The Tennessee legislature passed a bill allowing teachers to carry guns, causing protesters to scream their disapproval and cause chaotic scenes on the state House floor.

The bill was passed just over a year after the Covenant school shooting when a former student killed three students and three adults. It was strongly objected to by Democrats and gun control activists, who made a scene in the state Capitol building. “Blood. On. Your. Hands,” the crowd in the gallery shouted, brandishing protest signs.

It’s chaos in the House as protesters have derailed session.

Representatives all over the floor, Democrats and Republicans going after each other for breaking rules, etc.@WKRN #TNLeg24 pic.twitter.com/3KiPI80q5z

— Chris O’Brien (@THEChrisOB) April 23, 2024

Republican and Democratic state representatives conversed and argued on the floor, accusing each other of breaking rules.

Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton kicked out at least one protester for being too disruptive, according to the Washington Post.

House Democrats, a clear minority in the deep red state, protested the measure.

Democratic state Rep. Bo Mitchell shared his outrage over the passage of the bill in light of the Covenant tragedy. “This is our reaction to students and teachers being murdered in a school? Our reaction is to throw more guns at it. What’s wrong with us?”

At one point, Sexton appeared to mute Mitchell’s microphone, after he drifted off topic in apologizing to the parents in attendance.

During debate on a bill to arm teachers, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) mutes and laughs at State Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) as he tries to apologize for Covenant School shooting victims for what the legislature is doing.

SEXTON: “His mic’s not on.” pic.twitter.com/CeN3viAdm9

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) April 23, 2024

Also in attendance was Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones, who was expelled last year for disregarding House rules before being quickly reinstated. He joined a “die-in” protest, where activists pretended to be dead.

The Tennessee House just passed a bill that allows teachers and staff to carry a gun to protect the students. Staff who want to carry must go through 40 hours of gun training and have a psychological evaluation.

Left wing activists including Rep. Justin Jones staged a “die in”… pic.twitter.com/i0XbzuUuPg

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 23, 2024

“This is what fascism looks like,” he said in a post about the bill on X.

Tennessee Republicans just cut off debate and passed a bill to arm teachers in our schools.

The public chanted “Blood on your hands!” as the Speaker ordered troopers to clear the gallery.

This is what fascism looks like. pic.twitter.com/9mg67oWMxM

— Rep. Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) April 23, 2024

Other gun control activists were quick to condemn the bill.

“RECKLESS: The Tennessee House just passed a bill that would allow more teachers to carry guns in schools without notifying parents, despite overwhelming constituent opposition,” Everytown for Gun Safety said in a statement. “This comes one week after Iowa’s governor signed a similar bill. Both Iowa and Tennessee experienced tragic school shootings — and both failed to do the right thing to prevent further gun violence and keep kids safe.”

RECKLESS: The Tennessee House just passed a bill that would allow more teachers to carry guns in schools without notifying parents, despite overwhelming constituent opposition. This comes one week after Iowa’s governor signed a similar bill.

Both Iowa and Tennessee experienced… https://t.co/apCKrIG74p

— Everytown (@Everytown) April 23, 2024

The bill is expected to be signed by Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN). It allows teachers and school staffers to carry concealed handguns if the school’s top administrators approve, but parents, students, and other teachers will not be allowed to know who is armed.

David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified at Donald Trump’s trial Tuesday that the tabloid completely manufactured a negative story in 2016 about the father of Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, who was then Trump’s rival for the GOP presidential nomination.

The paper had published a photo allegedly showing Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, with Lee Harvey Oswald handing out pro-Fidel Castro pamphlets in New Orleans in 1963, not long before Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

Trump repeatedly referred to the story on the campaign trail and in interviews.

“I mean, what was he doing — what was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting?” Trump said in an interview with Fox News in May 2016. “It’s horrible.”

Manhattan prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Pecker about the story’s origins during the trial Tuesday in Manhattan. Pecker said that then-National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard and the tabloid’s research department got involved, and Pecker indicated that they faked the photo that was the foundation for the story.

“We mashed the photos and the different picture with Lee Harvey Oswald. And mashed the two together. And that’s how that story was prepared — created I would say,” Pecker said on the witness stand.

Asked by Steinglass whether Cruz had gained popularity in the presidential race at the time, Pecker said, “I believe so.”

The revelation came up as the prosecution focused on negative articles that were published by the tabloid about Trump’s Republican opponents at the time. Pecker explained that it was Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, who would orchestrate the planting of these stories.

Pecker said Cohen would call and say they’d like his publication to run an article on a certain candidate, adding that Cohen would then send him a piece about Cruz, for example, and the National Enquirer “would embellish it from there.”

Pecker suggested that Trump was directly involved in the process, too. He said that the negative stories about Trump’s opponents were published as part of an arrangement that was struck in 2015 at a Trump Tower meeting that also included a directive to write positive stories about the real estate mogul.

Steinglass also entered into evidence National Enquirer headlines published during the 2016 race about Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who was also running for president. They suggested that he had a love child and had a connection to cocaine.

Asked why the tabloid ran stories about the senators and candidate Ben Carson, Pecker said, “After the Republican debates, and based on the success that some of the other candidates had, I would receive a call from Michael Cohen, and he would direct me and direct Dylan Howard which candidate and which direction we should go.”

When asked for his response Tuesday, Cruz told NBC News he’s “not interested in revisiting ancient history.”

When the story about Cruz’s dad was published, the senator told reporters that Trump was a “pathological liar” after he promoted the story.

“He doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies,” he said. “He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth. And in a pattern that I think is straight out of a psychology textbook, his response is to accuse everyone else of lying.”

No ruling yet on whether Trump violated a gag order

Tuesday wasn’t all about David Pecker.

The morning was largely given over to exchanges about whether Trump had violated the terms of a gag order in the case.

Judge Juan Merchan has yet to rule on the question.

The gag order Merchan issued last month bars Trump from attacking people involved in the case, including witnesses, court officials and members of the judge’s family — the last stipulation an apparent reaction to Trump’s attacks on Merchan’s daughter Loren, for her work relating to political consultancy for Democrats.

Prosecutors allege Trump has breached the order 10 times. They are seeking a fine of $1,000 for each violation. Trump’s team argue he is replying to the comments made about him, which he has a right to do.

In the process of the legal tangling over the issue, Trump’s legal team acknowledged that other people sometimes post stories onto Trump’s Truth Social account.

Sens. Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton called on President Biden to mobilize the National Guard to protect Jewish American college students in response to anti-Israel, pro-terrorist demonstrations on campuses.

Mr. Hawley, Missouri Republican, wrote in a letter sent to Mr. Biden Monday:

“On college campuses across the United States, Jewish Americans are at risk. … In your statement on Passover, you stated that ‘in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous — and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.’ Now you must take action to match those words.”

He continued, “You must immediately mobilize the National Guard and any other authorities necessary to ensure the safety of Jewish American students and citizens.”

Mr. Hawley referenced President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1957 Executive Order 10730, which deployed the Arkansas National Guard and 101st Airborne Division to ensure the safety of Black students attending Central High School in Little Rock.

“I urge you to similarly mobilize the National Guard and other necessary authorities to protect Jewish American students on Columbia University’s campus and any other campus where Jewish students are at risk,” the senator said. “’Never again’ means never again,” a phrase often associated with the lessons of the Holocaust.

Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said on X that the “nascent pogroms at Columbia have to stop.”

Referring to the mayor and governor, Mr. Cotton added, “If Eric Adams won’t send the NYPD and Kathy Hochul won’t send the National Guard, Joe Biden has a duty to take charge and break up these mobs.”

Mr. Biden on Monday stated he condemned the antisemitic campus protests as the tensions have increased amid pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University and other colleges.

“I condemn the antisemitic protests; that’s why I set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians,” he said.

Mr. Hawley noted that campus police and local law enforcement have failed to secure the campus of Columbia University for several days after anti-Israel action erupted at the school.

On Sunday, Rabbi Elie Buechler, the director of the university’s Orthodox Union-Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, said those authorities “cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety” and recommended that Jewish students “return home as soon as possible.”

The following day, on Passover, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik canceled in-person classes, citing “too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus.”

Mr. Hawley noted that demonstrators have “illegally established a ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ on the university’s campus and engaged in shocking displays of antisemitism” as well as assaults on Jewish students, theft and attempted burning of an Israeli flag.

He also wrote in his letter to Mr. Biden that campus rioters are shouting “violent, genocidal rhetoric” such as “Never forget the 7th of October. That will happen not 1 more time, not 5 more times, not 10 more times, not 100 more times, not 1,000 more times, but 10,000 times.”

Last October, the Senate unanimously passed Mr. Hawley‘s resolution condemning Hamas and the antisemitic rhetoric emanating from campus student groups, which have continued to celebrate the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) attempted to run defense for the anti-Israel protesters — a group that includes her daughter, Barnard student Isra Hirsi — and got hit with an immediate wave of backlash.

Omar, whose daughter was among the students who were suspended and detained for their participation in anti-semitic protests on Columbia University’s campus, defended the protests in an X post, claiming that the protests had been “co-opted” and that was the real reason they looked bad.

“Throughout history, protests were co-opted and made to look bad so police and public leaders would shut them down. That’s what we are seeing now at Columbia University,” Omar said. “The Columbia protesters have made clear their demands and want their school not to be complacent in the ongoing Genocide in Gaza. Public officials and media making this about anything else are inflaming the situation and need to bring calmness and sanity back.”

Throughout history, protests were co-opted and made to look bad so police and public leaders would shut them down. That’s what we are seeing now at Columbia University. The Columbia protesters have made clear their demands and want their school not to be complacent in the ongoing…

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 22, 2024

Omar’s efforts to spin the anti-semitic protests were quickly met with rebuttals from critics, many of whom pointed out the fact that protesters were on camera shouting and chanting slogans that called for the genocide of the Jews and the destruction of Israel.

“Inventing a conspiracy to blame the antisemitism and terror support of the protestors on police and others doesn’t work when everyone can see the truth …” AG (@aghamilton29) posted, adding, “It’s almost hilarious the extent to which the defenders of the antisemitic mobs at Columbia are completely reliant on pretending the numerous videos and the witness testimony from Jewish students simply don’t exist to preserve their narratives.”

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) added, “Ilhan, there’s video. Lots of it. These antisemites don’t need police & public leaders to make them look bad. They’re doing that all by themselves. Only demands should be: Hamas, surrender; Release the hostages.”

Ilhan, there’s video. Lots of it.

These antisemites don’t need police & public leaders to make them look bad.

They’re doing that all by themselves.

Only demands should be:
-Hamas, surrender.
-Release the hostages. https://t.co/o6QUnNpFPZ

— Anthony P. D’Esposito (@ANTHONYDESPO) April 22, 2024

Referencing Columbia’s move to remote learning on Monday due to the increased tensions on campus, Erielle Azerrad pointed out: “Jews are studying remotely because of Omar’s daughter.”

Jews are studying remotely because of Omar’s daughter. https://t.co/Z1wgdsOT4t

— Erielle Azerrad (@politicalelle) April 22, 2024

“Nothing was co-opted here,” Pradheep Shankar said. “These idiots were always fascists and antisemites (including her daughter). Nothing has changed since the evening of 10/7. The Columbia protester demands are irrelevant, because they are nonsense, and they should ignored. Kick them out.”

Nothing was co-opted here.

These idiots were always fascists and antisemites (including her daughter). Nothing has changed since the evening of 10/7. The Columbia protester demands are irrelevant, because they are nonsense, and they should ignored. Kick them out. https://t.co/j1cBe7DCM8

— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D. (@neoavatara) April 22, 2024

A handful of the migrants shipped off to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis 18 months ago are now legally allowed to work in the US — because they’re considered victims of a crime, their attorney says.

The migrants applied last year for a special type of visa designated for crime victims — known as a U-visa — after they claimed they were duped into boarding charter flights from San Antonio, Texas, to the upmarket liberal enclave in Massachusetts with the false promises of jobs and housing.

At least three of the 49 migrants involved in the flight operation — spearheaded by DeSantis in September 2022 — received “bona fide determinations” for their U-visa applications this week, their immigrant attorney, Rachel Self, told the Boston Globe.

It means they can now find jobs and can’t be deported while they wait for their visa to come through, Self added.

The approval of a U-visa can often lead to permanent lawful status in the country as well.

The developments come after a sheriff in Bexar County, Texas, launched a criminal probe in late 2022 after DeSantis took credit for the two taxpayer-funded migrants flights that landed in Martha’s Vineyard after a brief pit stop in the Sunshine State.

At the time, Sheriff Javier Salazar, an elected Democrat, railed against the flights that originally took off in his city — claiming the migrants were victims of a crime because they were allegedly “exploited and hoodwinked into making this trip” as part of a political stunt.

DeSantis, meanwhile, insisted the migrants boarded the flights “voluntarily.”

“Immigrants have been more than willing to leave Bexar County after being abandoned, homeless, and ‘left to fend for themselves,’” a DeSantis rep said at the time.

“Florida gave them an opportunity to seek greener pastures in a sanctuary jurisdiction that offered greater resources for them, as we expected.”

Still, the migrants were able to apply for the U-visas after the Bexar County sheriff confirmed they were assisting with his law enforcement probe.

The U-visa is specifically set aside for “victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity,” according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Congress only permits the feds to issue 10,000 U-visas per year.

“These determinations are one step closer to justice,” said Self, the immigrant attorney. “[They] further underscore that anyone who knows all the facts … simply cannot ignore the criminality of the actors.”

Meanwhile, there have been no updates in the Bexar County investigation since last year — despite the sheriff recommending the local district attorney file felony and misdemeanor charges of unlawful restraint against those who operated the flights.

The Bexar County DA hasn’t announced any such charges.

“The Bexar County DA’s inaction in this matter is concerning and cannot be understated,” Self said. “Crickets from the DA’s office. Why?”

Separately, a federal judge in Boston ruled earlier this month that the Martha’s Vineyard migrants can sue the charter flight company — Florida-based Vertol Systems Co. — that transported them to the island.

The court said that “unlike ICE agents legitimately enforcing the country’s immigration laws … the court sees no legitimate purpose for rounding up highly vulnerable individuals on false pretenses and publicly injecting them into a divisive national debate.”

The ruling also found that the facts of the case, “taken together, support an inference that Vertol and the other Defendants specifically targeted Plaintiffs because they were Latinx immigrants.”

A Democratic state senator in Minnesota was charged with first-degree burglary on Tuesday after authorities say she broke into her stepmother’s house where the lawmaker claimed she was trying to get her late father’s belongings, including his ashes.

Sen. Nicole Mitchell, 49, was booked into the Becker County Jail on Monday for a suspected first-degree burglary offense, according to online jail records.

A homeowner on the 700 block of Granger Road in Detroit Lakes reported an active burglary to 911 around 4:45 a.m., Detroit Lakes Police Chief Steve Todd told FOX9 Minneapolis.

During a search of the home, officers found Mitchell dressed in black clothing and a black hat, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the station. A flashlight with a sock over it and a black backpack containing two laptops, a cellphone, a driver’s license, Senate identification and Tupperware.

Mitchell allegedly entered through a window and told investigators that she was trying to get her father’s ashes, photos, a flannel shirt and other items of sentimental value, the complaint said. Mitchell claimed that her stepmother refused to give her the items.

“I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore,” Mitchell allegedly said to her stepmother as officers placed her under arrest.

The complaint stated that one of the laptops found in Mitchell’s backpack belonged to her stepmother, who told officers that she did not give it to Mitchell. Mitchell, however, claimed otherwise.

Mitchell, of Woodbury, represents District 47 since she was elected to the state Senate in 2022. She was previously a meteorologist for KSTP-TV and Minnesota Public Radio, and currently serves as lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard.

The Senate Democratic Caucus told The Associated Press in a statement that it’s “aware of the situation and has no comment pending further information.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, of East Grand Forks, released a statement to news outlets saying that he was shocked by the arrest, but did not know any further details.

“The public expects Legislators to meet a high standard of conduct,” Johnson said. “As information comes out, we expect the consequences to meet the actions, both in the court of law, and in her role at the legislature.”

Mitchell’s arrest could pose a problem for Democrats, who currently hold a one-seat majority in the Senate with four weeks left in the legislative session.

The disgraced cop who is on the run with his son after he allegedly shot dead his ex-wife and his teenage girlfriend was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his car Tuesday afternoon after a 24-hour manhunt.

Elias Huizar, 39, allegedly killed his ex-wife Amber Rodriguez at William Wiley Elementary school on Monday afternoon during dismissal, according to Washington State Police.

Police searching for Huizar found a second victim, his girlfriend, dead in his home, which is on the same block as the West Richland school.

Huizar was found in his car of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head around 3pm local time Tuesday afternoon, according to the West Richland Police Department.

His 1-year-old son with the teenager, Roman, was found safe. A spokesperson for Washington State Police confirmed to DailyMail.com that the Amber Alert has been canceled.

Oregon State Police located his vehicle driving southbound on Interstate 5 near Eugene and started a chase.

It ended with a state trooper reporting that Huizar had shot himself in the head. His current condition is unknown.

They noted that his son had been taken into their custody safely.

Huizar allegedly killed his ex-wife Amber Rodriguez at William Wiley Elementary school on Monday afternoon during dismissal, according to Washington State Police.

Police searching for Huizar found a second victim, his girlfriend 17-year-old Angelica ‘Jelly’ Santos, dead in his home, which is on the same block as the school.

Huizar, a former Yakima police officer, shared Roman with Santos, who was 15 year’s old when she was impregnated, according to police.

The former school cop was due in court Monday to face child rape charges; he is accused of raping his underaged girlfriend and her 16-year-old friend.

In February, Huizar pleaded not guilty to rape charges. Days before the two murders, Rodriguez had filed for a new custody arrangement involving their two children.

Rodriguez worked at the school where she was killed, according to the Washington State Police. In addition Rodriguez also worked as a real estate agent.

Santos’ family appeared to at first believe that she had been abducted alongside her son, asking people on Facebook for help finding them.

However, hours later the family confirmed that Santos had been killed.

Her brother Damien Santos wrote: ‘It breaks my heart to write this but unfortunately my sister has passed away at the young age of 17 November 5 2006 – April 22 2024.’

The former school cop was due in court accused of raping a drunk 16-year-old girl and his 17-year-old girlfriend whom he is believed to have impregnated when she was 15, according to multiple reports.

Police did not confirm if the girlfriend Huizar is accused of raping and impregnating is the girlfriend found dead in his home or if he had moved on to a new relationship.

Huizar and Rodriguez divorced in 2020 and share two children. Following the rape charges, Rodriguez filed to modify their custody agreement and had requested a protection order, because she believed he was a threat to her and their children.

Rodriguez claimed Huizar has been harassing her since the divorce and says he was mentally and emotionally unstable. He also owns guns, she said.

It was unclear what the result of the case was, a hearing had been set for May 14.

Family and friends have started Gofundme’s for both Rodriguez and Santos.

Huizar served with the police department between 2014 and 2022 and was assigned to be a school resource officer at Washington Middle School in Yakima. It was not clear where he was employed after he’d left the department.

On February 3, he was arrested after his 17-year-old girlfriend reported him for the attack on her 16-year-old friend who was staying overnight at their home in West Richland.

Huizar and his underage girlfriend have a baby who was nine months old at the time of his February court appearance, according to the Tri-City Herald.

The Tri-City Herald reported that Huizar secured a protection order against his teenage girlfriend in 2019 after she told friends they were in a relationship and the friends reported it to the school principal.

The girl denied it and claimed her account had been hacked when social media posts about the alleged relationship were revealed.

‘A criminal investigation was completed by the Attorney General’s Office and the case was unfounded,’ Huizar wrote in his petition for the protection order.

‘(She) was then expelled from school.’

The petition claimed the girl had contacted Huizar’s then wife, downloaded photos from the couple’s Facebook pages, and taken ‘numerous’ covert photos of Huizar.

Yakima County Judge Gayle Harthcock approved the protection order that prevented the girl from coming within 500 feet of him or his family for a year.

The girl claims in the court documents that Huizar contacted her in 2022 when she was 15 and they began a relationship.

Their child was born in April last year, and the pair began living together in the West Richland home when she was 17. The age of consent law in Washington is 16 years old, though police have been investigating whether he slept with her before that.

In the most recent alleged rape, the 17-year-old girlfriend had gone to sleep in a spare room next to her 16-year-old friend who was feeling sick after all three had spent the evening drinking at the home on February 3, court documents record.

She then woke to find Huizar attacking her drunken friend before he left the room ‘like nothing had happened’, when she confronted him, according to the Tri-City Herald.

Huizar was charged with second-degree rape, furnishing alcohol for minors, and third-degree rape over his relationship with the 17-year-old.

His bail was set at $200,000 but he has since bonded out of jail with stipulations that he doesn’t contact either of the teens or consume any alcohol.

The opening date of his trial was set for Monday, according to a local NBC station.

The school district in Richland, Washington, sent out an alert to parents that confirmed the shooting at William Wiley Elementary earlier Monday.

The shooting occurred at 3:23pm local time during dismissal. Nobody else at the school was injured in the shooting there.

A resident said he heard four to five gunshots while in his backyard Monday afternoon.

‘I thought it was someone hitting something with a hammer. It didn’t sound like a gun. Then a woman came flying out here before the cops even got here and started screaming that someone was shot ,’ Chris Worley told the Tri-City Herald.

Caitlin Clark is on the cusp of breaking another record as the former Iowa star is set to sign a historic deal with Nike.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal and The Athletic reported a pending eight-year, $28million contract, including a signature shoe. The deal would give Clark the richest sponsorship contract for a women’s basketball player.

The Athletic and WSJ cited unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations between Nike and the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer, who recently became the first overall pick of the WNBA Draft.

Clark’s initial name, image and likeness deal, signed in 2022, expired at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Under Armour and Adidas also participated in contract discussions with Clark’s team in February, according to the WSJ and The Athletic. Puma also showed some interest but walked away when told the bidding would start at $3 million per year, according to the WSJ.

Clark received offers of $16 million over four years from Under Armour and $6 million over four years from Adidas, with both including a signature shoe, according to the WSJ.

Clark earned about $3 million in NIL money at Iowa with deals she has had with State Farm, Gatorade and others, according to the WSJ.

Clark’s agents were working on the new Nike contract even before she announced she would turn pro instead of return to Iowa for a fifth season under the COVID-19 exemption offered to players in college during the 2020 pandemic season.

After averaging 31.6 points and leading the Hawkeyes to a second straight national championship game, Clark was drafted No. 1 by the Indiana Fever on April 15.

She’ll earn a $76,000 salary as a rookie. She’s been the main driver for the dramatic uptick in women’s basketball interest with her mix of deep 3-point shots, flashy thread-the-needle passes and overall court presence. A women’s basketball record of 18.9 million watched Iowa’s loss to South Carolina in the NCAA title game, and a WNBA-record 2.45 million watched the draft.

Of the Fever´s 40 games this season, 36 will be nationally televised, and ticket sales have skyrocketed around the league.

Clark’s marketability is enhanced by her polished performances in media settings, and her surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live two weeks ago was widely acclaimed and exposed her to an even wider audience.

The reported eight-year contract with Nike shows the sportswear giant’s commitment. At 22, Clark could play well over a decade in the WNBA and she could be on the U.S. roster for the Olympics in Paris this year, in Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane, Australia, in 2032.

Harvard University is a mess and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, is the man who can save the once-prestigious institution and help it “recalibrate from far-left orthodoxy,” according to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.

Daniel Rosen, who graduated Harvard in 1996, penned a Washington Post opinion piece last week which details recent issues at the school and called for the Utah senator – and former Massachusetts governor – to clean it up. Fetterman, a Harvard alumnus who has repeatedly irked his Democratic colleagues with his strong support for Israel, co-signed the suggestion.

“Harvard University remains in an almighty mess after months of turmoil over hate speech. There is a way to fix this: appoint former Massachusetts governor and retiring U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) university president,” Rosen wrote.

Fetterman posted the piece on X and wrote, “As an alumnus of Harvard, and after this mad season of antisemitism at Columbia, I co-sign. This former Governor of Massachusetts doesn’t need a paycheck, but Harvard and its academic peers need to recalibrate from far-left orthodoxy.”

Rosen said he was a lifelong Democrat who didn’t vote for Romney when he ran for president, but made the suggestion “in the sincere and robust hope that he is someone who can navigate the university through painful but necessary reform and drive back the antisemitism that is tarnishing the institution’s credibility.

“As the grandson of Holocaust survivors and president of the American Jewish Congress, I find it devastating that Harvard has failed to vigorously address the unchecked antisemitism on campus,” he wrote.

Rosen wrote that anyone who studied at Harvard can attest it is “not an antisemitic institution” despite recent events that indicate otherwise.

“I never for a moment felt oppressed or marginalized as a student on the Harvard campus. But to my dismay, recent years have seen an unconscionable spike in — and even worse, an administrative tolerance of — hate speech directed at Jews, including targeting Jewish students. The university’s response has thus far been ramshackle and unproductive, to put it mildly,” Rosen wrote.

Rosen reminded readers of “the disastrous congressional testimony of then-President Claudine Gay,” in which she famously failed to say that calls for intifada or the genocide of Jews on campus violated Harvard’s code of conduct or policy against bullying and harassment.

After her congressional testimony, Gay issued an apology and the university’s board initially decided to stick by her despite widespread calls from donors and members of Congress for her ouster. However, she stepped down shortly afterward after being hit with significant plagiarism allegations.

“The university president must be the flag-bearer of our values. There is no doubt that there are other Americans of similar standing and stature, but Romney’s unique bridge-building character is precisely what Harvard needs in an age of toxic polarization,” Rosen wrote, praising him for working with Democrats on issues like “gun safety reform” and voting to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

Romney, who has stood out among Senate Republicans with his opposition to former President Trump, has said he will not seek re-election in the Senate in 2024. He voted to convict Trump in both his impeachment trials, the only Republican to do so, and has not supported him in any of his White House bids.

Buoyed in part by his successful overseeing of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Romney served one term as Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007. He later made a failed bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. He won the Republican nomination in 2012 – the last candidate other than Trump to do so – and lost the general election to President Obama.

Jurors in the murder case against a Nogales-area rancher accused of killing an illegal unarmed migrant on his property were unable to reach a unanimous verdict and remained deadlocked on the charges.

After more than 15 hours of deliberation, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink declared a mistrial just after 4:30 p.m. The court scheduled a status meeting for 1:30 p.m. April 29 to allow the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office to decide if it wants to retry the case.

“They won’t wear me down,” rancher George Alan Kelly told reporters after the mistrial was declared.

The trial centered on the Jan. 30, 2023, death of Mexican migrant Gabriel Cuen Buitimea, who was found shot after Kelly fired warning shots into the air, his defense attorney said.

Kelly faced a second-degree murder charge in Buitimea’s death, and a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for putting another man, Daniel Ramirez, in danger. Ramirez had been traveling with Buitimea looking for work in the U.S. Buitimea’s body was found 115 yards, a football field away, from Kelly’s house hours after the shooting incident.

Attorneys and the judge discussing which instructions to pass on to the jury noted the jurors looked tired and frustrated earlier that day when they told the judge they were at an impasse.

Kelly’s defense attorneys called it a victory and the second-best outcome. One of his two attorneys, Texas attorney Kathy Lowthorp, said the trial is the longest she has had in her 24 years of practice. She said she will represent Kelly if the case goes to trial again. She called the disclosure requirements in Arizona “mind-boggling.”

“Here you disclose everything and depositions,” Lowthorp said. “It’s just like you tried the case a few times before you get to an actual trial with a jury. That is just mind-boggling to me.”

On Monday, Kelly’s wife sat in the front row of the courtroom clutching a plush cat stuffed animal as she awaited the verdict.

After the verdict Wanda Kelly said she has felt like she has been in suspense for the last year.

“I feel like I’ve been in suspension for 15 months, and I’m getting nowhere, and I’m still on that treadmill. We have to wait a little longer,” said Wanda Kelly, Kelly’s wife, after the mistrial was declared.

Kelly said he wasn’t worried about himself as much as his wife, noting this trial has been challenging for her. He and his wife are stubborn, Kelly said, and they will not give up.

“They want ice water in you-know-where. And they ain’t got it. So, it is what it is. … They won’t wear me down,” Kelly said about the mistrial and potentially having a retrial.

Prosecution led by the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office argued that Kelly, armed with an AK-47 rifle, opened fire on two unarmed men. The defense argued Kelly’s testimony was changed by law enforcement and that the investigation into the shooting was biased.

Kelly’s defense attorney alleged that Kelly saw a group of armed migrants and shot up in the air as a warning. Prosecutors said Kelly shot Buitimea with a barrage of bullets. Although spent casings were found near the property, no bullet was ever retrieved.

Last year, Ramirez, the prosecution’s key witness, gave a dramatic testimony during a preliminary hearing in February, when he reenacted how he said he saw Kelly shoot and kill Buitimea. It was later revealed that he had previously pleaded guilty to smuggling cannabis across the Arizona-Mexico border in 2015.

#BREAKING George Alan Kelly’s co-counsel Kathy Lowthorp walks out of court after judge declares mistrial—She says it was 7 to 1 for a not guilty verdict—One juror thought he was guilty of 2nd degree murder (or lesser charges to include negligent homicide and manslaughter).

The… pic.twitter.com/LRJBczMowp

— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) April 23, 2024

Monday’s opening statements in the first criminal trial of a former American president provided a clear roadmap of how prosecutors will try to make the case that Donald Trump broke the law, and how the defense plans to fight the charges on multiple fronts.

Lawyers presented dueling narratives as jurors got their first glimpse into the prosecution accusing Trump of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to squelch negative stories about him during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Still to come are weeks of what’s likely to be dramatic and embarrassing testimony about the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s personal life as he simultaneously campaigns to return to the White House in November.

Here’s a look at some key takeaways from opening statements:

ELECTION FRAUD VS. ‘BOOKKEEPING’ CASE

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying internal Trump Organization business records. But prosecutors made clear they do not want jurors to view this as a routine paper case. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said the heart of the case is a scheme to “corrupt” the 2016 election by silencing people who were about to come forward with embarrassing stories Trump feared would hurt his campaign.

“No politician wants bad press,” Colangelo said. “But the evidence at trial will show that this was not spin or communication strategy. This was a planned, coordinated, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, to help Donald Trump get elected through illegal expenditures to silence people who had something bad to say about his behavior.” He added: “It was election fraud, pure and simple.”

The business records charges stem from things like invoices and checks that were deemed legal expenses in Trump Organization records when prosecutors say they were really reimbursements to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Daniels was threatening to go public with claims she had an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump. He says it never happened.

Trump, meanwhile, sought to downplay the accusations while leaving the courtroom on Monday, calling it all a “bookkeeping” case and “a very minor thing.” But he, too, has said it’s all about an election — the one this November. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the case is part of a sweeping Democratic attempt to harm his chances at reclaiming the presidency.

TRUMP’S DEFENSE COMES INTO VIEW

Trump’s attorney used his opening statement to attack the case as baseless, saying the former president did nothing illegal.

The attorney, Todd Blanche, challenged prosecutors’ claim that Trump agreed to pay Daniels to aid his campaign, saying Trump was trying to “protect his family, his reputation and his brand.”

Blanche indicated the defense will argue that after all the very point of a presidential campaign is to try to influence an election.

“It’s called democracy,” Blanche told jurors. “They put something sinister on this idea, as if it was a crime. You’ll learn it’s not.”

Blanche also portrayed the ledger entries at issue in the case as pro forma actions performed by a Trump Organization employee. Trump “had nothing to do with” the allegedly false business records, “except that he signed the checks, in the White House, while he was running the country,” Blanche said. And he argued that the records’ references to legal expenses weren’t false, since Cohen was Trump’s personal lawyer at the time.

PROSECUTORS AIM TO PUT TRUMP AT THE CENTER

The 34 counts in the indictment are related to the payment to Daniels. But prosecutors plan to introduce evidence about a payoff to another woman — former Playboy model Karen McDougal — who claimed a sexual encounter with Trump, as well as to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about Trump having a child out of wedlock. Trump says they were all lies.

Prosecutors said they will show Trump was at the center of the scheme to silence the women, telling jurors they will hear Trump in his voice talking about the plan to pay McDougal. Cohen arranged for the publisher of the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid to pay McDougal $150,000 but not print the story in a practice known as “catch-and-kill.”

Colangelo told jurors that prosecutors will play for them a recording Cohen secretly made during a meeting with Trump weeks before the 2016 election. In the recording, which first became public in 2018, Trump is heard saying: “What do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?”

Trump “desperately did not want this information about Karen McDougal to become public because he was worried about its effect on the election,” Colangelo said.

COHEN’S CREDIBILITY IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The defense’s opening statement previewed what will be a key strategy of the defense: trying to discredit Cohen, a Trump loyalist turned critic and expected star witness for the prosecution. Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the hush money payments in 2018 and and served prison time.

Whether jurors believe Cohen, who says he arranged the payments to the women at Trump’s direction, could make or break the case for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.

Trump’s lawyer highlighted Cohen’s criminal record, describing him as a serial liar who turned against Trump after he was not given a job in the administration and found himself in legal trouble. Blanche said Cohen’s “entire financial livelihood depends on President Trump’s destruction,” noting he hosts podcasts and has written books bashing his ex-boss.

“He has a goal and an obsession with getting Trump,” Blanche said. “I submit to you that he cannot be trusted.”

Anticipating the defense attacks on Cohen, the prosecution promised to be upfront about the “mistakes” the former Trump attorney has made. But Colangelo said “you can credit Michael Cohen’s testimony” despite his past.

“I suspect the defense will go to great lengths to get you to reject his testimony precisely because it is so damning,” the prosecutor said.

BUT UP FIRST: DAVID PECKER

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker is the first witness for prosecutors, who say that Trump’s alleged scheme to conceal potentially damaging information from voters began with a 2015 Trump Tower meeting among the then-candidate, Pecker and Cohen. Pecker took the witness stand Monday before court broke for the day and his testimony is expected to continue Tuesday.

At the meeting, Pecker — a longtime Trump friend — agreed to aid Trump’s campaign by running favorable pieces about him, smearing his opponents, scouting unflattering stories about him and flagging them to Cohen for “catch-and-kill” deals. Those included the claims made by Daniels, McDougal and the former Trump Tower doorman, Dino Sajudin, prosecutors say. Trump says all were false.

Pecker will likely be asked about all the alleged efforts made by the Enquirer’s then-owner, American Media Inc., on Trump’s behalf. Federal prosecutors agreed in 2018 not to prosecute American Media in exchange for its cooperation in a campaign finance investigation that led to Cohen’s guilty plea, and the Federal Election Commission fined the company $187,500, calling the McDougal deal a “prohibited corporate in-kind contribution.”

Pecker’s brief turn on the stand Monday was mainly just about his background and other basic facts, though he did say the Enquirer practiced “checkbook journalism” — paying for stories — and that he had the final say on any story about a famous person.

‘THE DEFENDANT’ OR ’PRESIDENT TRUMP’?

The prosecutor referred to Trump during his opening statement as “the defendant.” Trump’s lawyer took a different tack, calling him “President Trump.”

“We will call him President Trump, out of respect for the office that he held,” Blanche said. At the same time, Trump’s lawyer sought to portray Trump as an everyman, describing him as a husband, father and fellow New Yorker.

“He’s, in some ways, larger than life. But he’s also here in this courtroom, doing what any of us would do: defending himself,” Blanche said.

Trump sat quietly while listening to opening statements, occasionally passing notes to his lawyers and whispering in their ears. But outside of the courtroom, he continued his pattern of trying to capitalize politically on the case that will require him to spend his days in a courtroom rather than on the campaign trail.

“This is what they’re trying to take me off the trail for. Checks being paid to a lawyer,” Trump said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has shot down Kari Lake’s request to take up her ballot tabulator case that aimed to stop the use of the machines to count millions of Arizona ballots.

The highest court in the nation did not provide any comment on Monday when it denied the U.S. Senate hopeful’s petition to overturn the lower court’s decision to throw out her case.

Lake and fellow Republican Mark Finchem initially filed the suit in April 2022, while she was running for Arizona governor and he was running for secretary of state. They alleged that the electronic ballot tabulators used in Maricopa and Pima counties were “hackable” and that the courts should place an injunction on their use ahead of the November 2022 election, and instead force elections officials to count all the ballots by hand.

In August 2022, U.S. District Court Judge John Tuchi threw out the lawsuit and issued a scathing ruling. He later ordered $122,000 in sanctions against the attorneys in the case, saying that Lake and Finchem’s claims amounted to mere “conjectural allegations of potential injuries.”

In October 2023, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with Tuchi’s decision to reject the case, agreeing that it was “frivolous.”

“None of Plaintiffs’ allegations supported a plausible inference that their individual votes in future elections will be adversely affected by the use of electronic tabulation, particularly given the robust safeguards in Arizona law, the use of paper ballots, and the post-tabulation retention of those ballots,” the appellate court wrote.

Finchem and Lake, who both lost their 2022 bids for statewide office to Democrats, each filed lawsuits after that election seeking to overturn the results. In both cases, judges found that neither candidate could prove that there was any fraud, malfeasance or maladministration that changed the outcome.

In their petition to the Supreme Court, Lake and Finchem go as far as to accuse Arizona election officials of illegally altering the tabulator software — a crime under Arizona law — and concealing those alterations from the court when the case was originally filed.

They also claimed that Dominion Voting Systems equipment used in Maricopa County, and in many other counties across the country, “have a built-in security breach enabling malicious actors to take control of elections, likely without detection.”

The Arizona Republican Party — alongside the Georgia Republican Party and the Republican State Committee of Delaware — backed up Lake in her petition to SCOTUS, filing their own supporting brief earlier this month urging the court to take up the case.

The Virginia attorney representing the Republican parties, William J.Olson argued that, since 2020, state and federal courts across the U.S. began using what he called “unreasonable standards” to determine whether election cases have legal standing to move forward.

“The decision of the district court of Arizona to dismiss Petitioners’ challenge to the conduct of the 2022 Arizona election is one of the clearest illustrations of this abusive line of cases which have required much more than well-pled allegations, brought by candidates, that elections were being conducted in violation of law,” Olson wrote.

Andrew isn’t the only Cuomo trying to stage a comeback.

In the wake of the failure of Charles Barkley and Gayle King’s prime-time talk show, sources at CNN have been gossiping about the network’s next move. (King has insisted it was always a limited run.)

“The top brass are pulling their hair out trying to find a solution before the election really heats up,” said an insider.

“They have Anderson Cooper, but they’re saying they need ‘another Chris.’ ”

In 2021, Chris Cuomo was CNN’s highest-rated prime-time star. But he was fired by then-CEO Jeff Zucker after allegations he provided assistance to his bro, then-Gov. Andrew, on how to combat sexual harassment allegations leveled by former aides.

After his ouster, Chris filed for arbitration, demanding $125 million from CNN over his exit. He also landed a new gig at NewsNation.

Last year, Variety reported sources as saying part of Zucker’s reasoning for axing Chris was to ingratiate himself with incoming Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav.

Zucker, who adamantly refuted the Variety report, was pushed out himself in 2022.

A source told Page Six this week: “CNN insiders say there could be a deal to be made with Chris down the road — this is already being whispered about, and discussed quietly, but still unofficially.

“Management has changed, and CNN could be ready to move beyond the old issues, especially since they have not been able to replicate Chris’ success with their audience.”

The source also told us: “Although Chris isn’t talking about this openly . . . it’s generally accepted by his circle that he misses his old job, loves being on TV and making a difference on national topics of interest to everyone. He wants to be in Israel reporting on the war.”

Reps did not get back to us.

“American audiences love a comeback,” the source added. “It remains a longshot that CNN would amicably settle Chris’ lawsuit and bring him back, but stranger things have happened in TV when it comes down to ad dollars and almighty ratings.”

Cuomo has previously said of his time at CNN in a podcast interview with Anthony Scaramucci: “I wasn’t set up to be [No. 1]. I wasn’t the big name there, I didn’t have the big team, they didn’t do the advertising about me. But I was still No. 1. Why? Because it was the best show. Because I was giving people what they needed in that moment.”

Alec Baldwin was caught on camera smacking the phone of an anti-Israel agitator who repeatedly demanded he say “Free Palestine” inside a New York City coffee shop, according to footage posted online Monday night.

The rabble rouser approached the actor while he appeared to be on the phone and at the cash register inside the shop and began to relentlessly harass him, the video shows.

“Alec, can you please say ‘Free Palestine’ one time,” said the protester, who hosts an “anti-fascist” show called Crackhead Barney & Friends.

She continued to accost Baldwin, 66, before he went toward the door inside Maman on University Place and motioned for her to get out, the video shows.

“Free Palestine, Alec, just one time, and I’ll leave you alone,” she said. “I’ll leave you alone, I swear.”

“Just say ‘Free Palestine’ one time, one time,” she pressed as he shook his head no and held the door open.

“F–k Israel, f–Zionism,” she added.

The podcast host, who is known for ambush interviews, also brought up Baldwin’s criminal case in New Mexico where he’s facing a charge in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust.”

“Why did you kill that lady, you killed that lady and got no jail time,” the agitator claimed while calling him a “criminal.”

Watch;

White devil Alec Baldwin attacked me
While I was trying to get coffeee pic.twitter.com/qebME0V4Wl

— Crackhead Barney & Friends (@CHBAF) April 22, 2024

The “30 Rock” alum has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter with a trial scheduled for July.

He was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal when the revolver went off. Hutchins was hit by a bullet and succumbed to her injuries.

Movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced earlier this year to 18 months in prison after she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

At one point during the coffee shop encounter, a worker tried to get the aggressor to stop, but to no avail. Baldwin also appeared to ask the employee to step in during the verbal altercation.

The video cuts out when Baldwin smacked the protester’s phone after he appeared to ask the worker, “Can you do me a quick favor?”

It’s unclear when the confrontation took place.

This isn’t the first time anti-Israel activists have gotten in the face of Baldwin.

A group of protesters heckled the actor last December and asked if he condemned Israel. Baldwin replied “No, I support peace for Gaza,” which left them annoyed.

“Go f–k yourself,” a man yelled.

Anti-Israel protests have roiled the city over the last six months after Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped another 240 back to Gaza in October.

The Jewish state then launched a military campaign in the territory.

Anti-Israel protestors armed with flares marched toward NYPD headquarters just hours after riot-gear-wearing officers stormed an NYU protest ‘Gaza Solidarity’ encampment protest on Monday night, arresting dozens of faculty and staff members.

The streets were lit up in orange as marchers waved Palestinians flags while holding flares in the air and banging a drum walking through Chinatown to reach One Police Plaza in New York City.

Earlier on the NYU campus in Greenwich Village, police officers in riot gear were forced to use zip ties to detain protesters, marching them onto police buses after warnings to leave the area were ignored.

The protest, involving hundreds, began at 6am with a group setting up tents at NYU’s Gould Plaza demanding the university divest from any Israel-related holdings. It was done in solidarity with similar protests at other campuses, including Columbia University.

The number of participants at the NYU protest grew throughout the day on Monday with hundreds of anti-Israel activists gathered by nightfall – all ignoring pleas by university staff and security to leave.

It culminated in clashes with law enforcement – after the university requested officers break up the protest. Videos captured the shocking moment cops flooded the protest, tipping tents and making arrests as protestors carried Palestine flags and chanted.

Students could be seen gathering at the steps outside of NYU’s Stern School of Business earlier and appeared to be joined by some faculty members.

Some protesters could be heard chanting, ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ – a slogan that many regard as a call to genocide.

Others could be seen stepping on Israel’s flag.

NYU’s head of security said that administrators ‘witnessed disorderly, disruptive and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety and security of our community.’

Anti-Israel protesters march through China Town with flares, reportedly headed toward NYPD headquarters

pic.twitter.com/dV1Xt9Uybx

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 23, 2024

The NYPD could be heard using a megaphone telling students: ‘You have been warned by New York University to leave the area.’

Those who did not leave soon, would be arrested for trespassing, NYPD said.

In a statement on Instagram on Monday, New York University officials warned protesters to clear the plaza by 4pm or face consequences. Mass arrests began around 8:30pm.

NYU’s Global Campus Safety posted on Instagram that protesters had breached the barriers set up at Gould Plaza, Fountain Walker.

‘The one safety requirement we made was that no additional protestors could enter Gould Plaza. With the breach of the barricades early this afternoon, that requirement was violated, and we witnessed disorderly, disruptive, and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety and security of our community,’ the university said in a statement.

‘We cannot tolerate people getting hurt. You will need to clear the plaza by 4pm. If you leave now, no one will face any consequences for today’s actions—no discipline, no police.’

As the arrests happened, NYPD officials released a letter from NYU officials asking them to come to the campus.

‘We have repeatedly asked all the individuals to leave Gould Plaza,’ the letter read. ‘They have ignored our requests.’

‘At this point we consider all the protestors occupying Gould Plaza to be trespassers and we would like the NYPD to clear the area and to take action to remove the protestors. In the event they refuse to leave, we request the NYPD take enforcement action accordingly up to and including arrest.’

After the police raid, protestors armed with flares were seen walking through Chinatown armed with Palestinian flags, heading toward 1 Police Plaza.

A transgender man allegedly tried to kidnap a child at an elementary school in Colorado, and police said that he was a registered sex offender.

The Aurora Police Department said officers were called to the Black Forest Hills Elementary School on Friday over the incident.

Investigators say 33-year-old Solomon Galligan got onto school property and approached a group of children. He allegedly tried to grab a young boy before fleeing from the school. Police are unsure what prompted him to leave on his own.

He was later arrested by police and charged with attempted kidnapping. Galligan is being held at the Aurora Detention Center on a $25,000 bond.

The mother of the child Galligan allegedly tried to kidnap spoke to KCNC-TV about the boy.

“This has changed his life forever, and my life,” said Miranda Ayala. “He was touched by somebody else who walked up onto a field at school at recess with other adults that should’ve been taking care of my son.”

She says that her child told police he smelled like alcohol and had a white powder on his face.

Other parents told KCNC that they were upset at the school for not being as transparent as it should have been to the parents about the incident.

School officials tried to reassure parents in an email saying they had increased security at the elementary school.

“We take all safety concerns very seriously and have launched an investigation into the incident that happened Friday,” read a statement from a school spokesperson. “We are committed to being transparent and accountable to our community, and the school is in communication with families.”

Ayala says that the school officials who were supposed to protecting the children were distracted by their phones. They were alerted by other children yelling, “Stranger danger!”

“It was these kids who saved my son’s life,” she added.

The Daily Mail reported that Galligan had documented his gender transition in 2012.

‘So I’m starting my hormone shots and I really can’t wait I’m on my hormone pills I’ve been on them for almost 4 months,’ Galligan wrote at the time.

He had been convicted of nonconsensual sexual contact in Denver and failed to register as a sex offender.

Here’s a local news report about the incident:

Police clad in riot gear swarmed Yale University’s Connecticut campus early Monday and arrested dozens of students who refused to clear out from an anti-Israel protest encampment.

At least 47 protesters were cuffed and hauled away from the Ivy League’s New Haven campus on shuttle buses, a university spokesperson confirmed to The Post.

They were slapped with trespassing summons — and will be referred for Yale disciplinary action, which may include suspensions, the rep added.

The mass arrests came after footage posted online showed cops arriving at the Ivy League school and blocking off entrances to a plaza, where roughly 200 protesters had been gathered.

Cops repeatedly warned protesters they risked being arrested if they didn’t clear out, the Yale spokesperson said.

As police descended on the campus, a group of defiant students had locked arms around a flagpole and were singing “We shall not be moved” — as officers could be seen checking the dozens of tents erected in the plaza, according to a video posted on X.

Yale police department forcefully flooded the encampment and issued warnings, banging tents as they entered.

Students stood strong, locking arms around the flagpole, displaying their readiness for arrest. Tearful crowd sang, “We shall not be moved.” pic.twitter.com/3uGOTHNu96

— Kuffiya (@Kuffiyateam) April 22, 2024

While the arrests were underway, others could be heard taunting the Yale Police Depatment (YPD), “YPD or KKK, IDF they’re all the same” and chanting, “Arab blood is not cheap, for the martyrs we will speak,” according to the Yale Daily News.

Cops had cleared the plaza and encampment of student protesters by about 8 a.m.

“Today, members of Yale’s police department isolated the area and asked protestors to show identification; some left voluntarily. When others did not comply after multiple requests, the Yale Police Department issued summonses to 47 students,” the spokesperson said.

“The university made the decision to arrest those individuals who would not leave the Plaza with the safety and security of the entire Yale community in mind and to allow access to university facilities by all members of our community.”

It comes after protests at Yale turned violent over the weekend when a Jewish student journalist reporting on an encampment, which was erected Friday, was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag Saturday night.

Sahar Tartak, editor-in-chief of the Yale Free Press, was covering the protest when she was suddenly surrounded by demonstrators.

“There’s hundreds of people taunting me and waving the middle finger at me, and then this person waves a Palestinian flag in my face and jabs it in my eye,” Tartak told The Post.

“When I tried to yell and go after him, the protesters got in a line and stopped me.”

Yale president Peter Salovey sent students an email late Sunday warning that the school “will pursue disciplinary actions according to its policies” amid the ongoing demonstrations.

“Many of the students participating in the protests, including those conducting counterprotests, have done so peacefully. However, I am aware of reports of egregious behavior, such as intimidation and harassment, pushing those in crowds, removal of the plaza flag, and other harmful acts,” he wrote.

“Yale does not tolerate actions, including remarks, that threaten, harass, or intimidate members of the university’s Jewish, Muslim, and other communities.

“The Yale Police Department is investigating each report, and we will take action when appropriate, including making referrals for student discipline.”

The arrival of cops comes after more than 100 protesters were cuffed and hauled away when the NYPD was called in to clear out a similar protest at Columbia University last week.

The privileged daughter of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar amazingly claims she’s homeless and can’t get food after being kicked out of her prestigious $90,000-per-year Barnard College dorm following her arrest at last week’s anti-Israel protests on Columbia University’s campus.

Isra Hirsi, 21, and a handful of other Barnard students were slapped with suspensions after they were among the more than 100 protestors cuffed and hauled away for refusing to clear out from a tent encampment on the Ivy League school’s campus last Thursday.

“I was a little bit frantic, like, where am I going to sleep? Where am I gonna go?” she whined to Teen Vogue after learning she’d been evicted from campus housing and banned from using the dining hall.

“And also all of my s–t is thrown in a random lot. It’s pretty horrible,” said the disgraced student still supported by her Democratic “squad” member mom, who said she is ” enormously proud” of her daughter.

“I have like four shirts, two pairs of pants,” Hirsi complained. “I don’t know when I can go home, and I don’t know if I ever will be able to.”

Hirsi, who is a member of the anti-Israel student group Apartheid Divest, had already received notice of her suspension early Thursday — hours before the NYPD was called in to arrest protestors and help dismantle the anti-Israel protest encampment.

Barnard administrators had initially started warning their students late Wednesday that they risked being suspended if they didn’t clear out.

When Hirsi sought help from Barnard administration after being cut loose from jail on Thursday, she whined that she’d heard crickets.

“I sent them an email like, ‘Hey, I rely on campus for my meals, I rely on my dining plan,’ and they were like, Oh, you can come pick up a prepackaged bag of food, a full 48 hours after I was suspended,” she told the magazine.

“There was no food support, no nothing.”

Speaking about her arrest, Hirsi said she was held in custody for roughly eight hours.

“We had so many people who were born female in our group that they didn’t have enough space for us,” Hirsi told Teen Vogue of her arrest. “It was a very slow process in getting everybody into the cells.

“I was zip-tied for about seven hours and wasn’t released for about eight,” she added.

Elsewhere, she also complained about Barnard’s president, Laura Rosenbury, was taking a tougher stance on students that Columbia University.

“Only Barnard students are evicted, and I think it’s pretty crazy,” Hirsi griped.

“I think it’s really on a school-by-school basis, and Barnard has decided to take a very egregious stand against us,” she continued.

A judge accepted Donald Trump‘s $175 million bond in his civil fraud case after the former president and Attorney General Letitia James reached an agreement to modify the conditions of the bond during a hearing in New York on Monday.

Judge Arthur Engoron said that so long as Trump gave Knight Specialty Insurance, a small Delaware-based insurer, exclusive access to the bank account that is serving as collateral for the bond, then the judge would approve it, according to a Law360 report.

Engoron’s decision comes after James argued in a motion that Trump did not have “sufficiently secure and ascertainable collateral backing the bond” and that Engoron should therefore reject it.

Trump was required to post the bond while he fights a judgment issued by Engoron in February that he pay $454 million in fines and interest after Engoron found Trump and Trump Organization executives liable for years of business fraud.

An appellate court recently agreed with Trump that while the former president’s appeal of the judgment remains pending, he should not have to post a bond for the full amount of the judgment but rather for $175 million. Trump had argued that he could not pay the full amount because no company would authorize a bond payment of that magnitude.

A Schwab brokerage account that Trump had control over was serving as the collateral for Knight’s bond.

“Your hypothetical is calling into question the veracity of one of the largest financial institutions in the world,” Trump’s attorney Chris Kise argued to Engoron when the judge raised questions about the bond on Monday, according to Law360.

An attorney working on behalf of James then proposed an agreement that would prevent Trump from being able to manipulate funds in the Schwab account.

Kise said he would make changes to the account access that were agreeable to James. The agreement is set to be finalized by Friday.

Trump was not present at the hearing because he was attending a concurrent court event in New York for his hush money trial, during which attorneys gave opening statements on the case.

Prior to entering the courtroom for the hush money case on Monday morning, Trump focused his attention on the forthcoming civil fraud hearing, blasting James as the “worst attorney general in the country” and criticizing Engoron.

“I just want you to know that that’s taking place in front of an extremely crazed judge who’s the most overturned judge in New York state,” Trump said.

Planet Fitness — which faced backlash for allowing a trans man to shave in the women’s locker room — hired a new boss who had required employees to undergo “unconscious bias training” and supported “hiring through a DEI lens” at her previous company.

Colleen Keating, who served as chief executive at rental service FirstKey Homes since 2020, will assume the CEO title at Planet Fitness on June 10, the company announced Tuesday.

During Keating’s tenure at the helm of FirstKey, she was a signatory to a document titled “CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge.”

The corporate executives who signed on to the pledge committed to “continually strive to diversify our workforce, hiring through a DE&I lens to find talent in multiple locations and backgrounds.”

Keating succeeds Chris Rondeau.

Shares of Planet Fitness, which has nearly 2,500 locations across the country, fell by around 1.7% Thursday afternoon.

The chain has been the subject of boycott calls after outraged patrons reported seeing unclothed trans gym-goers in the ladies’ locker room.

Planet Fitness member Patricia Silva, 67, began the uproar last month after posting a video of a trans man shaving in the women’s locker room at a Planet Fitness outpost in Alaska.

In the video, Silva said she saw a transgender person “with a penis” go near a girl who “could have been 12 years old…in a towel kind of freaked out there’s a man shaving in her locker room.”

The gym suspended Silva for breaking its policy of photographing another person at the facility.

Earlier this month, North Carolina law enforcement officials arrested 38-year-old Christopher Miller for allegedly barging into a women’s locker room at a local Planet Fitness and exposing himself while claiming that he was a woman.

Miller was arrested on a charge of indecent exposure and booked into the Gaston County jail on April 4.

Planet Fitness’s official company policy allows members to use the restroom and locker room of their self-reported gender identity, but there was no indication that Miller had identified himself as a transgender woman before venturing inside the ladies’ locker room.

Miller was ordered held on $25,000 bond.