DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Six House Democrats voted in favor of a resolution condemning President Joe Biden’s administration and Vice President Kamala Harris for their “failure to secure the United States border” on Thursday. HR 1371 was introduced by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to formally condemn “Border Czar” Harris’ immigration policy after she was tasked with reducing illegal immigration over the southern border early in the Biden administration. The resolution passed the House with 196 Democrats voting against it and six Democrats joining 214 Republicans in favor of it. By every metric, Kamala Harris has failed to secure our borders, instead advancing Far Left Democrats’ failed open border policies and the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of Americans. My resolution condemns Kamala Harris’ role as Joe Biden‘s open border czar and… pic.twitter.com/Uzzn54N7Yq— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) July 25, 2024 Democratic Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Mary Sattler Peltola of Alaska, Jared Golden of Maine, Donald Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Yadira Caraveo of Colorado voted in favor of the resolution. The resolution was co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Neal Dunn of Florida, Greg Lopez of Colorado, and Mike Bost of Illinois. “Kamala Harris, every elected Democrat, and their stenographers in the mainstream media will run from their record, but they can’t hide,” Stefanik said in a post on X. “House Republicans will hold Kamala Harris accountable for her role as Biden’s Border Czar leading to the most catastrophic border crisis in modern history.” The Biden-Harris administration has overseen record influxes of illegal immigration. Since Biden took office, Customs and Border Protection has encountered nearly 8 million migrants, with over 83,000 encounters between ports of entry along the southern border in June alone, according to CBP data. During former President Donald Trump’s term, every month saw fewer encounters on the southern border compared to June 2024 numbers, with some exceptions in fiscal year 2019, according to CBP data. The House resolution highlights Harris’ dismal immigration track record, pointing out that it took the “Border Czar” over 90 days on the job before she finally made her way to the southern border on June 25, 2021. The resolution also pointed out the surges in violent crime that have occurred due to the illegal immigration that has taken place under Harris’ watch. The resolution brought attention to innocent Americans like Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray, and Rachel Morin. All three women were allegedly murdered by illegal immigrants. “Kamala Harris failed as Border czar leading to violent crimes, rapes, and murders of innocent Americans,” Stefanik said in a statement on X. “We will hold her and Far Left Democrats accountable.” Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post 6 Dems Vote in Favor of Resolution Bashing Biden and ‘Border Czar’ Harris’ Failures appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. Canada’s standard of living is on track for its worst decline in 40 years, according to a new study by Canada’s Fraser Institute. The study compared the three worst periods of decline in Canada in the last 40 years—1989, 2008, and today. They found that unlike the previous recessions, Canada is not recovering this time. Something broke. In fact, according to the Financial Post, since 2019, Canada’s had the worst growth out of 50 developed economies. On the ground, that means inflation-adjusted Canadian wages have been flat since 2016. So, yes, something broke. And it’s nowhere near over: Canada’s per-person real gross domestic product is still falling, and with a looming U.S. recession—the U.S. takes 75% of Canada’s exports—Canada could crash again before it ever recovered. In previous videos I’ve talked about the disaster that is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Canada. In short, incomes are West Virginia level, house prices are Los Angeles level, and Canadian taxes are halfway to the Soviet Union. It’s not rare for a middle-class family in Canada to pay half their income in taxes. Meanwhile, since the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s official food inflation is up 25% and energy is up 30%— partly thanks to a carbon tax. And keep in mind, the sales tax in most Canadian provinces is 13% to 15% on everything you buy. Canadians post TikToks about trying to stretch a loaf of rye bread through the week or selling off their possessions to afford groceries. The cost of living is hitting harder with time. Canadian bankruptcy filings jumped 40% last year, while the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reports nearly half of Canadians have zero emergency savings. Statistics Canada reports the country’s violent crime rate is up 40% since 2014. An Ipsos poll found 7 in 10 Canadians agree that “Canada is broken”—rising to 8 in 10 ofthose between ages 18 and 34. The Angus Reid Institute found fully 42% of Canadians are considering moving to another country. This is all a shock because it happened so fast. It’s night and day from the last crisis in 2008, which Canada weathered much better than America. What changed? Trudeau. Specifically, his campaign to convert Canada from a mixed economy like the U.S. into a government-dominated economy like the sick men of the European Union. Under Trudeau, business investment plunged by a third while government spending nearly doubled to almost half of GDP. Government workers in Canada are growing almost four times faster than the private sector, and 1 in 3 Canadians now work for the government, raking in 30% more in salary and benefits than the taxpayers they lord over. Another 1.7 million Canadians—roughly 1 in 10 households—are on welfare. Of course, that makes it very difficult to win an election in Canada on a small-government platform: You’re up against the government-provided livelihoods of 40% of voters. Meaning, you’ve got to win some 80% of everybody else. Near-term, things will get worse because Canadians are stuck with Trudeau through the next election in 2025. Conservative Pierre Poilievre is ahead in the polls for now, but Canada’s government-funded media is doing everything they can to destroy him, so the lead’s already narrowing. That means more inflation, more decline, more mass migration, and rising crime in what was once a paradise. Read the full article with charts and all the gory details at profstonge.com. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Canada’s Standard of Living, Economy Is Suffering Downturn. Blame Trudeau. appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Democratic Party elites have all but coronated Vice President Kamala Harris as their new presidential nominee, after pushing President Joe Biden out of his own reelection campaign. But even so-called mainstream media outlets warn that she may not succeed against former President Donald Trump. A recent New York Times analysis piece ranked Harris as the least likely to beat Trump out of a slate of 10 Democratic stars and stalwarts. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was rated as the most likely Democrat candidate to beat Trump, followed by Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Harris, meanwhile, was rated as the riskiest choice to oppose Trump and a less exciting candidate for the Democratic base than Whitmer, Kelly, Shapiro, or Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Eight NYT writers and contributors were asked to assess the potential nominees. Left-wing journalist Ross Barkan noted that Harris has “a feeble electoral track record—she struggled badly in 2020 and barely, before then, won her first attorney general race in California.” But he observed that the backing of a unified Democratic Party may give Harris a potential boost in voter enthusiasm. Ex-Republican Josh Barro wrote that Harris “has no demonstrated appeal to swing voters, and she cannot run away from the Biden-Harris record on inflation and immigration. Her best arguments are that she’s not old and she’s not Trump.” However, Barro anticipated that those two qualities may appeal to Democratic voters. Ross Douthat, a contributing editor at National Review, summarized Harris by saying: “A mediocre politician from a deep-blue state with low national approval ratings, she may find a way to win, but she would be nobody’s top choice were she not the top choice of the president. Relief at Biden’s exit will generate a lot of professed enthusiasm, but it will be fake.” Pamela Paul, former editor of The New York Times Book Review, called Harris “one of the weakest elements of [Biden’s] administration” and “a fundamentally weak candidate.” “She fizzled out early in her first presidential run and floundered in the vice presidency,” Paul said. A YouGov poll published Sunday found that Harris’ popularity as a nominee is low, even within her own party. Overall, a mere 37% of American voters responded that Harris should be the Democratic Party’s nominee. Among Democrats, 60% said they supported Harris as their nominee, with a total of 40% either opposed to her or unsure of her. A paltry 30% of independent voters said they approved of Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee, while 36% wanted “someone else,” and 34% were “not sure.” Numerous other polls have shown that, even bolstered by what Trump team pollster Tony Fabrizio called the “Harris Honeymoon” polling bump, the vice president is trailing behind the Republican nominee. A Morning Consult survey showed Trump leading Harris by two percentage points (47% to 45%) nationally. A Quinnipiac poll found similar numbers, with Trump leading Harris 49% to 47%. However, Trump’s lead over Harris is even more commanding among independent voters: 55% to 41%. Even among young voters (ages 18 to 34), Trump leads Harris by nearly 20 points, according to Quinnipiac. This despite the vice president’s inundating the internet with TikTok and Instagram videos of herself dancing at political events in what Axios called an effort to appeal to Gen Z voters. Prior to Biden’s abandoning the presidential race, a Harris X poll found that Trump had a nine-point lead over Harris (50% to 41%) in a then-hypothetical head-to-head contest. Furthermore, polls indicate that Harris will have particular difficulty in battleground states. Prior to Biden’s dropping out of the race, but clearly anticipating the event, Emerson College asked swing state voters whether Harris “has earned the right to be the next Democratic nominee for president.” A clear majority of voters responded “no” in Arizona (58%), Georgia (58.6%), Michigan (57.3%), Nevada (54.1%), North Carolina (56.9%), Pennsylvania (56.7%), and Wisconsin (58.2%). Another Emerson College survey found that while Trump polled 46% to 43% against Biden nationally, he polled 49% to 43% against Harris in a then-hypothetical matchup. The Democratic political action committee Clean and Prosperous America also found in a series of polls that Trump is leading Harris across swing states. The former president leads the vice president by six points (46% to 40%) in Arizona, five points (46% to 41%) in Michigan, two points (45% to 43%) in Pennsylvania, and four points (48% to 44%) in North Carolina. According to the Washington Examiner, Keystone State Democrats are disappointed with Harris as the party’s likely nominee. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., criticized party elites for betraying Biden, even as Shapiro, the governor, offered Harris his full support and endorsement. The Washington Examiner reported that T.J. Rooney, former chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said that “if you thought Hillary Clinton had problems connecting with the all-important smaller Pennsylvania counties in 2016—the ones such as Erie that ultimately cost her the election—Harris, because of her views on fossil fuels, will struggle even more so.” Rooney explained that Harris’s “worldview,” especially her position on fracking, will negatively affect her chances in the crucial battleground state. Keystone College political science professor Jeff Brauer said that with Harris replacing Biden at the top of the ticket, “the chances for Democrats in this all-critical state certainly diminish.” He explained that Harris’s policies are “too liberal” and that if she is the nominee, then Pennsylvania will be an even more difficult win for Democrats. According to The Hill, swing state Democrats are also concerned that Harris’ demonstrably liberal policies could hurt Democratic candidates in contentious states and districts. “Democratic senators had worried that lack of voter enthusiasm for Biden would hurt Democratic turnout in Senate battleground states,” The Hill wrote. “Democrats don’t know for sure whether Harris as their nominee for president will drive minority and young voters to the polls in significantly higher numbers than Biden would have in November.” The Trump campaign has already started hammering Harris on her left-wing policies and positions. A recent spate of ads labels the vice president as “Weak. Failed. Dangerously liberal.” Particular emphasis is laid on Harris’s failure to secure the nation’s southern border after being named Biden’s “border czar” in 2021. “I think she is going to be, hopefully, frankly for this country, I think similar things are going to happen to her that happened to her before,” Trump told reporters Tuesday during a conference call, referring to Harris’ failed attempt to secure the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2019. “So, if she campaigns that way now, and this is only going to be tougher—although she does have a lot of support from the fake news, there’s no question about that—but if she campaigns the way she campaigned then, I suspect she won’t be too tough,” Trump said. The former president also observed that Harris is “the same as Biden but much more radical.” “This country doesn’t want a radical left person to destroy it,” Trump said. “She’s far more open borders than he is. She wants things that nobody wants. … Take a look at San Francisco now compared to before she became the district attorney, and you see what she’ll do to our country.” Trump added: “I think she’ll be easier than Biden because he was slightly more mainstream, but not by much.” Originally published by The Washington Stand The post Likely Harris Nomination Dampens Enthusiasm of Swing State Dems appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Emerson: The Swing-State Impact of the Harris Anointment Is ...

Forbes Media Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes hammered Vice President Kamala Harris for espousing anti-energy and economically destructive policies.  On the June 24 edition of Fox Business’s The Bottom Line, Forbes panned Harris’s record and rhetoric. “[S]he says, ‘Ooh, I'm for the middle class,’ yet she pursues policies that will ruin the middle class and prevent low-income people from achieving middle-class status,” Forbes said. “Small businesses can’t afford these regulations so guess what? They go out of business,” he said, before referring to Harris’s positions on energy, taxation, spending and health care. Forbes told Fox Business’s host Jackie DeAngelis and Fox News Contributor Guy Benson that Harris’ record “gets worse when you dig into it.” Forbes added, “As I alluded to, she wants to ban fracking, so energy costs are going to go up, which means the American economy is gonna do worse. The world situation is going to do worse as we become more dependent on nice places like Russia. She wants substantial tax increases and on the health care side, it’s not just money, it’s gonna hurt people's health care." Forbes went on to bash countries with socialized medicine.  Forbes listed several reasons why Harris would “ruin the middle class.” One key reason was her support for policies that would radically increase the cost of energy.    The New York Times noted on Monday that Harris opposes fracking, a popular form of energy extraction. She also supported the enactment of a carbon tax, was an original sponsor of the “Green New Deal” and used her office as California attorney general to fight offshore fracking. During her failed 2020 Democratic campaign for president, Harris endorsed a number of anti-business policies such as raising the corporate income tax from 21% to 35% and taxing stock trades. As noted by a graphic during the Bottom Line segment, she also supported increasing the estate tax. Beyond Harris’s bad ideas, she is a key figure in an administration with an appalling economic record. President Joe Biden and Harris have presided over zero growth in real wages since January 2021 when they took office. The infamous duo also led the country during a drastic increase in mortgage rates, which rose from 2.8% the day Biden was inaugurated to 7.0% on July 3, 2021. That is a 151% increase. At the same time, Americans’ savings have been devastated as the average gas price has risen by over a dollar and the country has suffered through 5.4% average monthly inflation. Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News at (818) 460-7477, CBS News at (212) 975-3247 and NBC News at (212) 664-6192 and demand they tell the truth about Kamala Harris’ radical rhetoric on energy and the economy.

What is amusing and simultaneously contributes to the cynicism some feel about politics is how many Democrats claimed until recently that President Biden was a different man in private than the mumbling, stumbling man everyone could hear and see in public. These include Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden apparently forgot to endorse in his withdrawal statement and then quickly tweeted his support of her as his successor. Harris should be asked about that contradiction and whether she lied about Biden’s fitness. Biden and other Democrats have been saying former president Donald Trump would be “a threat to democracy” should he win another term, but how democratic is it to potentially deny the choice of Democrat voters who selected him as their party’s nominee should they decide to do so at their convention next month? Biden and Trump traded accusations Sunday, each calling each other the worst president in history. Speaker Mike Johnson previewed what could be the main campaign theme for the GOP against Harris should she be the nominee: “ The party’s prospects are no better now with Vice President Kamala Harris, who co-owns the disastrous policy failures of the Biden administration. As second in command and a completely inept border czar, Harris has been a gleeful accomplice – not only in the destruction of American sovereignty, security, and prosperity, but also in the largest political cover-up in U.S. history. She has known for as long as anyone of his incapacity to serve.” Johnson called on Biden to resign, but that is unlikely to happen, especially since it would give time for Harris to gain experience as president. Harris may be the only person on the national political level capable of making Biden look articulate. Republicans are likely to create ads detailing her numerous nonsensical remarks. Just a few include: “It is time for us to be doing what we have been doing and that time is every day.” Or this one: “The governor and I, we were all doing a tour of the library here and talking about the significance of the passage of time, right, the significance of the passage of time. So, when you think about it, there is great significance to the passage of time in terms of what we need to do to lay these wires. What we need to do to create these jobs. And there is such great significance to the passage of time when we think about a day in the life of our children." Beyond the likely mocking by Republicans are facts. Harris cannot separate herself from the record of the Biden-Harris administration. While Biden’s age has disappeared as an issue, their record has not. Harris’ level of incompetence can only follow his, if she wins the nomination. That is not a given. The parallels between Biden’s withdrawal statement and that of Lyndon Johnson’s in 1968 are remarkably similar. Then, LBJ, whose approval ratings were also in decline, largely due to the Vietnam War and anti-war protests, claimed his withdrawal was for a higher purpose – peace. On Sunday, Biden listed what he considers his successes as president, as did LBJ. Among them was his repeated assertion that the economy was in ruins when he became president. Tell that to people who were paying less for just about everything four years ago when inflation was 1.4 percent, not the 9 percent Biden claims. The raucous Democratic Convention (also in Chicago in 1968, as is this year’s gathering) would follow Johnson’s withdrawal with images of police beating protesters and discord on the convention floor. History might repeat. The party’s eventual nominee, Hubert Humphrey, lost to Richard Nixon in the fall election. Humphrey tried to separate himself somewhat from Johnson’s Vietnam policies, but failed because as part of the administration he was tied to those policies. Harris now faces a similar problem, or she can repeat previous falsehoods and hope Biden’s media enablers won’t expose them. Could this unpredictable political season become even more volatile? Probably.

The U.S. House of Representatives on July 10 passed a bill to prevent states from allowing noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The legislation passed 221-198, with only five Democrats voting yes. The vote highlights a stark difference between the two major political parties in their respect for the rule of law and the integrity of the election process.Some U.S. states currently allow noncitizens to vote in local elections though they are ineligible to vote in federal elections. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act would require prospective voters to provide proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. The legislation would also direct the states to remove noncitizens from their voter registration rolls for federal elections.Making voter registration easier means making phony registration easier, too, unless states make a special effort to root it out.The media wants to spin the bill as unnecessary and intended “as an election-year talking point” and “part of a broader and long-term Trump campaign strategy of casting doubt on the validity of an election should he lose,” as the Associated Press put it.The argument that the legislation is superfluous because illegal voter registration is already unlawful is an obvious sophistry. The bill is meant to make sure states enforce the law. “Even though it’s already illegal, this is happening,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said.The Biden administration clearly cares more about increasing registration than the legality of the votes, saying in a statement the SAVE Act “would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls.” Similarly, “House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said in a ‘Whip Question’ sent to House Democrats the act’s proof of citizenship requirement ‘would prevent Americans from registering to vote with their drivers’ license alone,’” the Center Square reported.Bill sponsor Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) “disputed that, arguing Democrats opposed the bill ‘because they WANT non-citizens, including illegals, to vote,’” the news organization added.It stands to reason that making voter registration easier means making phony registration easier, too, unless states make a special effort to root it out. Phony registration certainly happens and in very high numbers.In California, for example, the Election Integrity Project found the state had 1.8 million more registered voters than the number of eligible citizens, with 23 counties showing “more registered voters than eligible.” As a result, “There [were] almost 124,000 more votes counted in California’s November 3, 2020 election than voters recorded as voting in that election,” the California Globe reported in 2021. The number of ineligible voter registrations in California nearly doubled in just four years starting in 2017.California is a one-party state, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans by more than 3-1 in the State Assembly and 4-1 in the State Senate. Perhaps that is mere coincidence.California is just one of many places with poorly maintained voter rolls. In 2017, the United States had “3.5 million more registered voters than live adults,” columnist Deroy Murdock reported in National Review. Murdock found “462 counties where the registration rate exceeded 100 percent,” according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the federal Election Assistance Commission collected by Judicial Watch.Murdock found large amounts of falsely registered voters in what were then battleground states, such as Colorado (159,373), Florida (100,782), Iowa (31,077), Michigan (225,235), New Hampshire (8,211), North Carolina (189,721), and Virginia (89,979).False registrations are almost certainly still occurring in large and growing numbers. In a story critical of the GOP bill, AP acknowledged the National Voter Registration Act “actually errs on the side of enfranchising voters. To prevent eligible voters from being disenrolled, it requires outdated records to remain in the system for some years after they’re flagged as a potential concern.”Joe Biden, of course, has embraced voter registration with a passion, directing his entire administration to assist in packing the nation’s voter rolls. In response, Indiana’s Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales “warned more than 120 federal agencies operating in Indiana against providing voter registration services described in a three-year-old presidential executive order without state approval” earlier this month, according to the Greenfield Daily Reporter. Other states should follow his example.Many proponents of easier voter registration probably just want to help little old ladies get to the voting booth. Others, however, may want to use easy voter registration to enable political machines to “find” enough votes to win every election. There is no logical reason to dismiss the existence of the latter or assume they are rare.Of course, the SAVE Act will not survive the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate, and Biden would veto it if it somehow landed on his desk. That makes the bill essentially a formality.It does not, however, make the legislation unnecessary.

President Joe Biden ended his campaign this week, and to no one's surprise, Alex Jones was right again. “Your prediction was eerily accurate to the day on which he would step down,” Liz Wheeler of “The Liz Wheeler Show” tells Jones. “Who’s behind that? Who made him step down? I have a very hard time believing that it was him.” “We know the answer to that,” Jones says confidently. “The question is: What are the specifics?” “It’s a big deal,” he continues. “Biden’s been out of his mind for years, the perfect puppet, and now they know that one’s going to buy a new election steal if it’s him. So, they want Kamala or Newsom or Hillary or ‘Big Mike’ Michelle Obama or Kamala. Anybody but him.” “That’s why I’ve been predicting they would remove Biden imminently. Which they did,” he adds. While no one knows exactly what has happened to the president, there are theories swirling. And Jones has his own. “The point is that Biden was refusing to step down, and I said last week, I said, ‘He will have a medical emergency,’” Jones says. “They just tried to kill Trump, that's failed. Biden’s refusing to step down. It’s the same Deep State that wants full control and people that follow their orders.” Now that Biden’s out, Americans have been left wondering who the Democratic nominee will be. While it seems that Kamala Harris will step into Biden’s shoes, Jones isn’t so sure. “It needs to be Kamala on paper under the law to get the 198 million as of yesterday — it’s probably up now,” he tells Wheeler. “But the Democrats have said that they want to have kind of a weird snap primary where the delegates or the donors with the delegates decide who’s there to at least act like it’s Democratic,” he continues. “I mean, the sky’s the limit. They already tried to kill Trump, in my view. They already tried to take Trump off the ballot. They’ve already done all this, so we’re really seeing the desperate coup of the Democrat-controlled Deep State out in the open right now,” he adds. Want more from Liz Wheeler?To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

A New Jersey woman and an alleged Bloods gangbanger posed with the dismembered body of a landlord with a hatchet in his chest in grisly photos investigators unexpectedly uncovered following a whirlwind path of recent crimes. The macabre saga began last month when 25-year-old Gabriella Caroleo reportedly got into an argument with her ex-boyfriend in Manchester Township, New Jersey, which is located in the central part of the state near the coast. On June 27, Caroleo reportedly called 911 to notify authorities that her ex-boyfriend — 35-year-old Maxwell Johnston — shot her. Caroleo was airlifted to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and later died.Police brought cadaver dogs to the property and made a gruesome discovery. Caroleo also texted her mother moments before the deadly shooting to ask her to call the police, saying she was in fear for her life, according to assistant Ocean County prosecutor Eleni Demestihas.On July 5, detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Manchester Township Police Department, and United States Marshals Service finally located Johnston at a residence in Toms River.Johnston — an alleged Bloods gang member who had a gun during the seven-hour standoff — allegedly was holed up in the house with four other individuals. Marshals negotiators persuaded Danielle Bolstad, 42, Jared Krysiak, 34, and Jarred Palumbo, 36, to exit the home. Hours later, 29-year-old Elizabeth Mascarelli reportedly exited the residence and was transported to Community Medical Center to be treated for injuries sustained during the standoff."The residence was subsequently cleared using a drone, and Johnston was located in a bedroom, deceased, with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head," according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.Prosecutors accused Mascarelli of housing Johnston — a known fugitive — for four days despite her knowing about Caroleo's fatal shooting. Mascarelli was arrested and charged with harboring a fugitive from justice. The Toms River home where the standoff occurred belonged to 56-year-old Kerry Rollason, but he was not in the house. He allegedly was a landlord who rented it out. Detectives executed a court-authorized search warrant on the home and found a defaced .22 caliber handgun, according to the prosecutor's office. Evidence that a murder had been committed at the house allegedly was found as well.On July 11, disturbing photos were discovered during a forensic examination of Mascarelli's cell phone. "Photographs were observed which depicted Mascarelli and Johnston in close proximity to an individual being clearly deceased and amputated at the top of his legs, with a hatchet in his chest, the hatchet being held by Mascarelli," Demestihas said, according to the Asbury Park Press. The assistant prosecutor said the photos were taken in the basement of Rollason's home.Demestihas added, "Additional images were recovered depicting Mascarelli, Johnston and Danielle Bolstad in a wooded area, with Johnston holding a large ax, and an active burn barrel behind him. An item with red staining, possibly blood, was also seen protruding from the barrel."Police determined the location of the wooded area was in nearby Jackson and conducted a search of the property on July 11. Investigators found numerous gloves, some similar to the ones Mascarelli and Johnston were wearing in the photos, according to Demestihas. Tests revealed the gloves had human blood soaked into them. Demestihas noted that a knife was found in the barrel, and there were two pick axes and a shovel nearby. The following day, police brought cadaver dogs to the property and made a gruesome discovery. Approximately 100 yards from the burn barrel, police reportedly found numerous body parts in black bags and blankets. The assistant prosecutor said authorities also found several live 9mm rounds of ammunition, the hatchet Mascarelli was seen holding in the pictures, a saw, clothing, and multiple latex gloves.The property owner told investigators he saw Johnston and Mascarelli there July 3 after Bolstad dropped them off in the area of the burn barrel, Demestihas said during Wednesday detention hearings for Mascarelli and Bolstad. Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels ordered Mascarelli and Bolstad be held without bail at the Ocean County Jail.Investigators determined Rollason was murdered July 3. Surveillance footage from nearby homes showed Bolstad's car leaving July 3 around 12:38 a.m. and not returning until 4:31 a.m., Demestihas stated.Palumbo reportedly told investigators he was in Rollason's basement with Krysiak during the early morning hours of July 3 when he suddenly heard three gunshots. He claimed that moments later, Johnston instructed them to leave the house immediately."Upon returning a short time later, Johnston began cutting the limbs off the decedent with the help of Mascarelli and Krysiak," Palumbo told the detectives, according to Demestihas.Palumbo admitted to helping move Rollason's body parts, the assistant prosecutor stated.Roughly three hours later, Palumbo allegedly was asked to bring up several bags from the basement and load them in Bolstad's car. Palumbo was charged with hindering Johnston's apprehension and failing to dispose of human remains in a lawful manner.Rollason's cause of death was determined to be from multiple gunshot wounds in addition to blunt force trauma, and the manner of death was a homicide.Krysiak faces a detention hearing Friday.Citing an autopsy conducted by the Ocean County Medical Examiner, the Toms River Patch reported that Rollason had been shot three times and bullets pierced his heart and liver. The landlord also suffered a significant skull fracture caused by blunt-force trauma. He was dismembered into eight pieces, according to authorities. Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer declared, "The crimes committed against Mr. Rollason are unsettling and disturbing. I am thankful for the law enforcement professionals that worked diligently to uncover these depraved and soulless crimes."Like Blaze News? 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As the 2024 Paris Olympic Games begin today, hundreds of American Olympians will begin their quest for gold. For many, thousands of their practice hours will pay off. But for this year’s Olympics, it's not just the athletes’ hard work and athletic prowess taking center stage. Over the past year, France has worked hard to prepare a massive surveillance state for the Olympics. From surveillance drones to the largest military camp in Paris since the Second World War, the French have built a vast network of technology to keep the Olympics “safe” and dystopian. During the Olympic games, Parisians and visitors must show QR codes to police officers to get past barricades to enter restricted areas, reminiscent of the nanny-state COVID zones. Here are the ten craziest examples of mass surveillance during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Artificial intelligence cameras Tourists won’t be the only ones taking pictures of themselves in Paris. CCTV cameras will use AI-powered algorithms to record and identify potentially suspicious individuals and objects on streets and in large crowds. While French officials claim that there will be no facial recognition, “AI video monitoring … enables mass control,” digital rights activist Noémie Levain told BBC news. Surveillance drones Fighter jets Helicopters If you’ve booked a vacation to Paris in August, don’t be shocked when you see bird-like machines flying above your head or catch a chopper in the background of your picture with the Eiffel Tower. “Rafale fighter jets, airspace-monitoring AWACS surveillance flights, Reaper surveillance drones, helicopters that can carry sharpshooters, and equipment to disable drones will police Paris skies, which will be closed during the opening ceremony by a no-fly zone extending for 150 kilometers (93 miles) around the capital,” AP News reported. Tracking geolocation data In preparation for the Olympics, the French prime minister’s office has negotiated a secret provisional decree that will increase the state’s ability to track citizens’ and visitors' data, including geolocation. Essentially, the French government will be able to track people’s every move, whether that be going to the grocery store or school, worshipping at a church, or attending a political event. Even though it’s only temporary, what’s to stop French officials from keeping the decree permanently? After all, governments love power. As President Reagan once joked, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!” Wiretapping Government officials won’t just be tracking people’s every move; they could also listen to everything people say over the phone. Under the same provisional decree, the French government would be allowed to secretly listen in on private citizens’ conversations over the phone, a move borrowed from the KGB playbook. QR codes During the Olympic games, Parisians and visitors must show QR codes to police officers to get past barricades to enter restricted areas, reminiscent of the nanny-state COVID zones. Dubbed the “Belt of Steel,” a four-mile barricade surrounding Olympic venues will be in place, limiting access to Eiffel Tower viewpoints, the River Seine, and other famous attractions in Paris. Furthermore, these barricades may prove to be a hassle for locals just trying to get to work or go out to eat. An additional, larger no-entry zone will also be in place for automobile traffic. Background checks for residents Once Parisians actually get into these high-security risk areas, they will still be subject to even more surveillance. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told AP News that people who work and live in the buildings near the River Seine and the opening ceremony will be “cross-checked against security services’ databases, to see whether they have previously been flagged as suspected Islamist extremists or for other radicalism.” What’s concerning is how French officials might define “radicalism.” Are supporters of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally “radical”? The Washington Post certainly thinks so. If French officials agree, will French nationalists just be banned from certain areas of the city? Houseguest registry Not only does the French state want to know who’s walking around the streets of Paris, but officials also want to know whom Parisians are inviting over to their homes. According to Deutsche Welle, residents living in restricted areas must register visitors they invite to watch the Olympic games from their balconies, windows, rooftops, or houseboats. A military base Perhaps the “least worst” example: French officials will set up a massive force of police officers as well as soldiers to shield the city against any potential terrorist threat. AP News reports that up to 45,000 police officers will guard the streets during the Games, in addition to 10,000 soldiers who have “set up the largest military camp in Paris since World War II. … Soldiers should be able to reach any of the city’s Olympic venues within 30 minutes. Calling up soldiers to be on guard for an event of this grandeur wouldn’t be criticized too harshly if that was all French officials did. Terrorist attacks are still a valid concern in Western Europe. But a massive military base, in addition to fighter jets, drones, AI drones, wiretapping, and more certainly lends Paris a Soviet flavor.