Cross-Examination

• Four LEOs murdered in NC: It’s a strong sign of the sickness that infects American society when, on a news day that should be dominated by the loss of four law enforcement officers, we’re instead “treated” to footage of the filthy and destructive Soros-funded rabble who have overtaken our institutions of lower learning. The four officers were among eight LEOs who were shot Monday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina. As Fox News reports: “The shootout began around 1:30 p.m. Monday while members of a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were serving a warrant for firearm possession by a convicted felon. Hours and dozens of gunshots later, authorities confirmed that three task force members and one CMPD officer were fatally shot while four other officers were injured.” Said one shaken resident of the ordinarily quiet neighborhood: “There were just an enormous amount of gunshots and people in our yard and people hiding behind vehicles. Firemen hiding behind fire trucks. … I was in a state of shock. It’s really tragic. Those folks go to work every day to protect us.” Local authorities confirmed that the 39-year-old suspect, whom police had attempted to serve, was shot and killed in the front yard after having fired on the officers. But that suspect was reportedly not the only would-be cop killer on the property. Gunfire continued to come from the home even after the suspect had been taken down, and two other “persons of interest” were taken into custody. “Our hearts are heavy tonight for the lives shattered by today’s horrific shooting,” said the U.S. Marshals Service in a statement. “We are grateful for all the support, and we keep the families and colleagues of all officers involved, in our thoughts.”

• Good news: Police hiring is up: Despite the previous story, there is a silver lining. For the first time since 2020 — marked by the infamous Summer of Rage thanks in large part to the anti-police narrative pushed by Black Lives Matter and Democrat politicians following the death of George Floyd — police departments are seeing a rise in the number of officers hired and a higher retention rate. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) reports: “For the first time since the start of the pandemic, agencies reported a year-over-year increase in total sworn staffing. Responding agencies reported hiring more sworn officers in 2023 than in any of the previous four years. Agencies saw fewer resignations in 2023 than they did in 2021 or 2022, though they still had more officers resign last year than in 2019 or 2020. And retirements dropped back down to roughly where they were in 2019 after being elevated for the previous three years.” As of January 1, 2024, police departments across the country total 151,335 officers, representing a 0.4% increase over the prior year’s total of 150,714 officers. Furthermore, the number of officers resigning and retiring has decreased by 21.6% and 24%, respectively, from the year prior.

• Trump and DeSantis meet amidst speculation about ticket: Donald Trump took time out of his jam-packed leftist lawfare schedule over the weekend to meet privately with America’s Best Governor, Florida’s Ron DeSantis. Much like Trump’s rebuilt relationships with 2016 Republican presidential primary rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, this meeting likely signals a mending of the fence between DeSantis, who challenged Trump for the Republican nomination, and Trump, who responded by belittling the governor as “DeSanctimonious.” As the Associated Press reports: “The meeting, which lasted three hours, was organized to help the men bury the hatchet and discuss potential joint fundraising efforts,” according to an anonymous source. “The governor, during the conversation, committed to helping Trump as he faces President Joe Biden in the general election.” Trump called it “a great meeting,” adding that he was “very happy to have [DeSantis’s] full and enthusiastic support.” Trump continued: “The conversation mostly concerned how we would work closely together to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. … I greatly appreciate Ron’s support in taking back our Country from the Worst President in the History of the United States.” At this point, one can only wonder whether anything else was discussed at the meeting — such as DeSantis joining the Trump ticket. If he did so, the two would have to manage the constitutional proscription against both candidates hailing from the same state.

• Gallup: Biden’s approval rating is the lowest in 70 years: Go figure. The guy who got more votes for president, ahem, than any candidate in American history is now, according to Gallup, the least popular chief executive since the renowned polling organization began measuring these things back when Ike was president. “President Joe Biden,” as Gallup reports, “averaged 38.7% job approval during his recently completed 13th quarter in office, which began on Jan. 20 and ended April 19. None of the other nine presidents elected to their first term since Dwight Eisenhower had a lower 13th-quarter average than Biden.” These grim tidings, taken in combination with a new CNN poll that shows Donald Trump leading Biden by six points in a head-to-head matchup and by nine points when third-party candidates RFK Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein are added to the mix, will no doubt have Scranton Joe’s handlers reaching for the Maalox. As the Gallup pollsters conclude, “With about six months remaining before Election Day, Biden stands in a weaker position than any prior incumbent, and thus faces a taller task than they did in getting reelected.”

• TX sues over Title IX revisions: On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its recent Title IX rewrite that effectively erases protections for girls and women by redefining the female sex to include males who identify as female. Paxton noted that the Biden administration’s motive was to push the Left’s “radical gender ideology.” Therefore, “Texas will not allow Joe Biden to rewrite Title IX at whim, destroying legal protections for women in furtherance of his radical obsession with gender ideology,” Paxton asserted. “This attempt to subvert federal law is plainly illegal, undemocratic, and divorced from reality. Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk.” Joining Texas in its lawsuit is America First Legal, which contends that the Education Department’s changes to Title IX “would fundamentally transform the educational atmosphere of publicly funded educational institutions, forcing communities to capitulate to unscientific gender ideology and putting girls and women at risk in K-12 schools and on college campuses.” According to the Biden administration’s Title IX rewrite, any schools that receive federal funding may not exclude males who identify as females from girls’ and women’s spaces based upon a purely biological sex-based reality. Eight other states have also launched lawsuits over the Title IX rewrite, including Montana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Idaho, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina.

• The Mob forces Columbia’s hand: “The president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely the wrong approach. That is not an example of peaceful protest. … A small percentage of students shouldn’t be able to disrupt the academic experience [blah, blah, blah] … that does not comport with the idea of peaceful protest.” So said John Kirby, one of Joe Biden’s increasingly hapless mouthpieces, as the filthy, cowardly, mask-wearing, Jew-hating, Hamas-supporting, Soros-funded, latter-day Occupy Wall Street rabble turned violent at the Ivy League’s Columbia University in Manhattan. Indeed, to its eternal disgrace, Columbia was forced to close its doors indefinitely (“until circumstances allow otherwise”) after a Jew-hating mob broke into the university’s iconic Hamilton Hall early this morning. As Fox News reports: “Once inside Hamilton Hall, the mob began ‘moving metal gates to barricade the doors, blocking entrances with wooden tables and chairs, and zip-tying doors shut,’ according to the student newspaper Columbia Spectator. Footage of the insurrection showed the protesters in New York smashing windows, unfurling a Palestinian flag over a window and chanting: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ and ‘Palestine will live forever.’” We imagine all the folks who sent their children to Columbia must be brimming with pride. “Effective immediately,” began a statement from the university, “access to the Morningside campus has been limited to students residing in residential buildings on campus … and employees who provide essential services to campus buildings, labs and residential student life.”

• Anti-Semitic encampment delayed: In Seattle, an anti-Israel student group at the University of Washington has delayed a planned encampment protest on the campus. The reason for the University of Washington Progressive Student Union (UWPSU) hitting pause on its anti-Semitic protest was not due to any warning from school officials, as the administration reportedly told local Jewish leaders that they would not intervene in the protest unless “the event escalates and threatens life safety.” Ironically, the reason the protest has been delayed has everything to do with DEI. That’s right: These radical leftist students are concerned that those who are planning to show up for the protest are too white. In a social media post, the UWPSU explained: “After a long meeting we decided to postpone the encampment. We want to make sure this encampment is a better reflection of the UW community, and having even greater unity with Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab students.” The post added: “We want to be part of a much larger coalition of groups and make no mistake, WE WILL HAVE A UW ENCAMPMENT! We want to make sure everyone’s voice is included and this action is as safe, secure, and strong as possible.” Evidently, the UWPSU wants a variety of racial groups present to help spread its anti-Semitic hate.

• IOC’s useful idiots: In a decision that amounts to little other than a leftist virtue signal, the International Olympic Committee recently announced that it will recognize Palestine as its own country at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in France. This is largely an empty gesture, given the fact that there will likely be no athletes from the war-torn region participating in the games. There is apparently one Palestinian individual who has qualified in the sport of taekwondo. Regardless of whether he can or will attend, the IOC makes clear that its decision is all about making a political statement. “We have made the clear commitment that even if no (Palestinian) athlete would qualify on the field of play … then the National Olympic Committee of Palestine would benefit from invitations, like other national Olympic Committees who do not have a qualified athlete,” stated IOC chief Thomas Bach. Meanwhile, the IOC bars athletes representing Russia from competing due to Russia’s invasion and war with Ukraine. The question is, why has the IOC not given the Palestinians the same treatment as it gave the Russians? Like Russia, it was Hamas that started this war with Israel by launching an unprovoked terror attack against innocent Israeli civilians on October 7.

Headlines

• Chaos at Princeton: 13 arrested after students, faculty occupy campus building (National Review)

• Pro-Hamas protesters at Columbia University call for destroying state of Israel (Daily Wire) | Columbia begins suspending anti-Israel protesters who defied deadline to disperse (National Review)

• Pelosi accuses MSNBC host of being a Trump “apologist” for adding context to job numbers (Fox News)

• White House officially claims Biden has made 148 mistakes during 2024 public remarks (Daily Caller)

• Tennessee governor signs law allowing teachers to be armed on campus (Daily Wire)

• Federal court blocks West Virginia, North Carolina laws barring state health insurance coverage for gender transition (National Review)

• Arizona rancher accused of murdering illegal immigrant trespassing on his property won’t be retried (Daily Wire)

• Scotland’s leader resigns after conflicts over climate change, gender identity weakened government (AP)

• Humor: Israel withdraws from Gaza after learning of protest by 19-year-old Fine Arts major Roxy Barnett (Babylon Bee)

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