• PA Officers KIA: Three officers were murdered and two others are in critical condition after being ambushed by an assailant in a rural community near York, Pennsylvania. They were serving a stalking warrant on the assailant when he opened fire. The officers returned fire, killing the 24-year-old suspected assailant. The names of the officers have not been released. A neighbor and witness to the assault said it was “traumatic, like a scene off today’s TV.” As we have argued for decades, the consequences of unstable young people being saturated with media and gaming violence is deadly. This was the worst attack against PA officers in many years, and it follows similar attacks in other states. Most recently, four officers were killed and four were injured in Charlotte, North Carolina, in April 2024. Gov. Josh Shapiro solemnly observed: “We need to do better as a society. We need to help the people who think that picking up a gun, picking up a weapon is the answer to resolving disputes. … This is an absolutely tragic and devastating day for York County and for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Grieve for the loss of life for three precious souls who served this county, served this commonwealth, and served this country, and we continue to pray for the full recovery of those who are dealing with their wounds.” Join us in prayer for the officers recovering and the families of those killed.

• Fed cuts rates by 0.25% On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve, as widely anticipated, cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25%, dropping the overall interest rate down between 4% and 4.25%. The issue facing the Fed was that the inflationary rate continued to exceed its 2% goal. It had ticked up over the last couple of months, and economists are now predicting inflation will reach 2.6% next year. Still, concern over rising unemployment motivated the Fed to lower interest rates in a decision Fed Chairman Jerome Powell called a “risk-management cut” while also emphasizing, “it’s not a bad economy.” Donald Trump’s criticism of the Fed has centered on its perceived slowness to lower interest rates, which he contends has been negatively impacting the economy. It will be interesting to see what impact this will have on the economy and whether or not Trump is proven correct.

• Civics education makes a comeback: Education Secretary Linda McMahon is launching the America 250 Civics Education Coalition to renew patriotism and strengthen civics knowledge nationally. Teaching kids about what makes America great is a crazy idea, but it just might work. On the current state of civics education in this country, McMahon put it bluntly: “I’m going to say it’s in decline, but I could almost say it is absent.” Only 13% of eighth graders were ranked proficient in history in 2022, and only 22% were proficient in civics. A 2018 study showed that three in four adults were confused about why the American colonists fought the British in the Revolutionary War. McMahon’s plan will tackle the problem head-on with over 100 events nationwide, a tour visiting all 50 states, student history competitions, and college lectures from members of Congress.

• Satisfaction with K-12 education system hits new low: Just 35% of American adults say they are satisfied with the country’s K-12 education system, a new Gallup survey has found. That represents a new record low for the survey, undercutting the previous low of 36% in 2000 and 2023 polls. Gallup researcher Megan Brenan observed, “The NAEP [National Assessment for Educational Progress] results show steep declines in K-12 students’ reading and math scores since 2019, with many failing to reach even basic proficiency.” Indeed, when a significant number of students are failing, it’s no wonder Americans have a decidedly negative view of the nation’s schools. Broken down by political affiliation, just 29% of Republicans expressed satisfaction with America’s schools, compared to 42% of Democrats and 34% of independents.

• ABC reporter “regrets” fawning comments about Robinson: ABC News Correspondent Matt Gutman “apologized” for his on-air comments Tuesday, in which he gushed over how much assassin Tyler Robinson loved his boyfriend. Gutman interpreted Robinson’s comments in a text exchange as something just short of a love letter to his trans-identifying boyfriend. Others have pointed out that Robinson’s texts show more concern over covering his tracks and reclaiming his grandfather’s rifle. In his “apology,” Gutman explained that he was trying to highlight the difference between the cold-blooded assassination and the tender loving words in the texts. Gutman’s apology may allow him to keep his job, but it is plain to see that whenever a killer is on the left side of the aisle, the corporate media will grasp at any straw they can find to create sympathy.

• Obama points at Trump for Kirk assassination: Speaking on stage at the Jefferson Educational Society event in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Barack Obama implied that Donald Trump was indirectly responsible for Charlie Kirk’s assassination due to his “extreme” views. While acknowledging that Kirk’s assassination was “horrific,” Obama rattled off a list of falsely framed statements from Kirk, including that he said black women were stupid. He then claimed that Trump was using Kirk’s assassination as “a rationale for trying to silence discussion around who we are as a country and what direction we should go.” Obama also gaslighted his own political record, asserting, “Those extreme views were not in my White House. I wasn’t embracing them. I wasn’t empowering them. I wasn’t putting the weight of the United States government behind extremist views.” Can we get a fact-check?

• Antifa designated a terrorist organization: President Donald Trump has designated the consistently violent and disruptive antifa organization as a terrorist group. Furthermore, he is recommending that antifa’s funding be investigated. The move comes in response to the Charlie Kirk assassin’s messaging etched on a bullet casing of “Hey fascist, catch!” Trump is clear-eyed about the fact that the leftist practice of referring to anyone to the right of Karl Marx as a fascist contributed to Robinson’s radicalization. Trump explained, “Violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day.” This is the first significant action Trump has taken in response to Kirk’s assassination; how it will play out remains to be seen.

• Four Republicans save Ilhan Omar: Republican Representatives Mike Flood, Tom McClintock, Jeff Hurd, and Cory Mills voted to table a measure that would censure Ilhan Omar and strip her of her committee assignments on First Amendment grounds on Wednesday. Hurd condemned the Democrat squad member’s comments as “ghoulish and evil” but argued that they were not made in the House and that no House rules had been broken. Representative Flood argued that the proper procedure would be to refer Omar’s comments to the House Ethics Committee before a censure. There are several other measures yet to be voted on that are also intended to strip Omar of her committee assignments.

• Dearborn’s Islamic problem: During a recent city council meeting in Dearborn, Michigan, a Christian pastor and local resident was told by the city’s Muslim mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, that he was “not welcome” in the city. Ted Barham came to the council meeting to object to two intersections that were being named in honor of an Arab American news publisher, Osama Siblani, who had a long history of praising the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas. Barham contended that the decision was “provocative,” like naming them “Hezbollah Street or Hamas Street.” Hammoud called Barham a “bigot,” “racist,” and “Islamophobe.” But he wasn’t done: “Although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here.” He added, “And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of this city.”

Headlines

• Two million illegals out of the U.S. since Trump took office, DHS confirms (Just the News)

• Leftist students deface Charlie Kirk mural at UNC Wilmington (Not the Bee)

• Judge finds Khalil misled DHS, ordered him deported (Washington Times)

• Feds denaturalize immigrant who fraudulently obtained citizenship after raping stepdaughter for years (Daily Wire)

• Tim Walz announces bid for reelection (Daily Wire)

• Jerry resigns from Ben & Jerry’s because parent company won’t let them be woke anymore (Not the Bee)

• Trump to leave Windsor Castle, meet Starmer on day 2 of UK state visit (ABC News)

• Embarrassment for MSNBC, CNN as upstart NewsNation wins out in primetime ratings (Washington Free Beacon)

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