A suspect who allegedly shot and wounded three police officers in Washington‚ D.C.‚ earlier this month is a foreign national who is in the U.S. illegally‚ a new report claims.At 7:30 a.m. on Valentine's Day‚ several cops with the Criminal Apprehension Unit of the Metropolitan Police Department joined members of the Humane Rescue Alliance to execute an arrest warrant for suspected animal cruelty at a residence in a southeastern neighborhood of our nation's capital. When they arrived‚ the suspect initially refused to comply with their orders and instead almost immediately fired several bullets in their direction before barricading himself inside his residence‚ as Blaze News previously reported.Three cops sustained non-life-threatening gunshot injuries‚ and a fourth cop suffered an injury that was unrelated to the gunfire. All four have been released from the hospital. One officer on the scene also fired a service weapon but did not strike the suspect‚ a statement from Metro Police said. The standoff with police lasted nearly 13 hours before a surrender was successfully negotiated.The 48-year-old suspect in the case identified himself as Julius James‚ but investigators later learned that his real name is Stephen Claude Rattigan. He has been charged with assault with intent to kill while armed‚ assault on a police officer while armed‚ and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence in connection with the police standoff‚ as well as misdemeanor cruelty to animals‚ a press release from the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office said.Now‚ a new report from Julio Rosas‚ a field reporter with the Manhattan Institute‚ indicates that Rattigan is actually a citizen of an unidentified foreign nation and that he exploited D.C. sanctuary laws to remain in the country illegally."A law enforcement source has confirmed to me the man who recently shot three DC police officers‚ Stephen Claude Rattigan‚ also known as James Claude Julius‚ is in the US illegally‚" Rosas tweeted on Monday evening. "He has an active ICE deportation order." — (@) The press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office suggests instead that Rattigan is a capital resident‚ describing him as "Stephen Claude Rattigan‚ also known as Julius James‚ 48‚ of Washington‚ D.C." (emphasis added). Neither the attorney's office press release nor the statement from Metro PD makes mention of the suspect's legal status.However‚ the press release does allege that authorities "removed 31 dogs" from Rattigan's home‚ that the "living conditions" in the home were "inhumane‚" and that Rattigan had been captured on camera striking one animal in the face multiple times. He was denied bond and remains in custody‚ awaiting a preliminary hearing on February 29.Rosas reached out to ICE for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

If Republicans can’t win a budget fight over a possible government shutdown against a man deemed too senile to face prosecution‚ then they deserve to go the way of the Whigs. Amid the political imbroglio surrounding the political fates of Donald Trump and Joe Biden‚ we seem to forget that congressional Republicans have a chance to focus national attention on winning issues vital to saving our civilization. With government funding slated to expire on March 1 and March 8‚ now is the time for Republicans to make the case against invasion‚ inflation‚ inquisition‚ injections‚ indoctrination‚ and Islamization — the six “evil I’s.” Republicans win when the focus is on issues‚ but they lose when the focus is on personalities. Democrats are at a massive disadvantage. Their policies are unpopular‚ and their party’s leader and public face is mentally infirm. Republicans will never get more leverage in a budget fight than they have right now. The fact is that even if Republicans win a smashing victory in November‚ conservatives won’t come close to 60 votes in the Senate. Stymied by RINOs‚ they would still lack the votes necessary to pass worthy‚ transformational legislation — except for once a year‚ through the budget reconciliation process. Under the circumstances‚ a budget showdown with the threat of a government shutdown is inevitable. But the threat needs to be credible. If Republicans aren’t willing to at least telegraph to the Democrats that they are willing to shoot the hostage‚ they certainly won’t do so when they have control of all three branches and they’re on the hook for governing. That’s why Republicans never risked a shutdown when they had control of all branches of government (until after they lost the 2018 midterms). The time is right for a real budget fight‚ as Biden is laid bare as a man who belongs in a senior care facility and not the Oval Office. With that in mind‚ here are the demands Republicans should place in their budget under the umbrella of combatting the six “evil I’s.” Invasion Most Americans now believe immigration is the nation’s No. 1 problem‚ according to a new Gallup poll. Stopping Biden’s border invasion therefore should be the Republicans’ top priority. Every day from now until March 1‚ Republican leaders should make it clear they will only pass a budget that includes HR 2‚ which would end “catch and release” and defund the nongovernmental organizations and nonprofits facilitating the invasion. The GOP must not squander this opportunity. They need to fight as long as it takes to harness national attention and beat the Democrats into submission. Inflation The basic American standard of living has now become a luxury for millions of people. Republicans should use the budget to defund Biden’s Orwellian “Inflation Reduction Act‚” which has only fueled the problem it was ostensibly intended to solve. In reality‚ the 2022 law is just the Green New Deal in disguise. Not surprisingly‚ the Congressional Budget Office just raised its estimate of that legislation’s cost by $466 billion. Surging energy prices account for much of that increase. Given the manifest failures of the Democrats’ green energy policies‚ Republicans have a rare opportunity to stand on the side of consumers against the green grift. The electric vehicle market is crashing and causing a massive increase in car insurance at a time when car inflation is already sky-high. Now is the time to pull the plug. Inquisition Republicans will never get a better opportunity to defund the inquisition against the regime’s political opponents. Special counsel Robert Hur’s report earlier this month exposed our two-tiered justice system in the most dramatic fashion imaginable. Hur concluded that Joe Biden should not be prosecuted for unlawfully holding classified documents he took as a U.S. senator and later as vice president because he is mentally unfit to stand trial. Republicans should use that as an opportunity to defund the politically motivated prosecutions of Trump as well as nonviolent January 6 defendants. The budget should also include language from HR 5577 by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas)‚ which would defund prosecutions under the FACE Act that have resulted in the imprisonment of people who have merely sung hymns outside abortion clinics. Finally‚ this portion of the bill should also include the House Judiciary Committee’s reform of section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act‚ which the FBI has abused to conduct warrantless searches of American citizens’ communications. Injections After three years‚ we have a wealth of studies‚ data‚ lived experience‚ and documents from the FDA and Pfizer showing that the COVID injections potentially damage every organ system in the human body. We now know that the mRNA spreads to the placenta and mother’s milk and that it’s contaminated with DNA plasmids. A recent study of 99 million people revealed massive safety signals for neurological damage‚ blood and heart disorders‚ myocarditis‚ pericarditis‚ Guillain-Barré syndrome‚ and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. The time has come to defund all mRNA vaccines to ensure they are taken off the market. Indoctrination After every major mass shooting‚ Democrats are prepared to promote gun control. Yet with an apparently growing trend of mass shootings committed by transgender individuals‚ Republicans are not demanding action on government programs to groom of an entire generation of children into hormone-induced violence and mental illness. According to the CDC‚ one in four high schoolers identity as a sexual behavior that will not result in procreation. That is not natural. It’s a contagion of indoctrination. To that end‚ Republicans must bar funding for any Department of Health and Human Services program promoting “gender-affirming care”; any education program teaching “gender studies”; and any indulgence of the sexual ideology both in domestic and foreign policy agencies. Moreover‚ Republicans need to defund the recent Title IX mandate that states accommodate gender dysphoria in public school bathrooms. Islamization It is no exaggeration to say the Biden administration has become a vassal of Iran and a promoter of Hamas. Right now‚ Republicans disagree about whether or how to aid Israel when America itself is trillions of dollars in debt. But Republicans can do a lot more for Israel without spending a dime by simply defunding Biden’s war against the Jewish state. Recently‚ Biden placed sanctions on residents of Judea and Samaria‚ while offering visa incentives for Gaza residents. Meanwhile‚ the State Department may force a “two-state solution” down Israel’s throat. The GOP budget bill should defund all aid to the Palestinians and Lebanon‚ which is a puppet of Iran. The bill should also prohibit sanctions on Israeli citizens and defund all diplomatic missions that promote an Arab Palestinian state. Headed into this week’s deadline‚ Republicans have even greater leverage thanks to a quirk from last year’s debt ceiling deal. The only good provision‚ thanks to the efforts of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)‚ is an automatic trigger that if Congress fails to enact a new full-year budget by April 30‚ all the agencies would face an across-the-board 1% cut‚ which would hit non-defense agencies hardest. This gives House Republicans cover they need to pass a continuing resolution for the remainder of the year‚ triggering the automatic cuts‚ along with the aforementioned “defund” riders. They can use the pain of the spending cuts as leverage to negotiate the policy riders. Republicans consistently poll well on the issues even as they stumble at the ballot box. The reason is the GOP has shown no seriousness in so much as communicating a plan to reverse Biden’s ruinous policies. There is no more time to waste. Republicans win when the focus is on issues‚ but they lose when the focus is on personalities. Stopping the border invasion‚ reining in inflation‚ clamping down on political inquisitions‚ defunding deadly injections‚ ending transgender indoctrination‚ and halting the Islamization of the government are winning issues. A serious fight on just one of those issues would be worth it. Let’s go.

CBS News has finally returned Catherine Herridge's confidential files and records.After terminating Herridge two weeks ago‚ CBS News came under fire when law professor Jonathan Turley revealed that CBS News officials retained possession of Herridge's confidential records stored in her office‚ prompting intervention from Herridge's union‚ SAG-AFTRA. CBS News confirmed it had possession of the files but denied that their security was compromised.On Monday‚ the union announced that CBS News finally returned the files and records to Herridge."SAG-AFTRA is pleased to confirm that earlier today a representative of our union monitored the return of several boxes containing Catherine Herridge's reporting materials from her CBS News office in Washington‚ D.C‚" the union said in a statement. "Herridge is currently reviewing the materials."Importantly‚ the union pointed out that CBS News' "reversal" only happened "after SAG-AFTRA's intervention and widespread media coverage."For its part‚ CBS News claimed File-gate was normal‚ stemming from a "standard HR conversation about materials in her office‚" a network representative said.Unfortunately for CBS News‚ the decision to terminate Herridge and retain control of her confidential files for about two weeks post-termination is raising eyebrows and‚ now‚ drawing scrutiny from Congress.Last week‚ the House Judiciary Committee sent CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews a letter informing her the committee is launching an investigation into Herridge's termination and the retention of her records. The committee is asking important questions and demanding answers from CBS News‚ including why Herridge was terminated‚ why her files were retained‚ who had access to her records after she was terminated‚ and whether her files were accessed in any way after Herridge was terminated."The unprecedented actions of CBS News threaten to chill good journalism and ultimately weaken our nation's commitment to a free press‚" Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote in the letter.Herridge has not spoken publicly about her termination or the controversy surrounding her files‚ except to share updates from her union.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

In one of his first acts in office‚ President Joe Biden halted construction of the wall along the southern border. In the months since‚ over 7 million foreign nationals have stolen into the United States‚ incentivized further by Democratic sanctuary policies‚ open-borders rhetoric‚ and discussions of rewards for those who have already flouted immigration laws. The majority of illegal aliens rely on taxpayer-funded welfare‚ with every million parolees siphoning $3 billion in federal welfare benefits. The estimated annual cost to house known gotaways and illegal aliens released into the country under Biden's watch is $451 billion. Multitudes of foreign nationals are tracking in diseases once thought eradicated or controlled in the U.S. along with violent crime‚ including of the kind that claimed Laken Riley's life last week. Americans are apparently fed up — including a fair share of Democrats. The latest Monmouth University poll revealed Monday that public concern over illegal immigration has skyrocketed during the Biden administration's mismanagement of the border crisis. Over 8 in 10 Americans recognize illegal immigration to be either a very serious (61%) or a somewhat serious (23%) problem. Broken down by political affiliation‚ 66% of Republicans‚ 42% of independents‚ and 33% of Democrats told pollsters in 2015 that illegal immigration was a very serious problem. Nine years later‚ those figures jumped to 91%‚ 58%‚ and 41%‚ respectively. "Illegal immigration has taken center stage as a defining issue this presidential election year‚" said Patrick Murray‚ director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "Other Monmouth polling found this to be Biden's weakest policy area‚ including among his fellow Democrats." For the first time since Monmouth pollsters started asking the question nationally in 2015‚ the majority of Americans (53%) now support the construction of a border wall‚ while 46% signaled continued opposition to securing the border with such a barrier. When the question was first posed in September 2015‚ 48% of respondents signaled support for the wall. During the Trump administration‚ support for the wall reached 44% at its highest and fell to 35% at its lowest. In 2015‚ support for the wall among Republicans stood at 73%. It has since increased to 86%. There has also been a spike in support among independents‚ from 47% to 58% over the past nine years. While there has been an overall increase in concern over the border among Democrats‚ their support for a border wall has actually slipped from 31% to 17%. Support for keeping those foreign nationals claiming asylum in Mexico has increased among all partisan groups since 2019. Now‚ 61% of Americans think they should wait to be processed on the other side of the border. This desire for remote processing may have been driven by increased concerns about criminality. Roughly one in three (32%) Americans reckon illegal aliens to be more likely to commit violent crimes like rape or murder. This represents a 11-point increase over the 2019 poll and a 15-point jump over the response in 2015. In their latest attempts to displace blame over the border crisis‚ Democrats have suggested that Republicans threw away a winning remedy by opposing the so-called border bill. According to the Monmouth poll‚ Americans weren't convinced the bill would have done a great deal in the way of addressing the crisis. 47% of respondents said the border bill was "not tough enough when it comes to dealing with illegal immigration." 77% of Republicans and 48% of independents were in agreement. "These results illustrate why the border deal was dead on arrival. The vast majority of rank-and-file Republicans and many independents believe it is too soft on illegal immigration‚ even if they don’t know exactly what's in the legislation. Senate GOP leadership could have tried to sell the bill‚ but that would have almost certainly been fruitless once Donald Trump weighed in against it‚" said Murray. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection‚ 7‚332‚800 foreign nationals stole across the U.S. southern border illegally between the time Biden took office and last month. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

When is the Bo Path of the Teal Lotus release date? For those keen to get their hands on the upcoming Metroidvania inspired by Japanese folklore‚ Bo Path of the Teal Lotus now has an official release date. Developed by Squid Shock Studios‚ comprising of members of the AM2R team (Another Metroid 2 Remake)‚ Bo Path of the Teal Lotus features plenty of side-scrolling action. Created in 2.5D and with a delicate hand-drawn art style‚ expect to fight bosses‚ dashing and slicing through beautifully crafted levels making friends and picking up side quests on the way. Here's everything we know about the Bo Path of the Teal Lotus release date and what you can expect from this Metroidvania game. Continue reading Bo Path of the Teal Lotus release date and more MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best platform games‚ Upcoming PC games‚ Best Metroidvania games

In recent years‚ news surrounding Lovecraft inspired horror game The Sinking City has focused more on the legal battle between creator Frogwares and its former publisher Nacon than on the game itself. Now‚ though‚ that distraction is getting cleared up thanks to Frogwares winning sole ownership of The Sinking City — and pulling the original version of the Call of Cthulhu and Sherlock Holmes mash-up from Steam before its new version becomes the only one available starting tomorrow. Continue reading Original version of Lovecraft style horror game leaves Steam tomorrow

Robotic lawnmower maker Husqvarna has just announced that a new software update will enable you to play id’s classic demon shooter Doom directly on its mowers‚ using the machine’s own controls to navigate the game. Yep‚ we really did just say that. We’re not talking about an eccentric bedroom project here – Doom is going to officially run on these lawnmowers. Continue reading You can now officially play Doom on a lawnmower MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best old games‚ Best FPS games‚ Best zombie games

Several anti-Israel activists and groups have joined Hamas in celebrating Bushnell.

A record-high 55 percent of adults believe immigration is a critical threat to U.S. interests‚ an eight point jump from last year.

Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation was an act of moral blackmail‚ and those who have lionized him want to see more such acts.