• Presidential Medal of Freedom for Kirk: On October 14, what would have been Charlie Kirk’s 32nd birthday, President Donald Trump hosted a ceremony at the White House to posthumously award Kirk with America’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Kirk’s widow, Erika, accepted the medal on her husband’s behalf and stood with Trump as he officially proclaimed the day a national day of remembrance. Erika said: “He believed that liberty was both a right and a responsibility. And he used to say that freedom is the ability to do what is right without fear. And that’s how he lived.” Trump wrote: “Today, our Nation honors the immortal memory of Charlie — a father, a husband, a Christian martyr, and a titan of the American conservative movement. … Every day, Charlie devoted himself to a set of simple causes: Defending the truth, encouraging debate, and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was gracious and articulate beyond measure, always welcomed opposing perspectives, and never deviated from his noble goal of bridging our political, cultural, and philosophical divides.”

• Kirk haters’ visas revoked: Marco Rubio’s State Department has been exercising its right to revoke visas throughout the year and for the right reasons. The most recent round of revocations came after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. At least six visas were revoked for those who celebrated Kirk’s death. One Argentine who is no longer welcome in the U.S. commented that Charlie “devoted his entire life spreading racist, xenophobic, misogynistic rhetoric.” A German unwisely said, “When fascists die, democrats don’t complain.” The State Department issued a simple comment on the revocations that sums it up nicely: “The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.”

• A fugitive resides in Letitia James’s Norfolk house: In another ironic twist in the “no one is above the law” plot of Letitia James, it appears that her “tenant” in her Virginia mortgage fraud home is a fugitive from the law. James’s niece, Nakia Thompson, who has lived in the Norfolk home since 2020 with her three children, absconded from North Carolina, where she was wanted for grand larceny, burglary, and abuse of a child. The highest law enforcement official in New York not only allegedly broke federal laws herself but also helped her niece evade the law. James is accused of falsifying information on every mortgage document for the past 42 years on three different properties. Contrary to what CNN says, not everyone in America commits mortgage fraud, nor should prosecutors of the law be helping their family flee from it.

• State Dept. senior advisor aided ChiComs: A State Department senior advisor and Department of War contractor has been accused of unlawfully retaining top-secret national defense information and meeting with Chinese government officials. Considered an expert in India and South Asia, Ashley Tellis began working for the State Department in 2001. According to court documents, Tellis had thousands of documents at his home in Vienna, Virginia, marked “TOP SECRET” and “SECRET.” He is also accused of getting a coworker to print multiple classified documents for him and having several meetings with Chinese officials.

• Mexican cartels place bounties on DHS agents: Last week, we covered a story about a Latin Kings gangster placing a $10K bounty on the head of Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino. The Department of Homeland Security has now released information that cartel efforts to kill American law enforcement officers are far more widespread. $2,000 has been offered for the doxing of federal agents, $5,000-$10,000 is the reward for assaulting or kidnapping them, and a $50,000 price has been put on the heads of top immigration officials. Agents have been ambushed, surveilled by drones, and sent death threats. In Chicago, armed gang “spotters” have been tracking ICE movements from the rooftops in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods. Secretary Kristi Noem calls the cartel actions an “organized campaign of terror” and promised to double down on the ongoing Chicago crime crackdown.

• Federal crime crackdown in Memphis nets over 850 arrests: The crime crackdown in Memphis has secured over 850 arrests, seized 175 guns, and found 44 missing children in its first two weeks. U.S. Marshals, FBI and DEA agents, and National Guardsmen arrived in the city last month to begin the operation. At a joint news conference on Tuesday, Gov. Bill Lee and Mayor Paul Young announced that the operation will continue indefinitely and forever “change the world of violent crime in the city.” Mayor Young announced that, before the operation began, there were 10,000 suspects wanted on felony warrants in the city. Young highlighted the benefits to North Memphis residents, such as children feeling more secure in playing outside and programs that offer services to groups at risk of falling into a criminal lifestyle. Lee emphasized the National Guard’s role in providing visible deterrence in high-crime areas.

• CA bans sale of Glock-style guns: Second Amendment advocacy groups have sued California after Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1127, which bans the sale of new-designed Glock and Glock-style pistols in the Golden State. Democrat lawmakers argue that it is necessary to prevent semiautomatic pistols from being converted into fully automatic firearms via a modification, which has already been banned. The law does not ban the sale of used older-model Glocks. The NRA is joined by the Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition, and two other individuals in the lawsuit. Decrying the “crusade against constitutional rights,” John Commerford, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, observed, “Once again, they are attempting to violate landmark Supreme Court decisions and disarm law-abiding citizens by banning some of the most commonly owned handguns in America. This flagrant violation of rights cannot, and will not, go unchecked.”

• Oregon health spending for migrants dwarfs budget of state police: In the 2025-2027 timeframe, Oregon officials plan to spend $1.5 billion in state and federal taxpayer dollars on healthcare for illegal immigrants and only $717 million on the Oregon State Police. Roughly 25% of the funding will come from the federal government. Medicaid formally bars illegals from receiving benefits, but Oregon’s accountants use creative methods to get around that, including taxing Medicaid insurers to obtain matching federal funds and then returning the taxed money. Illegal aliens in Oregon don’t even need to prove long-term residency to get benefits, which explains how spending on illegals has ballooned 1,100% in four years. Senate Democrats have shut down the government over healthcare for illegals, but apparently, blue states have already been providing it.

• Trump’s NIH funding bat lab in CO: “It’s like a bad sequel,” stated Sen. Joni Ernst upon learning that the National Institutes of Health has decided to fund a bat virus research lab in Colorado. “Same plot. Same cast of characters, but a bigger budget!” Ernst added. “We cannot repeat the mistakes of COVID. I will be working to stop these mad scientists and their batty experiments once and for all.” The lab in question is located at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. The lab intends to breed a variety of bat species for the express purpose of researching bat-based viruses, such as Ebola, Nipah, and coronaviruses. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya has previously expressed criticism of this type of research in the past, asking just a year ago, “I don’t understand how do you prevent a pandemic with this research?” CSU states on its website that its lab “has no plans to conduct gain-of-function infectious disease research with bats that could increase the transmission of a virus or other pathogens to humans.” It is not clear why Dr. Bhattacharya has apparently changed his mind.

Headlines

• Phase two of Israel-Hamas deal on hold until all hostages returned (Jerusalem Post)

• Major media outlets rebuff new Pentagon press policy (WSJ)

• Young Republicans’ vile group chat praising Hitler, joking about rape exposed (NY Post)

• Teens who jumped ex-DOGE staffer Edward Coristine avoid jail, sentenced to probation (NY Post)

• Los Angeles County declares local state of emergency over ICE raid surge (Fox News)

• Lawsuit filed challenging the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act (Shooting News Weekly)

• Trans identification in free-fall among young people (Not the Bee)

• Humor: Democrats vow to keep government shut down until someone notices (Babylon Bee)

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