Eric Swalwell Cartoons

Police: Parishioners kill man who fatally shoots 2 at church

WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas (AP) — A man pulled out a shotgun at a Texas church service and fired on worshippers Sunday, killing two people before he was shot to death by congregants who fired back, police said.

Authorities at a Sunday evening news conference praised the two congregants who opened fire as part of a volunteer security team at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement. It was unclear if the two people who were killed were the two who shot at the gunman.

“This team responded quickly and within six seconds, the shooting was over. Two of the parishioners who were volunteers of the security force drew their weapons and took out the killer immediately, saving untold number of lives,” said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also hailed the state’s gun laws.

Britt Farmer, senior minister of the church, said, “We lost two great men today, but it could have been a lot worse.”

Authorities said there were more than 240 parishioners in the West Freeway Church at the time of the shooting.

White Settlement Police Department Chief J.P. Bevering said the gunman had sat down in a pew before getting up, taking out a shotgun and firing at a parishioner, who was killed. He said the church’s security team then “eliminated the threat.”

Officials have not released the names of the victims or the gunman. FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno said they’re working to identify the gunman’s motive, adding that he is “relatively transient” but had roots in the area.

DeSarno also said the gunman had been arrested multiple times in the past but declined to give details.

An elder at the church told the New York Times that one of those killed was a security guard who responded to the shooter, calling him a dear friend.

“He was trying to do what he needed to do to protect the rest of us,” said the elder, Mike Tinius.

“It’s extremely upsetting to see anyone committing violence,” he said.

Tinius said he didn’t know the gunman and that the shooting appeared to be random.

A woman who answered the phone at the West Freeway Church of Christ told the AP she could not answer any questions and that she was told to direct inquiries to authorities.

In a livestream of the church service, the gunman can be seen getting up from a pew and talking to someone at the back of the church before pulling out a gun and opening fire. Parishioners can then be heard screaming and seen ducking under pews or running as papers fly to the floor.

Two people with minor injuries that were sustained while ducking for cover were treated at the scene, MedStar Mobile Healthcare spokeswoman Macara Trusty said.

Gov. Greg Abbott asked the state to pray for the victims, their loved ones and the community of White Settlement, about 8 miles (12 kilometers) west of Fort Worth.

“Places of worship are meant to be sacred, and I am grateful for the church members who acted quickly to take down the shooter and help prevent further loss of life,” Abbott said in a tweeted statement.

It is not the first deadly shooting to take place at a church in Texas. In November 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire on the congregation at a church in Sutherland Springs, killing more than two dozen worshippers, before taking his own life. And in 1999, a gunman killed seven people in Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth before detonating an explosive device and killing himself.

Sunday’s shooting in Texas was also the second attack on a religious gathering in the U.S. in less than 24 hours. On Saturday night, a man stabbed five people as they celebrated Hanukkah in an Orthodox Jewish community north of New York City.

In 2020, DC will be mostly about politics, not legislation

This is around the time of the winter break that children have busted most of the toys they acquired for Christmas and mom and dad can't wait for the kids to go back to school.
It kind of works this way in Congress, too.
Everyone has played with all of the toys over the holidays. Everyone has tired of their toys or broken them. And lawmakers start to get antsy to head back to Capitol Hill. We conceivably have another week-and-a-half or more of the interregnum.
No votes are scheduled in the Senate until January 6. Nothing in the House until January 7. However, the prospects of a Senate trial – and any potential negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) loom. And no one has any clue exactly what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is up to, clinging to the articles of impeachment adopted earlier this month by the House. The House has to vote to send the articles over to the Senate. If and when the Speaker will ever send the articles to the Senate remains unclear.
So everyone in Washington is focused on a Senate trial and if there will ever be a Senate trial. How long it goes. Who testifies. If there are ever any GOP defectors. At this stage, there’s still no chance the Senate convicts and removes President Trump.
So, what does Congress have on its docket this year once the impeachment trial wraps up?
Frankly, not a lot when it comes to significant legislation.
The Senate still needs to sync up with the House and approve the USMCA. McConnell says the Senate won’t tackle that until the trial is complete. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) scheduled a “markup” session for early January to prep the USMCA for the floor. If the articles of impeachment remain in abeyance, it’s possible the Senate could turn to the trade pact sooner rather than later.
The government is now funded through September 30, 2020. The Senate will likely focus on confirming more judges. House Democrats will return to their “For the People” agenda, promoting voting rights, bolstering election security and curbing firearm violence. Any future Supreme Court vacancy could make the confirmation battle over Justice Brett Kavanaugh look like Joe Burrow picking apart the Oklahoma secondary.
There’s just not a lot of big-ticket legislative items on the docket.
2020 will be about politics. House and Senate elections and certainly the presidency.
It’s hard to judge if the House is in play.
Even learned Republicans concede to Fox that there aren’t many pathways to the majority for the GOP this fall – even with impeachment. They note that’s why there are so many retirements by House Republicans.
Certainly everyone will focus on the (now) 29 House Democrats who voted to impeach President Trump who represent districts Mr. Trump carried in 2016. The figure had been 31 Democrats who occupied districts the President won. But Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) opposed the articles and switched parties. Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) voted nay on both articles. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) split his votes, supporting impeachment on the abuse of power article and opposing the article dealing with obstruction of Congress. Republicans will certainly target those Democrats who backed impeachment. But it’s unclear if votes in favor of impeachment could be enough to flip the House to Republican control.
House Democrats will continue to pursue a host of investigations into the Trump Administration and litigate subpoenas to get various officials to testify or provide documents. And, there is chatter that the House may not be done with impeachment articles. House Democrats are leaving the door open to potentially pursue additional charges down the road.
Meantime, Democrats are already targeting the Senate as the “legislative graveyard” for dozens of bills approved by the House. Democrats are prepared to turn up the heat against the Republican-controlled Senate. Democrats will also make an issue over how “fair” a Senate trial may be and what that means for at-risk GOP senators from battleground states: Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Martha McSally (R-AZ), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and maybe even Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), David Perdue (R-GA) and Sen.-designate Kelly Loeffler (R-GA).
Meantime, expect Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Grassley at the Finance panel to ramp up their inquiries into the 2016 election, FISA abuse, Ukraine and the Bidens.
And, the GOP Senate brass may try to engineer some challenging votes in 2020 to trip up the Democratic presidential contenders who serve in the Senate: Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO). And, consider if one of those senators becomes the Democratic presidential nominee. Senate Republicans will weaponize roll call votes to get those senators on the record on controversial issues. Plus, Republicans will concoct problematic roll call votes to make vulnerable Democratic senators sweat: think Sens. Doug Jones (D-AL), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
And then there is President Trump. Without question, the President is the biggest factor on Capitol Hill in 2020. He always is. The President’s rallies, speeches, tweets and visits with Graham and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) will dictate the political contours of Capitol Hill throughout the year. And buckle in if there is yet another White House conclave with the President and Pelosi sometime in the next 12 months. The last two episodes have imploded in phenomenal fashion.
And, if the Democratic presidential nominee comes from the Senate, the President will direct a lot of ire toward the other end of Pennsylvania Ave.
So, it’s around that time of the holidays. Most of the toys from Christmas are broken. The batteries are dead. The kids are bored. People are itching to get back to Washington and stir things up.
2020 is an election year. And so 2020 will be mostly about politics and not about legislation.

Giuliani calls Swalwell a coward after congressman’s attack

Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's personal attorney, fired back at Rep. Eric Swalwell after the California representative tweeted shortly after an attack at a rabbi's house that the ex-mayor was helping stoke the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S.
Swalwell, has been an outspoken critic of Trump, and took to Twitter on Sunday shortly after a knife-wielding man stormed into a rabbi’s home and stabbed five people as they celebrated Hanukkah in an Orthodox Jewish community north of New York City.
Swalwell tweeted an op-ed he penned earlier this month for The Forward where he warned of the rise of anti-Semitism. He wrote that Giuliani, among others, "have relentlessly attacked Jewish philanthropists including Michael Bloomberg and George Soros."
Giuliani has been criticized recently over remarks he made about being "more Jewish" than Soros, the billionaire investor.
Soros, who reportedly survived the Holocaust, has donated heavily to liberal causes and is vilified on the right. He is also the subject of many unfounded conspiracy theories. Some have falsely accused him of being a Nazi collaborator during World War II, when he was a child in Hungary.
Giuliani told journalist Olivia Nuzzi, "Soros is hardly a Jew. I’m more of a Jew than Soros is. I probably know more about — he doesn’t go to church, he doesn’t go to religion — synagogue. He doesn’t belong to a synagogue, he doesn’t support Israel, he’s an enemy of Israel. He's elected eight anarchist DA’s in the United States. He’s a horrible human being."
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, told The Hill that Giuliani’s comments were “baffling and offensive.”
Giuliani defended himself and was swift to respond to Swalwell’s criticism. He pointed out his 35 years of taking up causes to defend against anti-Semitism. He pointed to his prosecution of two Nazi war criminals and his condemnation anti-Semitism "early & often."
"Meanwhile, Swalwell, doesn’t have the guts to condemn the anti-Semites in his own party—a fraud & COWARD."
In July, the House voted on a resolution to condemn the boycott campaign against Israel and overwhelmingly passed 398-17. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., were among the 16 Democrats who voted against the resolution. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the only Republican to vote "no." Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., was one of five lawmakers who voted "present."
Giuliani did not name any member by name, but  Omar has been outspoken against Israel, once tweeting that lawmakers were supportive of the Jewish state because they were essentially being paid to do so. It was widely considered a slur that relied on a trope against Jewish people, and she later “unequivocally” apologized.
Omar, who was among a handful of Democrats who voted against the bill Tuesday, said she supports the long-held U.S. goal of a “two-state solution,” one for Israel and one for Palestine. But she said at the time that “truly achieving peace” means “ending this occupation” of Israeli settlements.
The Associated Press contributed to this report

Hecklers derail Biden New Hampshire campaign event: 'Quid pro Joe'

Former Vice President Joe Biden was interrupted by a series of hecklers calling him "creepy" and a "pervert" during a campaign event in Milford, N.H., on Sunday night.
Shortly after Biden started speaking, a man in the back of the room accused him of acting inappropriately, shouting, "don’t touch kids, you pervert."
"This is not a Trump rally," a flustered Biden fired back. "This is a democracy."
A woman then started chanting "quid pro Joe," before another attendee shouted at the 2020 hopeful, inquiring about Biden's business dealings in Ukraine.
“I've released 21 years of my tax returns, how many has yours? What's he hiding?" Biden responded.
The last two hecklers' comments seemingly referred to Biden's links to Ukraine, which President Trump referenced in his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a call that ultimately led to Trump's impeachment. Biden previously said that back in 2016, he had threatened to cut off loan guarantees to Ukraine unless the country replaced its prosecutor general, an official who had faced widespread allegations of corruption. Ukraine ultimately did replace the prosecutor that year.
Many Democrats said Trump improperly urged Zelensky to open investigations into Ukraine’s alleged involvement in the 2016 election, as well as into Biden and his son Hunter’s dealings in the country, withholding military aid as leverage. The president has denied doing anything wrong.
No campaign staff or law enforcement removed the hecklers from the event.
Earlier this month,  Biden blasted a man at an Iowa town hall as a "da-- liar" -- and challenged him to a push-up contest -- after he accused the 77-year-old former vice president of being "too old" and took a swipe at son Hunter's role on the board of a controversial Ukrainian natural gas firm.
"You sent your son over there to get a job and work for a gas company where he had no experience. ... In order to get access for the president... you're selling access to the president just like he was,” the questioner said.
Biden fired back: "You’re a da-- liar, man. That's not true and no one has ever said that."
Biden, who would be 78 upon becoming president if he wins, repeatedly has defended his fitness on the campaign trail, noting that with age "comes wisdom."
The 2020 hopeful was ramping up his campaign efforts ahead of early voting contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, as nobody has emerged as a clear front-runner to win the Democrats' race for the presidential nomination.
Fox News' Allie Raffa in Milford, N.H., contributed to this report.

December 2019 Townhall Cartoons

Woman charged with hate crime amid NYC anti-Semitic attacks

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2019 file photo, Orthodox Jewish men pass New York City police guarding a Brooklyn synagogue prior to a funeral for Mosche Deutsch in New York. Deutsch, a rabbinical student from Brooklyn, was killed in the shooting inside a Jersey City, N.J. market. New York City is increasing its police presence in some Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish populations after a number of possibly anti-Semitic attacks during the Hanukkah holiday. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

 

Tiffany Harris

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman accused of slapping three people in one of a series of apparently anti-Semitic attacks reported throughout New York during Hanukkah was charged Saturday with attempted assault as a hate crime, court records show.

Tiffany Harris, 30, was released without bail after her arraignment on the attempted assault charge and misdemeanor and lower-level charges , according to the records.

Her lawyer, Iris Ying, declined to comment, and the New York Post reported that Harris rebuffed questions as she left a Brooklyn court.

Police said Harris slapped three women, ages 22 to 31, in the face and head after encountering them on a corner in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights area. The victims suffered minor pain, police said.

Around the city, police have gotten at least six reports this week — and eight since Dec. 13 — of attacks possibly propelled by anti-Jewish bias.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that police presence would increase in Crown Heights and two other Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish populations.

Ukraine, eastern rebels swap prisoners in move to end war

MAIORSK CHECKPOINT, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine began exchanging prisoners Sunday in a move aimed at ending their 5-year-long war.

The move was part of an agreement brokered earlier this month at a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.

A rebel government official and the Ukrainian president’s office confirmed that the swap has started.

In total, 142 prisoners were expected to be exchanged at a checkpoint near Horlivka in eastern Ukraine — 55 released by the rebels and 87 by Ukraine.

The last major prisoner swap between separatist rebels and Ukrainian forces took place in December 2017, with 233 rebels exchanged for 73 Ukrainians.

The fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014 has killed more than 14,000 people. The conflict began about two months after Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president fled the country amid massive protests in Kyiv. Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula soon followed.

Hopes for ending the conflict have risen since the spring election of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has been more amenable to negotiations with Russia on ending the war.

But prospects for peace are still troubled by questions over allowing local elections that would ensure the rebel regions more autonomy and about Ukraine regaining control of its border with Russia in the rebel areas.