Crime-Ridden Liberal Cities Have a New Favorite Scapegoat: Automakers

Chicago is the latest major city to sue Hyundai and Kia for failing to equip their U.S. cars for more than a decade with anti-theft technology, which was exposed on social media last year and made the vehicles a target for criminals.

“Unlike the movies, hot-wiring vehicles is far harder than it appears—unless that vehicle was manufactured by Hyundai or Kia,” the lawsuit filed Thursday by the city of Chicago states.

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Chinese Intelligence Arm Quietly Operates ‘Service Centers’ in Seven U.S. Cities

by Philip Lenczycki   A Chinese intelligence agency quietly operates “service centers” in seven American cities, all of which have had contact with Beijing’s national police authority, according to state media reports and government records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) United Front Work Department (UFWD) — which at least one U.S. government commission has characterized as a “Chinese intelligence service” — operates so-called “Overseas Chinese Service Centers” (OCSCs) that are housed within various U.S.-based nonprofits. OCSCs were ostensibly set up to promote Chinese culture and assist Chinese citizens living abroad, according to Chinese government records. State media reports, Chinese government records and social media posts show that during a 2018 trip to China, U.S.-based OCSC representatives met with Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials. During the meeting, state security officials demonstrated how they’re leveraging new technology to conduct “cross-border remote justice services” overseas. MPS is China’s national police authority and has been referred to as “China’s FBI” by China experts. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says MPS also conducts covert “intelligence and national security operations far beyond China’s borders,” including “illicit, transnational repression schemes” on U.S. soil. In April 2023, the DOJ charged two men for allegedly opening a secret police station…

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Group Names Chicago, New Orleans as U.S. Murder Capitals

Chicago recorded 697 total homicides in 2022, far more than any other city in the United States, but New Orleans had the highest murder rate per capita, according to a new report from a nonprofit research group. 

Chicago had more total homicides in 2022 than Philadelphia (516), New York City (438), Houston (435) and Los Angeles (382), which rounded out the top five, according to a report from Wirepoints, an Illinois-based research and news organization that surveyed 2022 crime data from 75 of the largest U.S. cities.

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Marine from St. Louis Area Identified Among Those Killed in Kabul Attack

A Marine who was killed in Thursday’s terrorist attacks in Kabul has been identified as a 20-year-old man from St. Louis, his father told local affiliate KMOX.

Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz is one of 13 marines who lost their lives in Thursday’s ISIS-K terror attacks at Kabul airport, his father Mark confirmed to St. Louis’ KMOX Friday. Schmitz was notified early Friday morning that his son had died.

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St. Louis’ Top Prosecutor Accused of Incompetence as Violent Crime Rises

As violent crime increases in St. Louis, residents’ outrage towards Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner appears to be growing as well.

Gardner, who assumed office at the beginning of 2017 on a progressive platform, is St. Louis’ top prosecutor. But she has taken an extremely lax approach to actually prosecuting violent criminals, angering residents and victims’ family members.

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St. Louis Prosecutor Ousted from McCloskey Case After She ‘Initiated a Criminal Prosecution for Political Purposes,’ Court Says

A St. Louis, Missouri, attorney has been barred from prosecuting Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who were charged after they were seen on video warding off rioters with guns outside their luxury home in June during nationwide unrest.

Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner was accused of having “initiated a criminal prosecution for political purposes” after it was found that she had circulated two fundraising emails about the case to aid her re-election bid, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The McCloskey legal team argued that Gardner circulated one such email weeks ahead of the Democratic primary in August, the local outlet reported.

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Mark and Patricia McCloskey Plead Not Guilty

A St. Louis couple celebrated in some circles and vilified in others for waving guns at protesters marching on their private street pleaded not guilty to two felony charges at a brief hearing Wednesday.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who are both attorneys in their early 60s, were indicted by a St. Louis grand jury last week on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence. They will appear in court again Oct. 28.

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Nine People Cited for McCloskey Home Standoff Won’t Face Charges, St Louis Officials Say

The nine people who were cited for allegedly trespassing on Mark and Patricia McCloskey’s property during a June standoff will not be prosecuted, St. Louis officials announced Tuesday.

The group was issued summonses during the beginning of September, but City Counselor Michael Garvin said “prosecution is not warranted” and the arrestees would not have to face criminal proceedings, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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Feds Expand Crime Fighting Operation to Memphis

Federal officials late last week announced an initiative, Operation Legend, to fight violent crime in Memphis and St. Louis.

“The most basic responsibility of government is to protect the safety of our citizens. Today, we have extended Operation Legend to Memphis and St. Louis, two cities experiencing increases in violent crime that no resident of those cities should have to accept as part of everyday life,” Attorney General William P. Barr said in a statement.

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Justice Department Sends Federal Officers to Memphis and St. Louis to Help Quell Nationwide Violence

Memphis

Federal officers from five different agencies are set to arrive in Memphis and St. Louis to aid in crime reduction and investigations, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Memphis will receive an influx of 40 federal agents from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Homeland Security — 24 of which are permanent assignments, according to a DOJ press release. St. Louis is set to receive an unspecified number of agents from the ATF, DEA, FBI and U.S. Marshals Service with an additional 50 Homeland Security agents, the release said.

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St. Louis Prosecutor’s Office Appears to Have Tampered with Evidence in McCloskey Gun Case

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s staff appears to have tampered with evidence in order to press charges against the St. Louis woman who waved a gun at the Black Lives Matter rioters who stormed her neighborhood last month.

Patricia McCloskey’s gun was inoperable when she voluntarily surrendered it to the police, but prosecutors reassembled it into working order so they could charge her with a crime.

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GOP Lawmakers Urge Attorney General to Defend St. Louis Couple’s Gun Rights After Firearm Confiscation

GOP lawmakers wrote a letter to Attorney General William Barr Friday, urging the protection of the firearm rights of the St. Louis couple that saw their guns confiscated after they went viral for defending their home against demonstrators, according to reports.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey were seen in a video brandishing a M16A2-style rifle and small handgun outside of their home as demonstrators broke through a private gate and encroached on their property line in June. Police executed a search warrant Friday and confiscated the couple’s rifle, and later their pistol, despite not yet filing any known charges against the pair, according to KSDK News.

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Video Appears to Show Mob Attacking Catholics Praying at St. Louis Statue

Multiple videos recorded after a Saturday prayer vigil in St. Louis appear to show Black Lives Matter agitators assaulting Catholics who participated in the event.

“Yesterday, while praying for peace and unity in our city and the protection of the St. Louis statue, Black Lives Matter protesters started to harass, berate, and assault the Catholics that were peacefully praying. We did nothing in retaliation,” Conor Martin, a candidate for Bedford Township Republican committeeman, claimed on Twitter.

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GatewayPundit’s Jim Hoft Teams Up with Missouri’s St. Louis Tea Party to Announce a Rally for Trump’s Border Wall

The St. Louis Tea Party is organizing a rally for Saturday in support of President Donald Trump as he continues to fight for the border wall. According to a press release, the rally was organized by the St. Louis Tea Party and the Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft. “Our president needs our support. Our president needs to know we stand with him,” Hoft said in a statement, encouraging St. Louis residents to attend the Saturday rally in Clayton, Missouri. “Let’s show our support for President Trump as he holds the line, and demand funding for the wall,” the St. Louis Tea Party said on Facebook. The news comes amid a contentious government shutdown over funding for Trump’s border wall, which now Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are unwilling to budge on after multiple conversations with the president. On Thursday, Trump made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room (his first) and was accompanied by members of ICE and Border Patrol. Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told the White House press corps that if they “interview Border Patrol agents, they will tell you that walls work.” “Anywhere that you…

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Missouri Federal Grand Jury Indicts 14 in Home Health Care Scam

A fraud scheme perpetrated on taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid began to unravel with an anonymous tip alerting officials “that some Iraqis were fraudulently receiving home care services,” says a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report from earlier this month. Investigators examined billing records from several home health care companies that provide services to the elderly or infirmed. They then compared those to travel records for both the caregiver and the recipient of the care, finding that one or the other was out of the country at the time the care was allegedly provided. Two weeks ago, a federal grand jury indicted 14 involved in the $1.3 million fraud, reports the Post-Dispatch. The story was later picked up by a newsletter for the home health care industry. The 14 charged included employees of the agencies as well as clients, and they are: Kian Abdollah, 52 Mohammed Abdollah, 78 Dalia Ahmed, 27 Dena Ahmed, 30 Fatemeh Akbari, 73 Hala Alalewi, 38 Haider Albab, 75 Nouria Habeb, 67 Pegdah Heidari, 27 Tony Iyar, 57 Ghufran Abdallah Jaber, 51 Huda Mohammedjamil, 53 Hend Msallati, 33 Asal Yousif, 53 An investigation launched into one of the clients earlier this year began to shed light on the fraudulent activity. According…

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