26-year-old Luigi Mangione has been identified as the individual in custody accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, has received grassroot support from over 100 members of the military community, who are planning to march in support on the day of his confirmation hearing.

Lara Trump announced on X that she would be stepping down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), explaining that during her time in her role, the RNC had three distinct goals and they have all now been accomplished. 

Just what you want to see in your child’s Christmas movie: no angels, no God, no fairies, no Natalie Wood, no bells tolling and miracles, just an unfunny movie about a demon convincing a 10-year-old boy named Liam to sell his soul. Liam writes a Dear Santa letter but makes an unfortunate spelling mistake and […] The post In Time for Christmas! A Movie of a Boy Selling His Soul to Satan appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

There will be riots in New York City tonight. Neely’s reportedly absentee father and BLM are responsible. Adams better do his job and protect New Yorkers. “What are we going to do, People? What’s going to happen to us now? The system is rigged. Let’s do something about it,” said Neely’s father. Jordan Neely’s father […] The post “Oppressed” BLM Calls for Riots & Vigilantes in NYC appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

The Daniel Penny verdict has been met with threats by at least one high-profile activist hoping he would be convicted of killing Jordan Neely, who was threatening people on a New York City subway train last year. After Penny was found not guilty of the criminally negligent homicide of Neely, the founder of Black Lives Matter (BLM) of Greater New York, Hawk Newsome, called on black people to attack white people in the city. “We need some black vigilantes,” Newsome said during a press conference. “People wanna jump up and choke us and kill us for being loud? How about we do the same when they attempt to oppress us.” “We need some black vigilantes!” New York BLM leader Hawk Newsome after Daniel Penny’s acquittal.pic.twitter.com/lsz5QCphhn — Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) December 9, 2024 The trial has also inspired vandalism. Last week, law enforcement said that nine suspects who boarded the northbound F train at the Neptune Avenue station around 4:24 a.m. allegedly plastered the interior of the car with messages that said: “A man was lynched here,” according to AMNY. The statements are believed to be a reference to Neely, who died after Penny subdued him in a chokehold to keep him from hurting other passengers. While Neely’s official cause of death is asphyxiation, Dr. Satish Chundru, a forensic pathologist, testified for the defense that Penny’s chokehold did not result in Neely’s death. “In your opinion, did Mr. Penny choke Mr. Neely to death?” Steven Raiser, one of Penny’s defense attorneys, asked Chundru on the stand. “No,” Chundru replied, “The chokehold did not cause death.” Chundru also testified that Neely’s death was the result of “the combined effects of sickle cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana,” Fox News reported. He said that someone high on synthetic marijuana with schizophrenia can die while involved in a struggle, even without a chokehold being used. Chundru went on to say that even if Neely hadn’t had those other health factors, he still would not have died from Penny’s chokehold. CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Chundru said he ruled the chokehold out as the cause of death because there were other factors, and he pointed out discrepancies in Neely’s records. He said that Neely’s medical records were inconsistent when it came to bruising on his neck and stated there were “almost negligible” tiny bleeding spots on his eyelids. Chundru said these discrepancies were not consistent with a fatal chokehold, the New York Post reported at the time. Jurors deliberated most of last week on whether Penny was responsible for “recklessly” causing the death of Neely as part of a charge of manslaughter in the second degree. On Friday, they told Judge Maxwell Wiley that they could not come to a unanimous decision on that count of the indictment, so Wiley allowed Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran to drop the charge and allow the jury to deliberate on a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. When the jury returned on Monday to deliberate the lesser charge, it took them less than an hour to find Penny not guilty.

Many viewers were not laughing at the Weekend Update bit on the most recent episode of “Saturday Night Live” as it made jokes about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Saturday night’s episode of the sketch comedy show included hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che making a few jokes about the circumstances surrounding Thompson’s death on December 4, including the NYPD’s search for the shooter and reactions to the exec’s assassination. “This week, New York City officials sent a tough message on crime,” Jost said, mocking law enforcement for not having a suspect in custody yet. “‘If you shoot somebody in the middle of the street, you better get on your bike, hop on a bus, and get the heck out of here, mister.'” “The manhunt continues for the assassin who gunned down the CEO of UnitedHealthcare on Wednesday,” Jost went on. “And it really says something about America that a guy was murdered in cold blood and the two main reactions were, ‘Yeah, well, healthcare stinks!’ And also, ‘Girl, that shooter hot.'” CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Jost also mentioned the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, which happened the same day Thompson was murdered. “It’s also so crazy that the shooting happened three blocks from here in broad daylight, and the guy just bicycled away. Probably because they have every cop in the city guarding our Christmas tree,” he said. “The NYPD now believes the suspect left the city on a bus from Port Authority. Thanks, but a Port Authority passenger who looks like a murderer actually widens the search,” Jost went on. “New York City police say that they were able to get the smiling picture of the suspect after the man apparently was caught on camera at a local hostel, flirting with a female employee, whose name has been reported as ‘Lucky S. Bechalive,'” Che said. Reactions to the bit have been mixed, with many saying the bit was in poor taste as Thompson was a husband and father to two young sons. “Long time viewer of SNL. I don’t consider myself particularly [sensitive] to any topic, but in today’s Weekend Update edition they made jokes about the United Health CEO gunned down in NYC. That was really distasteful and disrespectful. SNL, you need to do better,” one X user wrote. “Disgusting. I couldn’t watch this segment. The victim’s family and friends are very much grieving right now,” one commenter wrote in response to a YouTube clip of the segment.  “Agreed,” said another. “I don’t usually watch SNL, and I can see by the segment and comments supporting it, that I will no longer be watching it. Joking about someone’s murder like that is absolutely disgusting… a family is grieving right now.” Thompson was gunned down last Wednesday morning by a masked assassin. Some people on social media openly celebrated the CEO’s death as they insisted it was retribution for corruption and greed in the healthcare industry. On Monday, police arrested Luigi Mangione at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s on firearms charges. Law enforcement described him as “a strong person of interest” in connection with the murder.  

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny identified the man arrested in connection with the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday after an employee at the fast-food chain tipped off local police. Mangione is from Maryland and has ties to San Francisco, Kenny said at a press conference. Police believe he attended college in Pennsylvania and most recently lived in Honolulu. The person of interest presented fake IDs to police and was found in possession of what appeared to be a homemade firearm and a suppressor, according to authorities. According to Kenny, the gun found on the person of interest was capable of shooting a 9mm round and could have been made with a 3-D printer. Mangione is facing a firearm charge in Pennsylvania. A manifesto was also found on Mangione’s person after his arrest. Kenny did not go into detail on what was written in the manifesto, but he said, “It does seem he has some ill will toward corporate America.” Mangione has no criminal record in New York, according to authorities. Mangione reportedly showed police officers the same fake New Jersey ID used by a person of interest in the case who checked into a Manhattan hostel on November 24 — just 10 days before Thompson was gunned down. An X account under the name Luigi Mangione indicates that he received an Ivy League degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. The X account has skyrocketed in followers since Mangione was identified, going from 131 followers to nearly 40,000 within hours. Mangione attended the Gilman School, an upscale prep school in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was valedictorian of his 2016 graduating class, the New York Post reported. On his Goodreads account, Mangione reportedly liked quotes from “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski. The Post reported that law enforcement sources said Mangione has subscribed to anti-capitalist and climate change causes. Law enforcement sources told The New York Times that Mangione’s manifesto rages against health insurance companies. Thompson’s company, UnitedHealthcare, is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, the largest health insurance company in the world. Thompson, 50, was gunned down by an assassin last Wednesday as he was making his way to the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan for an Investor’s Conference. CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Responding to Mangione’s arrest, a UnitedHealthcare spokesman said in a statement, “Our hope is that today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy. We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation. We ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy as they mourn.”

While many of these Republicans supported Biden's cabinet confirmations, they now seem tentative about Trump's selections.