News Nebula Awards Here Are the Winners of the 2024 Nebula Awards Congratulations to the winners! By Molly Templeton | Published on June 9, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share The winners of the 60th Nebula Awards, which are voted on by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, were announced this past weekend at the annual Nebula Conference. The awards given this year recognize work published in 2024. Congratulations to the winners! Best Novel WINNER: Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia UK) Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov (CaezikSF & Fantasy) Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom) Asunder by Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom) A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK) The Book of Love by Kelly Link (Random House; Ad Astra UK) Best Novella WINNER: The Dragonfly Gambit by A. D. Sui (Neon Hemlock) The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom) The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler (Tordotcom) Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Tordotcom) Countess by Suzan Palumbo (ECW) The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom) Best Novelette WINNER: “Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being” by A. W. Prihandita (Clarkesworld) “The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld) “Katya Vasilievna and the Second Drowning of Baba Rechka” by Christine Hanolsy (Beneath Ceaseless Skies) “Another Girl Under the Iron Bell” by Angela Liu (Uncanny) “What Any Dead Thing Wants” by Aimee Ogden (Psychopomp) “Joanna’s Bodies” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Psychopomp) “Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny) Best Short Story WINNER: “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole” by Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld) “The Witch Trap” by Jennifer Hudak (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet) “Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachael K. Jones (Lightspeed Magazine) “Evan: A Remainder” by Jordan Kurella (Reactor) “The V*mpire” by PH Lee (Reactor) “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed Magazine) Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation WINNER: Dune: Part Two written by Jon Spaights and Denis Villeneuve (Warner Brothers) KAOS written by Charlie Covell and Georgia Christou (Netflix) Doctor Who: “Dot and Bubble” written by Russell T. Davies (BBC) Wicked written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox (Universal Pictures) Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 written by Mike McMahan (Paramount+) I Saw the TV Glow written by Jane Schoenbrun (A24 Films) Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction WINNER: The Young Necromancer’s Guide to Ghosts by Vanessa Ricci-Thode (self-published) Daydreamer by Rob Cameron (Labyrinth Road) Braided by Leah Cypess (Delacorte) Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed by José Pablo Iriarte (Knopf) Puzzleheart by Jenn Reese (Henry Holt) Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee, (Delacorte; Solaris UK) Best Game Writing WINNER: A Death in Hyperspace by Stewart C Baker, Phoebe Barton, James Beamon, Kate Heartfield, Isabel J. Kim, Sara S. Messenger, Naca Rat, Natalia Theodoridou, and Marc Fenn Wolfmoor (Infomancy.net) Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast by Jay Dragon, M Veselak, Mercedes Acosta, and Lillie J. Harris (Possum Creek Games) Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut by Tony Howard-Arias and Abby Howard (Black Tabby Games) Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree by Hidetaka Miyazaki (FromSoftware) The Ghost and the Golem by Benjamin Rosenbaum (Choice of Games) Pacific Drive by Karrie Shao and Paul Dean ( Ironwood Studios) 1000xRESIST by Remy Siu, Pinki Li, and Conor Wylie (Fellow Traveler Games) Restore, Reflect, Retry by Natalia Theodoridou (Choice of Games) SFWA also gives several awards that are not Nebulas. This year’s recipients are: Damon Knight Grand Master AwardNicola Griffith ToastmasterErin Roberts Kate Wilhelm Solstice AwardEugen Bacon Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA AwardC. J. Lavigne Infinity AwardFrank Herbert [end-mark] The post Here Are the Winners of the 2024 Nebula Awards appeared first on Reactor.

News star trek: strange new worlds Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Will Be Back Soon to Bring Warmth (and Humor) to Space “We’ll just turn it off before we blow up.” By Molly Templeton | Published on June 9, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share The latest trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ third season is only about 90 seconds long, which is a shame, because it’s fun. “Our job is to bring light, bring warmth, bring life back to wherever we go,” Number One (Rebecca Romijn) says in voiceover as the first few images play. And then the trailer does just that, promising new adventures, new romances, and plenty of the particular, delightful Captain-Space-Daddy-and-his-crew-of-genius-young-folks style this show has been delivering for two seasons already. The synopsis tells us nothing about plot, just vibes: In season three, when we reconnect with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, still under the command of Captain Pike, they face the conclusion of season two’s harrowing encounter with the Gorn. But new life and civilizations await, including a villain that will test our characters’ grit and resolve. An exciting twist on classic Star Trek, season three takes characters both new and beloved to new heights, and dives into thrilling adventures of faith, duty, romance, comedy and mystery, with varying genres never before seen on any other Star Trek. They really want you to think this is not like any other Trek, don’t they? Interesting. Also it’s certainly a choice to note that the Enterprise is “still” captained by Pike (Anson Mount), who has a serious moment in the trailer when he tells young James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), “The choices you make in that chair—they are yours to make, and yours to live with.” Strange New Worlds also stars Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, and Martin Quinn. This season, we also get guest stars Rhys Darby, Patton Oswalt, Cillian O’Sullivan, Melanie Scrofano, and Carol Kane. Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers are co-showrunners. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns—with two episodes!—on Paramount+ on July 17th. As a special treat, the first season will be available for free June 30th through July 31st on Pluto TV, Paramount+ channels on Amazon, Apple and Roku, Paramount+’s Free Content Hub, and Paramount+’s YouTube channel.[end-mark] The post <i>Star Trek: Strange New Worlds</i> Will Be Back Soon to Bring Warmth (and Humor) to Space appeared first on Reactor.

Column SFF Bestiary Back From the Brink: Star Trek and the Humpback Whale Star Trek helped save a species, but that’s just the beginning… By Judith Tarr | Published on June 9, 2025 Credit: Paramount Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Paramount In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the humpback whale is nearly extinct. By the twenty-third century of that particular universe, it’s gone. That’s the plot, and that’s the problem Kirk and his ever-loyal crew have to solve. By 1986 when the film was released, Star Trek, a quirky Sixties television show canceled after three seasons (and it had to fight for the last one), was well on its way to becoming a cultural icon. It had found new life and new viewers in a series of feature films, and in 1987, the first spinoff series, Star Trek: Next Generation, would begin its seven-season run. More films and more series would follow. The influence of Star Trek is broad and deep, and “the one with the whales” is no exception. Its message is clear: Human interference has brought innumerable species to or past the brink of extinction. The humpback whale, one of the largest animals that ever lived, had been hunted so relentlessly that there were only a few hundred left. Even after whaling was banned, the hunt continued, and we see it on the screen, with George and Gracie standing in for all the whales who had been killed or were about to be killed. In the Trek universe, the hunt goes on and the species is exterminated, with dire consequences for the future of Earth. It’s even been speculated that Kirk’s way-out-of-the-box attempt to save the species and the planet may have contributed to the whales’ extinction. I don’t know that I agree, but it is an interesting take on the film. In our universe, the film did a thing that Star Trek has done remarkably often. It educated while it entertained. It got people thinking about the plight of the whales. And it contributed to something remarkable. The humpback started to come back. The ban on hunting had a good deal to do with it, but raising awareness and making people care goes a long way toward influencing how they act and how they think. By the first quarter of the twenty-first century, instead of being exterminated, the whales’ numbers had risen significantly. They might even have been comparable to what they were before modern commercial whaling began. Experts were astounded. These huge and gentle creatures with their eerily beautiful songs were back. If an alien probe happened to show up in our solar system, there would be thousands of responses, instead of none at all. That’s a miracle, and it’s wrapped in a mystery. Only the male whales sing, but no one knows exactly why. Mating calls? Communications? Art and entertainment? Whatever the reason, the ocean is echoing and re-echoing with the song of the whales. At one point during his almost-year with My Octopus Teacher, Craig Foster tried an experiment. Octopuses, he read, are actually nocturnal. He had been doing his dives during the day, but he ventured into the kelp forest at night. It was a different world, and one of the things that made it truly magical were the resounding echoes of whale song through the darkened forest. Humpback whales are world travelers. They feed for half of the year in the cold, nutrient-rich waters around the poles, scooping up tons upon tons of krill and tiny fish. Then for half the year they migrate to warmer waters to breed and give birth to their calves. Foster’s kelp forest is located on the western cape of South Africa, the Cape of Storms. It’s a major feeding ground for humpback whales. At just about the time Foster was studying his octopus, something was happening that modern science had not seen before. Whales were gathering en masse in those waters. Humpbacks are not gregarious by nature. Mostly they travel alone, or with just one or two companions. A “supergroup” may consist of around a dozen whales. These were super-mega-maxi-groups, as many as 200 strong. And they were gathering in summer, when they would normally have migrated to the antarctic to feed. These supergroups were spotted off the coast of South Africa at intervals through the 2010s. They were hunting and feeding, which was not normal for that location or that time of year. Researchers were baffled as to why. There were several possibilities. Unusually high numbers of prey species in those waters. Unusually high number of whales putting pressure on their usual feeding grounds and pushing them out to these areas. Or maybe this is how and where they used to hunt before they were driven almost to extinction. It’s not anomalous behavior. It’s behavior that had been disrupted by human interference. That was good news, and a bright spot in the annals of the earth’s species. But there’s a darker side to it. In recent years, humpback numbers have dropped in certain areas, notably the northern Pacific. They’re what’s known as a bellwether species, an indicator of the effects of ecological shifts. And it seems they’re losing ground again, not to hunters but to something more insidious and inherently more dangerous: human-caused climate change. What will happen to them, whether or how they’ll survive the warming oceans, we don’t know. Will they make it to the twenty-third century after all? Only time will tell.[end-mark] The post Back From the Brink: Star Trek and the Humpback Whale appeared first on Reactor.

After President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to the Los Angeles area in response to violent protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., suggested that he is unwilling to comply with federal authorities. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said of Newsom’s comments, “It’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job.” Newsom responded by taunting Homan to carry out the arrest. “He’s a tough guy. Why doesn’t he do that? He knows where to find me,” Newsom said. “That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also dismissed Homan’s warning. “He had absolutely positively no reason to even say that,” Bass said. “I spoke to him last night. He understands that I am the mayor of the city; the last thing in the world I’m going to do is get into a brawl with the federal government. So that just made no sense. There was no reason for that comment.” On his way back from Camp David, Trump echoed Homan’s warning. “Officials who stand in the way of law and order, yeah, they will face judges,” the president told reporters Sunday. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Los Angeles agencies will “take such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots,” Trump said on Truth Social. “A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” Trump said. “Now violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations—But these lawless riots only strengthen our resolve.” ICE began the raids Friday, and agitators took to the streets in downtown Los Angeles and Paramount, California. Democrats condemned both the ICE raids and the National Guard response to the riots. Former presidential nominee Kamala Harris attacked Trump’s actions and defended the protests as “overwhelmingly peaceful.” “Los Angeles is my home. And like so many Americans, I am appalled at what we are witnessing on the streets of our city,” Harris said in a statement. “Deploying the National Guard is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos. In addition to the recent ICE raids in Southern California and across our nation, it is part of the Trump Administration’s cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division.” “This Administration’s actions are not about public safety — they’re about stoking fear. Fear of a community demanding dignity and due process,” she continued. “Protest is a powerful tool — essential in the fight for justice. And as the LAPD, Mayor, and Governor have noted, demonstrations in defense of our immigrant neighbors have been overwhelmingly peaceful. I continue to support the millions of Americans who are standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms.”  However, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a Sunday evening news conference that the violence was “getting increasingly worse and more violent.” “This violence that I’ve seen, it’s disgusting,” McDonnell said. “It’s escalated now, since the beginning of this incident. What we saw the first night was bad. What we’ve seen subsequent to that is getting increasingly worse and more violent.” The post ‘Arrest Me’: Newsom Dares Trump to Send National Guard to California appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Israel Defense Forces intercepted a Freedom Flotilla Coalition boat carrying pro-Palestine activists, including Greta Thunberg, late Sunday. Thunberg and her fellow passengers were attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.   The Freedom Flotilla Coalition was sailing the boat, named the ‘Madleen’ to “Gaza to challenge Israel’s ongoing blockade” and deliver humanitarian aid, according to the activist group that has pledged to “sail until Palestine is free.”   “Greta’s selfie-float is liberal virtue signaling at its worst,” Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told The Daily Signal. “Her complaint was that Hamas was no longer in charge of aid distribution, so she essentially went on a dark money-paid yacht cruise to support Muslim terror.”   Members of the crew aboard the Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship regularly shared selfie style videos from the boat during their voyage toward Gaza.  “I hope the IDF can recover the laptops and phones that were tossed overboard by the activists as they approached,” Fine said. “They will prove what is obvious: Greta Thunberg is a Muslim terrorist working with Hamas.”  A voice can be heard yelling “ditch the phone,” in a video from the boat of activists circulated by the BBC.  Upon being intercepted, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition released videos of Thunberg, who is best known for her climate activism, claiming she and the other activists have been “kidnapped.”   “If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel,” Thunberg said in the video message that appears to have prerecorded.   Thunberg, 22, is a Swedish citizen and urged all her “friends, family, and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible,” she said.   SOS! the volunteers on 'Madleen' have been kidnapped by Israeli forces.Greta Thunberg is a Swedish citizen.Pressure their foreign ministries and help us keep them safe!Web: https://t.co/uCGmx8sn8jX : @SweMFAFB : @SweMFAIG : swedishmfa#AllEyesOnMadeleen pic.twitter.com/76Myrg2Bnz— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) June 9, 2025 Early Monday, Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz congratulated the IDF for their “quick and safe takeover of the ‘Madleen’ flotilla,” which prevented the activists from “breaking the blockade and reaching the shores of Gaza.”   Katz says he has “instructed the IDF to show the flotilla passengers the video of the horrors of the Oct. 7 massacre when they arrive at the Port of Ashdod,” one of Israel’s main ports.   “It is appropriate that the antisemitic Greta [Thunberg] and her fellow Hamas supporters see exactly who the Hamas terrorist organization they came to support and for whom they work is, what atrocities they committed against women, the elderly, and children, and against whom Israel is fighting to defend itself,” Katz wrote on X.   Israel’s Foreign Ministry referred to the boat carrying the activists as a “selfie yacht,” in a post on X, noting that the passengers will be sent home to their own countries following their arrival in Israel.   Israel’s Foreign Ministry says Thunberg and the other passengers have been provided with food and water, sharing a photo of Thunberg being handed a sandwich.   “More than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and close to 11 million meals were transferred by the [Gaza Humanitarian Foundation] directly to civilians in Gaza,” according to the Foreign Ministry.   Good morning to all our followers ????In case you missed it:? The ‘selfie yacht’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are safe and were provided with sandwiches and water, and are expected to return to their home countries.? The tiny amount of… pic.twitter.com/Gfn9I3ZI2l— Israel ????? (@Israel) June 9, 2025 The post Greta Thunberg Claims to Have Been Kidnapped After IDF Intercepts Her ‘Selfie-Float’ to Gaza, Congressman Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

It's a PR Strategy

CBS Delivers Bad News To the Party of Riots on Deportations

When local leaders won’t act against a growing national crisis, the president must. That’s what leadership requires, plain and simple.Since retaking office in January, President Trump has made real progress in the fight against illegal immigration. Federal officers have arrested thousands of individuals who pose a threat to public safety. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stepped up enforcement, and law enforcement agencies across the country are finally empowered to act. Momentum is building.Rather than call in help, Newsom let the protests spiral. Rather than support enforcement, he played to his base. So Trump stepped in.But even as law enforcement cracks down on criminal networks, a wave of resistance has emerged. Some people are so determined to shield illegal immigrants from accountability that they’re willing to risk arrest themselves. This isn’t civil disobedience — it’s delusion.Now Los Angeles has joined the act. Protests against ICE raids over the weekend overwhelmed police, and Trump believed he had no choice but to respond. He deployed 2,000 members of the National Guard to restore order, assist law enforcement, and help track down additional criminal suspects shielded by sanctuary activists.Trump’s response wasn’t arbitrary — it was necessary. The local police needed backup. The goal: support enforcement efforts and remove dangerous individuals from our communities.Yet the protesters insist they’re the ones defending freedom. They march in the streets, chant slogans, and claim the government threatens their civil liberties. In truth, they’re protecting people who broke the law — many of whom have criminal records or known ties to gangs and trafficking rings.This isn’t about rounding up innocent neighbors. It’s a concentrated operation, led by ICE and overseen by border czar Tom Homan, to target known offenders and restore public safety. Trump’s opponents may not like the optics, but the mission remains clear: remove dangerous individuals who never should have been here in the first place.California officials aren’t helping. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called the troop deployment “purposefully inflammatory” and accused the administration of escalating tensions. The League of United Latin American Citizens quickly condemned the move, describing it as a “deeply troubling escalation” and criticizing the use of “military-style tactics.”What exactly would they have us do?Under President Biden, federal authorities responded to the border crisis like an inconvenience rather than an invasion. Cartels, traffickers, and criminal networks exploited weak enforcement to gain a foothold in American cities. That lax approach put law-abiding citizens in danger. Now Trump is reversing course — and the left wants him to stop?Let’s be honest: Violent actors don’t care about humanitarian gestures. They care about power and control. They harm people to maintain it. They don’t want leniency — they want impunity. When you reward lawbreaking with amnesty, you don’t get peace. You get more lawbreaking.RELATED: Illegal aliens aren’t just ‘guests’ — they’re future voters Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesThe Los Angeles Police Department has been walking a fine line. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell on Friday said the department would not aid ICE with its deportation efforts. L.A. remains a “sanctuary city,” after all.But on Saturday, the department released a measured statement in response to the arrival of the National Guard: “We will maintain a heightened readiness posture and remain ready to ensure the continued safety of our communities.” That might be the best we can expect in this fraught political environment.The LAPD didn’t complain — at least not publicly. It didn’t politicize the moment. The department chose duty over posturing. I commend the LAPD for that.But I worry this situation could escalate — not because of Trump’s actions, but because of Newsom’s vanity. Rather than call in help, he let the protests spiral. Rather than support enforcement, he played to his base. So Trump stepped in to do the job Newsom wouldn’t.This decision wasn’t made out of spite. It wasn’t political theater. It was about restoring order and ensuring the law applies equally. The people ICE is arresting are criminals. The objective is clear: locate them, arrest them, and remove them from American streets.I support President Trump. I support the National Guard. I support the LAPD.The time for softness is over. The border crisis created this problem. Now it falls to this administration to fix it.

President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan was asked in an NBC News interview on Saturday whether Democratic officials in California, namely Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom, could be arrested if they interfered with the lawful execution of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.Homan, speaking as National Guard troops were preparing for deployment to riot-ravaged L.A., underscored that the same laws apply to anyone who "cross[es] that line," stating, "It's a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It's a felony to impede law enforcement from doing their job.""Governor Newsom is an embarrassment for this state," continued the border czar. "He supports sanctuary cities. He supports sanctuary laws. If he cared about public safety in the state of California, he would not have a sanctuary for criminals — where criminals get released to the streets of this state every day because of his policies."Newsom responded Sunday to Homan's comments with a dare: "Come and get me, tough guy."Newsom went on MSNBC hours after Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell admitted that police were "overwhelmed" and shortly after rioters pelted California Highway Patrol officers with rocks near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.'He is putting fuel on this fire.'Rather than castigate the foreign flag-waving radicals impeding ICE and attacking law enforcement in his crime-ridden sanctuary state — footage of which could be seen playing on the television screen behind him — Newsom spent the majority of his airtime framing the disorder as the work of Trump and his administration."Donald Trump has created the conditions that you see on your TV tonight," said Newsom, who Trump said on Sunday should "apologize to the people of Los Angeles." "He's exacerbated the conditions. He's, you know, lit the proverbial match. He is putting fuel on this fire every since he announced he was taking over the National Guard."RELATED: Fiery footage shows radicals in LA savagely attack law enforcement on second night of violent riots Photo by RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty ImagesThe Democratic governor suggested that Trump's use of the National Guard to restore order in L.A. — an action similarly taken by former President George H.W. Bush in 1992 in the interest of peace and safety — was an "immoral act" and "an unconstitutional act" and said he would sue the administration on Monday.When asked about Homan's comments regarding possible arrests for those impeding law enforcement operations, Newsom said, "He's a tough guy. Why doesn't he do that? He knows where to find me."'Newsom should be embarrassed.'After characterizing those illegal aliens whom the Trump administration is attempting to remove from the U.S. as "poor people who're just trying to ... live their lives, man," Newsom said, "[Who] the hell is this guy? Come after me. Arrest me. Let's just get it over with, tough guy. You know? I don't give a damn."RELATED: Why Trump had to do what Gavin Newsom refused to do Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesThe White House made clear after the Democratic governor spent his evening attacking Trump and in the wake of his apparent admission of guilt — Homan indicated, after all, that arrests were warranted only if officials crossed the line — that Newsom should adjust his focus with a mind to improving his state.White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Blaze News, "Governor Newsom should focus on stopping the violent riots and attacks on law enforcement that are consuming Los Angeles instead of political posturing for the TV cameras.""The entire country can see the chaos and lawlessness. Newsom should be embarrassed," added Jackson.President Trump minced no words Sunday, telling reporters that "if officials stand in the way of law and order, yeah, they will face charges."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The former Democrat co-chairman of the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 continues to lie about President Donald J. Trump’s authorization of the D.C. National Guard on Jan. 6.Amid the backdrop of the Los Angeles anti-ICE riots, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) took to social media on June 8 and claimed, “Trump refused to call the National Guard during the Jan 6th insurrection.”'Pelosi will never go for it.' — (@) The truth is that several days ahead of time, President Trump authorized up to 20,000 National Guard troops for duty on Jan. 6. Under the law, those troops would need to be requested by a governor or, in the case of the District of Columbia, the mayor.Democrat politicians refused Guard helpDemocrat Mayor Muriel Bowser rejected the offer of National Guard troops in a Jan. 5 letter to the Department of Defense.Former Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund requested Guard troops days in advance during meetings with the House and Senate sergeants at arms. At the time, the House sergeant at arms, Paul Irving, reported to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The late Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger reported to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).Sund was later told by Stenger that the National Guard request would not have flown because, as Irving put it, “Pelosi will never go for it.”The sergeants at arms are two of the three voting members of the Capitol Police Board, which is responsible for security at the Capitol. The board refused Chief Sund’s requests for the National Guard until mid-afternoon on Jan. 6, after the Capitol had been breached and the grounds overrun with tens of thousands of protesters.According to the U.S. Department of Defense inspector general’s report regarding the events of Jan. 6, 2021, the use of National Guard troops was discussed during a White House meeting on Jan. 3, 2021.In attendance were acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, presidential Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and Sec. Miller’s chief of staff, Kash Patel. “The president told Mr. Miller that there would be a large number of protesters on January 6, 2021, and Mr. Miller should ensure sufficient National Guard or soldiers would be there to make sure it was a safe event,” Milley said.Patel, who is now FBI director, said Trump did all he was constitutionally allowed to do.“He said, ‘If you need up to 20,000 National Guardsmen and women, not just in Washington, D.C., but anywhere in the country, you have my authorization,’” Patel recalled.Miller recalled the discussions this way: “The president said while we’re leaving, ‘Hey, one more thing,’ and we all sat back down and discussed what was going on on Jan. 6,” Miller said.'I am stunned by the repeated statements by Pelosi.'“The president was doing just what I expect the commander in chief to do, any commander in chief to do. He was looking at the broad threats against the United States, and he brought this up on his own. We did not bring it up.”During a series of conference calls on Jan. 6, the Pentagon balked at the “optics” of having National Guard troops at the Capitol. Thus began a critical three-hour, 19-minute delay in putting boots on the ground at the Capitol.The career officers at the Pentagon were more concerned with politics than with ensuring that the National Guard made it to the Capitol, said Casey Wardynski, former assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and Reserve affairs and a 30-year U.S. Army veteran who served former President Donald Trump at the Pentagon from 2019 to 2021.“Instead of looking after what’s best for the country, they were looking to cover their asses and do what was best for their careers and for the perception of their favorite institution, the Army,” Wardynski told Blaze News. New Jersey police arrived before National GuardU.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, said information uncovered by his investigators was ignored by the now-defunct Jan. 6 Select Committee and left out of the Pentagon inspector general report issued in November 2021.“It took too long for the D.C. National Guard to arrive at the Capitol. The 113th Wing Capital Guardians have a proud history protecting our nation’s capital and serving our nation’s leadership. Nevertheless, the New Jersey State Police from nearly 150 miles away responded to the Capitol before the D.C. National Guard.” Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images In Jan. 6 HBO documentary footage obtained by Loudermilk’s subcommittee, Pelosi expressed exasperation that the Guard was not at the Capitol, at nearly the same hour that her House sergeant at arms was refusing Sund’s desperate pleas for National Guard help.Sund told Blaze News in 2024 that if Pelosi had simply granted his Jan. 3 request for the National Guard, “I don’t think we would be here discussing this today.”“I am stunned by the repeated statements by Pelosi about there not being any National Guard deployed to the Capitol in advance of the attack on January 6,” Sund said, “when it was her sergeant at arms for the House of Representatives who denied my request for support on January 3, and then again repeatedly for 71 minutes while we were under attack on January 6.”Sund said the response to his urgent request for help was “absolutely abysmal,” noting that by the time Guard members arrived at the staging location near the Capitol, they were no longer needed.“They could have not shown up and it wouldn't have changed a thing,” Sund told Blaze News.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!