we'd be able to do the geology, we'd be able to do the archaeology."In the meantime, the house is simply home to the Misniks.Flo and Joe, as they call themselves, have lived here since 1986.They say they have experienced spirits or supernatural phenomena, the kinds of unexplained events that forced previous residents to leave. But those encounters never scared them. What bothers them are the unexpected visitors who drive up the gravel road at all hours of the day and night for a glimpse of the home."Neither one of us feels threatened," Joe said of the ghosts. "Some of the weirdos who come around here threaten me more than the ghosts.""It's mostly human beings that's the problem," added his wife of 28 years, a retired bus driver. "We call 'em rubberneckers."Flo and Joe had no inkling about the home's colorful history when they moved from Hinman Avenue in Buffalo to the clapboard house set in the lush hills of this small town outside Olean. They fell in love with the house and its eight acres of forested property, which includes a pond full of squawking geese."It's peaceful, serene, quiet," said Flo.There was no evidence of any haunting on a recent afternoon when a Buffalo News reporter visited with the Misniks.Hummingbirds danced at a pair of feeders under a portico, bees swarmed a hive tucked in a second-floor cornice, and a barn cat snoozed on an outdoor swing.Inside, the walls of the living room are filled with framed photographs of children and grandchildren.Joseph Nickell, who has investigated hundreds of alleged haunted houses all over the world, doubts that Misniks' home is any different from the others: None of them has exhibited true evidence of being haunted."I like to say I've been in more haunted places than Casper," said Nickell, who investigates claims of the paranormal and supernatural for Skeptical Inquirer magazine, which is based in Amherst. "There's no scientific evidence whatsoever that ghosts exist. It is all just superstition."When brain function ceases, it stops surely. It doesn't go to a mystical realm."Nonetheless, soon after they settled into the house, Joe Misnik went to register at the local American Legion Post, and upon giving his new address was informed that he lived in a haunted house.The house first became notorious in the 1970s, when Clara and Phil Dandy and their four children lived there.The Dandys allegedly experienced several bizarre episodes — mysterious burns on their bodies, bricks from a crawl space chimney dismantled and placed in the middle of the room, strange chants heard in the nearby woods, and sightings of "energy orbs" — that led them to call upon the Rev. Alphonsus Trabold to try to "de-haunt" the house.The Dandys ultimately left in 1975, and the mother, who is now Clara Miller, wrote a book "Echoes of a Haunting," explaining her experiences in the house.Families that resided there after the Dandys didn't stay long, either, said Rambacher, who lives in Olean.That is, until Flo and Joe. The couple says they don't have the wherewithal to fix up the house, which needs a new roof, windows, and siding. But they have no interest in leaving, either."When we came here, we said the next place we go is in the coffin," said Joe.Flo maintains that she has seen at least one ghost in the house: a man in blue jeans and a plaid shirt with a rifle standing at the end of her bed.She asked the man what he was doing there, and he responded that he didn't know, she said. When she turned around and looked back, she added, he was gone.On numerous occasions, the Misniks said they had heard a "phantom" car in the driveway. They said they heard the sound of a car motor but looked and saw nothing. Sometimes, the smell of cigar smoke wafted through the house, even though neither of them smoked.The encounters are few and far between compared with what the Dandys experienced — in large part because the Misniks are elderly, and thus emit less energy to disturb the spirits, Rambacher said.Rambacher, who conducts ghost tours of the property with the Misniks' permission, is hoping to raise money to pay off their mortgage."We won't live long enough to pay it off," Joe said, estimating that they have seven more years of payments on their land contract.If the mortgage gets paid, the Misniks could then donate the house and land for paranormal research, with assurances that they wouldn't be removed from the property.Rambacher has reached out to the Alex Tanous Foundation in Portland, Maine, and to Timothy Barth, a graduate of St. Bonaventure who teaches a course on parapsychology at Texas Christian University similar to the one taught by Trabold at St. Bonaventure.Tanous, a psychic, visited the house with Trabold in 1974. Both men are now deceased.Barth and a representative from the Tanous Foundation said they were supportive of Rambacher's efforts but weren't sure how much financial backing they could provide."If stuff is really ongoing up there, it could be a real opportunity for someone," said Barth, a professor of psychology at TCU. "These things don't happen on a schedule. To document them, you need something set up 24/7 for an extended period."Despite all the rubbernecking, the Misniks insist there's no place they would rather be. And they would love to be able to fix the place up a bit … so it stays around long after they're gone."There's a lot of history in this house," said Flo. "It would be a shame for it to just disappear."-----The Hinsdale House HauntingIn the 1970's a new family moved into what they believed to be the perfect home. Immediately the strange happenings began. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Fletcher and their four children moved into this 100-year-old house that at one time had been a roadside inn. In the home, there was a supernatural terror that had the family scared for their lives. They turned to exorcism and Fr. Alphonsus Trabold for help. He believed that the Fletcher home was possessed by a supernatural entity.Mrs. Fletcher and the children first noticed a mysterious chanting sound when hiking in the hills near their home, which disappeared 3 weeks later. The phone would ring with no one on the other line, the family heard pounding noises, and money and other things would be displaced or completely disappear. Lights went on and off by themselves, the kitchen stove would turn on and off while cooking dinner, windows opened mysteriously and water faucets would turn on and off by themselves. One of the children heard dragging noises in the attic, only to have Mr. Fletcher check it out and find the chimney dismantled.The family also witnessed things moving by themselves. The Fletchers, along with their friends, also began seeing apparitions, mostly of women dressed in long gowns, both inside and outside the house. Once the family saw several faces looking at them through the window, and when they went outside to check it out, the same faces were looking back at them from inside while the lights flickered on and off. They also witnessed other apparitions of strange animal-like creatures that were not of a known species. According to Fr. Alphonsus, apparitions can be caused by hallucinations or by a psychic force. "If the person is of a stable mind and the apparition is witnessed by others, you can eliminate the possibility of hallucinations," he said.As the strange happenings progressed, the apparitions began leaving physical evidence behind. There would be indentations on chairs and beds when no one had sat on them, and the animal-like apparition jumped into the daughter's lap. Two family friends caught an apparition, that was in the process of disappearing, walking outside the house on film. Fr. Trabold and other priests thought it looked like the figure of a tormented American Indian.After that, the haunting grew violent and the family began fearing for their lives. There was a large family photograph hanging in a room, and once the family found a letter opener suspended over the picture, pointing at one of the girls. It fell to the ground as the family tried to approach it. Another time, a lamp flew across the room at another one of the girls. The Fletchers cleaned up the glass and locked the door to the room, and when they returned sometime later, they found the ace of spades lying in the middle of the floor. Two of the children woke up one morning with strange burn marks all over their bodies.A few days later, the grandmother heard the Fletchers' son Randy's car in the driveway. She looked out the window and saw Randy and a blonde-haired woman drive up to the house and then drive away. Later on that day, the grandmother found out that Randy's car had been in the garage all day and was not in operable condition. A couple days after that, Randy was involved in a near-fatal car accident when apparently his car went out of control and hit a tree. While he was semi-conscious in the hospital, he kept asking about the blonde woman, but she was never found. However, there was evidence of a passenger because the dashboard contained the indentation of a human head. A mechanic could not explain the nature of the car's malfunction. Randy has complete amnesia about the accident.Fr. Trabold performed an exorcism on the house, with family members, researchers, and a film crew present. During the filming of the exorcism, the lights kept flickering. The house was calm for a few weeks, but after the effects of prayer wore off, the strange occurrences began happening again, and the family eventually moved out. - web.sbu.eduEchoes of a Haunting - RevisitedYou Know They're HereThe Journey Of A Wandering SoulGhosts of Buffalo**********PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARYPOLL: WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote & comment on paranormal, cryptid & unexplained mysteries!INSECTOIDS! - OPPRESSIVE ORGANISMS | LIVE CHAT - Join Us! | Q & A (CHILLING EXPERIENCER ACCOUNTS)LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS & MONSTERS REPORTS & CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & SHAREPHANTOMS & MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on SpotifyPHANTOMS & MONSTERS READING LISTCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonJOIN AMAZON PRIME - Unlimited Movie/TV Streaming& FREE 2-Day ShippingRegister a SNAP EBT CardTry Audible PlusBigfoot and Other Cryptid Videos on YouTubeLYCANS! - PENNSYLVANIA'S CRYPTID CANINES UPDATE'KILLER BIGFOOT' HUNTED BY U.S. SPECIAL FORCES / GLIMMER MAN / MANTIS HUMANOIDSCRAWLER HUMANOIDS - GRUESOME INVADERS! (REAL EYEWITNESS ENCOUNTERS!)WEREWOLVES: DO THEY EXIST?'DOGMAN IN OUR YARD!' - AN OHIO FAMILY'S 12-YEAR SAGA WITH CRYPTID CANINESHey, folks. Thanks for the congrats on 'The Mothman Revisited' episode on Unsolved Mysteries. As a result, we are receiving more sighting reports and are very excited and grateful for the new information!I want to sincerely thank the Unsolved Mysteries team and Netflix for allowing us to tell the world about this phenomenon.If you have information about this or any other cryptid or unexplained sighting or encounter, please feel free to contact me by email or at 410-241-5974. Thanks again! LonCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistChicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map----------Become a Phantoms & Monsters Radio member - just $2.99 monthly, and receive these perks. Thanks for your support!-Members-only live chats-Exclusive members-only videos-Priority reply to members' commentsHave perks suggestions? LMK-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS

A bizarre account submitted by a reader has all the trappings of an episode from the 'X-Files.' Please read the report and form your own conclusions. Feel free to write me."Hi, Lon. I really enjoy your Phantom and Monsters website. Especially, lycan/dogmen encounters and BEK reports. I just wanted to relate a strange tale that happened to me and my brother-in-law. If you decide to print this story please do not use my real name. Thanks.I would like to preface this story by saying that I have also sent this letter to David Paulides in case it ties into his 'Missing 411' research. Your recent article on Unexplained Disappearances has prompted me to send this to you also.It is also worth mentioning that I have experienced an unusual amount of paranormal events in my life, some of these events very frightening. I am now 52 years old, and these events happen much less frequently, which I consider a blessing. Usually just small things happen now, like the occasional street light turning off as I approach.For the purpose of this story I am not using my brother-in-law’s real name. I will call him Jack.Please feel free to contact me with any questions, although, this event occurred over 20 years ago and the details are fuzzy.This event took place in November, sometime in the early 1990’s. I had spent a few days alone, hunting deer out at the family cabin located just south of Springville, New York. At the time I did not own a vehicle capable of traversing the snow covered dirt road which led to the cabin. My brother-in-law Jack owned a large 4X4 pick up. He and my sister lived in the area so he was going to swing by the cabin and pick me up. He worked in Buffalo as a diesel mechanic, and was going to drop me off at my parents house nearby.It was about 5am we were driving north on US Route 219. The road was dark and we seemed to be the only vehicle in sight. After a while we could see a the faint light of another vehicle in front of us. As we approached we realized the the vehicle was pulled of on the side of the road. I can’t remember if the cars lights were off, but there was a strange orange glow flickering from within the vehicle. At first I thought the car was on fire. We slowed down to see if we could be of help. I remember slowing down to a crawl, but Jack says we actually pulled over and stopped. We remained in our vehicle. We could not see anyone in or near the car. This was the early 90’s and neither of us had a cell phone, or else we would have called 911. We were not sure what to do. We discussed approaching the car, but I hesitated. After a few seconds I got a bad feeling about this. The orange light did not have the random flicker of a flame, nor did the light have a regular blinking of an emergency lantern/flashlight. This light seemed to have a weird pulsating to it.I convinced Jack to pull away and keep driving. We would pay attention to the news and see if there was any mention of this vehicle or any crime associated with the vehicle. It never made the news, and we went on with our lives.This tale starts to get strange, as two or three months later Jack tells me that he was on his regular early morning commute, when his truck was stopped by a road block on the 219. An officer who was dressed like a detective asked him if he witnessed a car pulled over a couple months back. The officer described the vehicle we had seen, and Jack quickly related to the officer our encounter with this vehicle. The officer then told him to drive on. It seems odd that the officer did not ask him to pull over and try to get further details? Isn’t that the whole point of a road-block, you finally get a witness and then you let them drive away?This story should end there, but an even stranger detail has recently emerged. Not long ago I was talking to Jack, and our encounter with this vehicle came up. We were trying to remember the details, and our accounts differ slightly. I remember the vehicle's driver door being open, he remembers it closed. Then he talked about him being stopped by the road block and wondering why the detective was wearing crazy plaid pants? Now this is a detail he left out the first time he told me that part of the tale. Apparently the officer/detective was wearing loud plaid pants! I know in the 1950’s and 60’s golfers and hunters wore plaid pants. Like I said earlier, the road-block occurred a couple months after we encountered the strange vehicle and hunting season was over. I just can’t imagine why this officer would be wearing plaid pants? Is it an interrogation technique meant to distract the person you are questioning?Now I would not even bother relating this tale, but I think the plaid pants aspect truly brings this encounter into the realm of the high-strange. What was happening inside that car? Did we just miss, or interrupt some sort of abduction event? For the record, Jack is a skeptic, he considers this even to be very odd, but not paranormal in nature. He has never had any interest in the paranormal. I however, have had many brushes with the paranormal and have become quite sensitive to these matters. I hope there is something here you find of value in your own research." DNOTE: An oddity that creeps into an already strange event, seems like a story made for an episode of 'The X-Files' or another fringe TV program. I don't have an explanation to offer the witness, but I would like to receive your bizarre stories so the readers can present their thoughts. LonThe Big Breakthrough: Confronting UFOs, Men in Black, Mothman, and Mysterious Humanoids - Trojan Horses of a Breakaway Civilization?Strange Secrets: Real Government Files on the UnknownLife After Death: An Analysis of the EvidenceThe Djinn Connection: The Hidden Links Between Djinn, Shadow People, ETs, Nephilim, Archons, Reptilians and Other EntitiesWeird New York: Your Guide to New York's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets**********PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARYPOLL: WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote & comment on paranormal, cryptid & unexplained mysteries!INSECTOIDS! - OPPRESSIVE ORGANISMS | LIVE CHAT - Join Us! | Q & A (CHILLING EXPERIENCER ACCOUNTS)LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS & MONSTERS REPORTS & CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & SHAREPHANTOMS & MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on SpotifyPHANTOMS & MONSTERS READING LISTCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonJOIN AMAZON PRIME - Unlimited Movie/TV Streaming& FREE 2-Day ShippingRegister a SNAP EBT CardTry Audible PlusBigfoot and Other Cryptid Videos on YouTubeLYCANS! - PENNSYLVANIA'S CRYPTID CANINES UPDATE'KILLER BIGFOOT' HUNTED BY U.S. SPECIAL FORCES / GLIMMER MAN / MANTIS HUMANOIDSCRAWLER HUMANOIDS - GRUESOME INVADERS! (REAL EYEWITNESS ENCOUNTERS!)WEREWOLVES: DO THEY EXIST?'DOGMAN IN OUR YARD!' - AN OHIO FAMILY'S 12-YEAR SAGA WITH CRYPTID CANINESHey, folks. Thanks for the congrats on 'The Mothman Revisited' episode on Unsolved Mysteries. As a result, we are receiving more sighting reports and are very excited and grateful for the new information!I want to sincerely thank the Unsolved Mysteries team and Netflix for allowing us to tell the world about this phenomenon.If you have information about this or any other cryptid or unexplained sighting or encounter, please feel free to contact me by email or at 410-241-5974. Thanks again! LonCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistChicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map----------Become a Phantoms & Monsters Radio member - just $2.99 monthly, and receive these perks. Thanks for your support!-Members-only live chats-Exclusive members-only videos-Priority reply to members' commentsHave perks suggestions? LMK-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS

A tall, yellow-eyed, smooth-skinned silver-colored humanoid was reported by at least two experiencers. Was this an illusion, or was this an alien being? What do you think?I received the following account:“Hello. I woke up extremely early one day, around 6 am. I rose my head up from the pillow and walking by my open bedroom door I saw what I now call the 'Silverman.' He was tall, at least 6 feet, with long arms, no discernible body features, yellow eyes, and was entirely silver. When I say no discernible features I mean he had no joints, no facial features, no creases, no wrinkles, entirely smooth. His head was connected by a neck that widened out slightly like a peanut. He didn’t have a chin. No overhanging hinges or body parts. No hair.As he walked by he was slouched heavily. Despite how tall and heavy he looked to me he only made soft footsteps. As he walked past and left my vision I heard his footsteps continue for only a few more steps before I never heard him again. I basically forgot about this in a few days and chalked it up to being tired.Today my friend told me about a creepy thing that happened to him and he reminded me of the Silverman. We both tried figuring out if anyone else had seen a Silverman. There was one story from Great Britain.An engineer was coming home one day from work when he saw a tall silver humanoid walking down a hill. He said it was slouching so greatly and walking so fast that a human would just fall over. When it got to the street where the engineer then slammed his brakes, they stared at each other. The silver humanoid had yellow eyes. After a while, the humanoid shot an “energy beam” from its eyes and paralyzed the engineer in his car. He said he lost all sense of time after that. When he returned to reality his fingers were burnt and the silver humanoid broke the gaze they held. The being then walked to a fence and melted through the other side. The engineer sped home and realized it was after midnight. When his wife asked what happened he said he saw the 'Silverman.'I have no clue if we saw the same Silverman, but one thing is clear. Something about him is masculine. I really want to know if anyone else has seen the Silverman.” E**********PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARYPOLL: WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote & comment on paranormal, cryptid & unexplained mysteries!INSECTOIDS! - OPPRESSIVE ORGANISMS | LIVE CHAT - Join Us! | Q & A (CHILLING EXPERIENCER ACCOUNTS)LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS & MONSTERS REPORTS & CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & SHAREPHANTOMS & MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on SpotifyPHANTOMS & MONSTERS READING LISTCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonJOIN AMAZON PRIME - Unlimited Movie/TV Streaming& FREE 2-Day ShippingRegister a SNAP EBT CardTry Audible PlusBigfoot and Other Cryptid Videos on YouTubeLYCANS! - PENNSYLVANIA'S CRYPTID CANINES UPDATE'KILLER BIGFOOT' HUNTED BY U.S. SPECIAL FORCES / GLIMMER MAN / MANTIS HUMANOIDSCRAWLER HUMANOIDS - GRUESOME INVADERS! (REAL EYEWITNESS ENCOUNTERS!)WEREWOLVES: DO THEY EXIST?'DOGMAN IN OUR YARD!' - AN OHIO FAMILY'S 12-YEAR SAGA WITH CRYPTID CANINESHey, folks. Thanks for the congrats on 'The Mothman Revisited' episode on Unsolved Mysteries. As a result, we are receiving more sighting reports and are very excited and grateful for the new information!I want to sincerely thank the Unsolved Mysteries team and Netflix for allowing us to tell the world about this phenomenon.If you have information about this or any other cryptid or unexplained sighting or encounter, please feel free to contact me by email or at 410-241-5974. Thanks again! LonCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistChicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map----------Become a Phantoms & Monsters Radio member - just $2.99 monthly, and receive these perks. Thanks for your support!-Members-only live chats-Exclusive members-only videos-Priority reply to members' commentsHave perks suggestions? LMK-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—An election watchdog group is looking for Americans who think they’ve been defrauded by the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue. The recently founded Fair Election Fund announced on Friday a $50,000 digital ad buy publicizing its investigation into ActBlue and the Kamala Harris presidential campaign for potential donor fraud. The ad will air in seven battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.  The ad states: “If the Democrats’ fundraising numbers sound outrageous … unbelievable … it’s because they might be. “Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue has been accused of stealing our identities to conceal donations from bad actors. “If your identity was stolen or you know more, call us.” The Fair Election Fund’s online ad (The Fair Election Fund) ActBlue has faced numerous allegations that its platform may enable fraud. The Fair Election Fund says it has found more than 60,000 potential discrepancies in donations made to President Joe Biden and to Harris’ campaign through ActBlue.  ActBlue has raised billions of dollars for Democrats since 2004, according to the platform’s website. In June, the Fair Election Fund awarded $50,000 in bounties to whistleblowers with firsthand knowledge of voter fraud or election administration issues in Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia, and North Carolina.  It also spent more than $375,000 criticizing three Democrats on the North Carolina State Board of Elections who refused to certify ballot access for liberal activist Cornel West’s independent presidential campaign. ActBlue is also under investigation by the congressional Committee on House Administration. Its chairman Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., announced at the beginning of the month that the committee is reviewing ActBlue’s online political-donation operation. State attorneys general from Virginia, Wyoming, and Missouri are conducting similar investigations into the left-wing fundraising platform.  ActBlue did not immediately respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. This article will be updated with any response. The post Think You’ve Been Defrauded by ActBlue? Election Watchdog Wants to Hear From You. appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Gov. Newsom Signs Retail Crime Bills Designed to Prevent Rollback of Prop. 47

Confirmed: Kamanomics a Rehash of Bidenomics With 30% More Media Joy

Former President Donald Trump will resume his outdoor rallies after the Secret Service made an exception for him to be protected by bulletproof glass, according to multiple reports. The Secret Service plans to surround Trump's podium with bulletproof glass, two federal law enforcement officials told CBS News. Citing "multiple sources," ABC News confirmed the report of the Secret Service utilizing bulletproof glass to protect the former president.'This isn't just a piece of glass but a large, bulky, and heavy armored glass that will require extensive logistics capability, normally reserved for large-scale outdoor events.'The Secret Service declined to comment on the report to both news outlets. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told ABC News that the campaign does not comment on security measures relating to former President Trump.The security measure is typically reserved for protecting sitting presidents. However, the Secret Service is making an exception for Trump following the assassination attempt against him during his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The use of ballistic glass was first proposed by former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle shortly after the assassination attempt but before her resignation from the agency. Retired senior Secret Service agent Don Mihalek told ABC News, "The Secret Service use of UpArmored glass around former President Trump is another step to ensure the campaign is and remains secure. This isn't just a piece of glass but a large, bulky, and heavy armored glass that will require extensive logistics capability, normally reserved for large-scale outdoor events."The assassination attempt against Trump was the first attempted assassination of a presidential candidate since George Wallace in March 1972. Wallace was shot four times and paralyzed from the waist down from the shooting in Laurel, Maryland. Following the shooting, the Secret Service reportedly urged Trump not to hold any outdoor rallies ahead of the 2024 presidential election. On July 23, NBC News reported that Trump planned to stop holding outdoor rallies, according to two sources familiar with his campaign’s operations.Since the July 13 assassination attempt, Trump has held nearly a dozen campaign events; all of them have been held indoors.On July 31, Trump said he isn't "giving up on the outdoor rallies" during a campaign rally at an indoor arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. "They'd prefer that we be in an arena. I don't know why. But we're not giving up the outdoor rallies," Trump told the crowd. "You know, all those people that we had to turn away today, at an outdoor rally you can have."Weeks before the Butler shooting, there were reportedly intelligence reports that Iran was plotting an assassination attempt against Trump, allegedly prompting the Secret Service to beef up security around the former president. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

In yet another blow to the media narrative formed after the events of July 13, photo evidence reveals someone resembling the Trump shooter openly carrying a long gun at Trump’s Butler rally. The photo was posted to X by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who claims to have received the photo from someone in law enforcement. “The question becomes ‘How in your face was this guy that he was able to just literally carry a rifle around the perimeter, get up on the roof?’” Sara Gonzales of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered” asks. “You saw him, you took pictures of him, he tried to go through the metal detectors, and he had a range finder and you guys were like, ‘He’s probably just trying to golf,’” she says. “‘It’s not technically a device that’s not allowed, so we won’t detain him, we’ll just let him go. In fact, we’ll just lose total sight of him.’” “He’s just walking around with a rifle slung around his shoulder like, ‘Nothing to see here,’” she adds in disbelief. Blaze contributor Jaco Booyens found something else off. “What was very interesting to me was the bodycam footage of the cop,” Booyens says. “That tells a story where you go, okay, can anyone of y’all maybe radio the former commander in chief and say, ‘Bro don’t go on stage’?” “That’s what still doesn’t make sense. Why was he allowed to go on stage?” Gonzales agrees. “I don’t even need to see that picture to be convinced that something nefarious was going on,” Chad Prather, host of "The Chad Prather Show,” adds. “It’s like the Secret Service were at Butler, PA,” he continues, “like all right, the president’s over there, we got the crowd over here, we got these people over the cameras, the news media is over here, we got an assassin on the roof, everything looks great.”Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

A once defiant Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey abandoned his re-election campaign weeks after being convicted on bribery and corruption charges. Menendez, a once powerful figure in the Democratic Party, had said he would run as an independent to try to continue on in the U.S. Senate. 'Menendez is really a senator for Egypt, not New Jersey.' On Friday, those dreams died. "By means of this email please be advised that as an Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in this November's election I am advising you that I wish to have my name withdrawn from the ballot," read a message from the senator to the New Jersey Division of Elections. The news came hours after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, announced the replacement for Menendez in the Senate until a winner in the election can be determined in November. “George [Helmy] is the model of integrity we need to help restore public trust in our state’s leadership," wrote Murphy. Prosecutors said that Menendez and his wife received lavish gifts, including expensive watches and a luxury car in exchange for political influence. Officials raided his home and found bars of gold and nearly half a million dollars in cash. Menendez said in March that he would run as an independent after his Democratic colleagues began demanding he resign from the Senate. Among the Democrats most outspoken against Menendez was Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman. "He needs to go," said Fetterman. "Menendez is really a senator for Egypt, not New Jersey." In July, Menendez resigned and implied that he did so in order to help his chances of appealing the conviction. Some of the charges against Menendez carry a sentence of up to 20 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 29. Once Helmy is appointed, he will become the only Arab-American senator in the current session of Congress. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday afternoon where she was slated to outline her economic proposals as the Democratic presidential candidate.During her speech, the current sitting vice president proceeded to list several guarantees she pledged to deliver if elected to higher office, namely "building up the middle class" by lowering the cost of living, which the Biden-Harris administration has failed to accomplish despite holding office over the past several years. Harris provided only a few details on how her administration plans to achieve her new economic plan.'Opportunity economy.'"By virtually every measure, our economy is the strongest in the world," Harris claimed while vowing to be "laser-focused on creating opportunities for the middle class.""Together, we will build what I call an opportunity economy," Harris declared. "When the middle class is strong, American is strong."Harris explained that she would reveal a more detailed economic strategy in the coming weeks, which she promised would prioritize "lowering the cost of living," including food, housing, and medical care.After claiming to have the "strongest" economy in the world, Harris then admitted that the price of bread at the grocery store today is 50% higher than "before the pandemic" — when former President Donald Trump was in office. However, Harris blamed the inflated costs on some grocery chains that overcharge consumers."As president, I will go after the bad actors," Harris said. "And I will work to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food. My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules. And we will support smaller food businesses that are trying to play by the rules and get ahead.""We will help the food industry become more competitive because I believe competition is the lifeblood of our economy," she continued. "More competition means lower prices for you and your families."Throughout her speech, Harris took swipes at Trump, claiming that his economic strategy would increase costs for Americans and accusing him of offering "no serious plans" to reduce the cost of living for middle-class Americans.Harris touted the Biden-Harris administration for lowering medical costs on prescription drugs and insulin for seniors, promising to expand similar savings to everyone and further lower health care expenses. Additionally, she said she plans to "cancel" medical debt.The vice president blamed the high real estate prices on a housing shortage and vowed to "cut red tape" at state and local levels to build 3 million new homes and rentals for middle-class Americans within her first term. Harris also promised $25,000 to help first-time homebuyers cover down-payment costs. Additionally, she said she would back legislation that would crack down on investors artificially inflating housing costs.According to Harris, her economic strategy would allow Americans to "keep more of your hard-earned money," including the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. She pledged to expand the latter to give families $6,000 in tax relief for the first year of a child's life."We will do this while reducing the deficit," Harris proclaimed. The first presidential debate between Harris and Trump is scheduled for September 10 at 9 p.m. Eastern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!