Coastal town in deep-blue state makes move to shield itself from ‘dangerous’ liberal policies
The mayor of an affluent California coastal community criticized Democratic state lawmakers and expressed frustration over sanctuary state policies he alleges have allowed illegal immigration to flow uninterrupted after 21 migrants were recently taken into custody off the shores near his city.
Eighteen of the migrants who were detained a mile off the waters of Newport Beach earlier this month by the U.S. Coast Guard were from Mexico, while two were from Uzbekistan and one was from Russia. They were handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill blamed California’s Democratic-controlled legislature for passing sanctuary state laws aimed at shielding illegal immigrants from deportation while overlooking the potential, unintended financial and public safety implications.
“The policy in (the state capital) Sacramento is so extreme, that they are actually protecting people who are known criminals who are in the country illegally,” O’Neill told Fox News Digital, adding that the law has incentivized illegal immigration.
MIGRANT MURDERS PUT AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ON EDGE AS OVER 1.4 MILLION AVOID DEPORTATION WITH SHADY TACTICS
Also known as the “California Values Act,” SB 54 is sometimes referred to as a “sanctuary state” law, which prohibits state law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
The legislation was signed into law in 2017 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. It mandates that no state and local resources are used to assist federal immigration enforcement. It also limits immigration enforcement actions at public schools, hospitals, churches, health facilities, courthouses and libraries.
At the time of the bill’s passage, Newport Beach lawmakers opposed it.
O’Neill noted that some migrants have, in recent years, circumvented the southern border altogether in California in favor of using boats to enter the country illegally. Once ashore, many will run off into waiting vehicles and disappear into the state, he said.
In May, Fox Los Angeles reported 20 suspected illegal immigrants walking onto a pier in Newport Harbor before scattering into town. O’Neill noted that if the boat with the 21 migrants had made its way into the harbor and was stopped by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols the area, local law enforcement would have been powerless to do anything.
‘100% ON BOARD’: BORDER STATE OFFERS TRUMP MASSIVE PLOT OF LAND TO AID MASS DEPORTATION OPERATION
The border was a major issue during the 2024 presidential election that President-elect Donald Trump frequently used to criticize the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris.
California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed to fight the incoming Trump administration in an effort to protect progressive policies on climate change, reproductive rights and immigration. Trump has promised to carry out mass deportation operations once he returns to the White House, initially focusing on those living in the country illegally who are deemed a danger to the public.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Newsom’s office said most migrants prefer settling in Texas and Florida over other states, which proves that “anti-immigrant state-level policies do not deter migration.”
“They simply harm our economy and long-standing immigrant families, including those with U.S. citizens who’ve been contributing to our communities for decades,” the governor’s office said. “We had a bipartisan border security bill deal that would have bolstered border security resources, but Republicans killed it under orders from Trump. The Mayor’s complaints should be directed their way.”
The failed border bill, which was opposed by Republicans and Trump, would have expanded alternatives to detention for those who enter the country illegally, made work permits available for those who pass initial asylum screenings and would have established a threshold of an average of 5,000 border crossings a day for one week before ushering in a Department of Homeland Security emergency authority that would bar illegal immigrants from entering the country between ports of entry, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Many in the GOP said the measure would have exacerbated the border crisis and was essentially dead on arrival.
Despite its intention, SB 54 contains exemptions that allow local law enforcement to coordinate with ICE to take illegal immigrants into custody once released from jail, including those convicted of felony offenses once they have served their sentences in state prisons.
MIGRANTS CAUGHT AT BORDER BUSSED, FLOWN OUT OF SAN DIEGO IN POSSIBLE ‘COVER UP’ BEFORE ELECTION: OFFICIAL
Newsom has vetoed bills that attempted to eliminate that exemption, his office said.
O’Neill said California, in particular Orange County, has seen a downturn in the quality of life, in addition to rising crime and homelessness, during Newsom’s tenure.
“Gavin Newsom is trying to Trump-proof California. We here in Orange County are trying to Newsom-proof Orange County,” he said. “We know how unsafe our communities have been under his leadership.”
Newsom’s family recently acquired a multimillion-dollar home in affluent Marin County in the Bay Area, the mayor noted. The family will split their time between Sacramento and Marin counties, Newsom’s office previously told FOX Business.
“They’ve got altitude sickness,” O’Neill said of Democratic state lawmakers. “They are in their ivory towers up in Sacramento.”
He noted that as mayor of San Francisco, Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon as the district attorney. Gascon was voted out as Los Angeles County’s top prosecutor earlier this month after only one term amid heavy criticism over his progressive directives that critics said made the region unsafe and enabled criminals.
NEWSOM VETOES CONTROVERSIAL BILL THAT WOULD HAVE GIVEN HOUSING LOANS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
State Assemblyman Bill Essayli, a Republican, said state Democrats talk about resisting Trump and Republicans but rarely respect differing opinions.
“They don’t tolerate any dissent to any of their policies at all,” Essayli told Fox News Digital, citing lawsuits from the state against Huntington Beach, an Orange County enclave, over voter identification requirements and its refusal to follow state housing regulations.
“It’s frankly hypocritical that Newsom wants to say: ‘As a state, we want to exempt ourselves from Trump’s policies,’ but Newsom would never tolerate the same from local jurisdictions exempting themselves from his policies.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Democratic Party of California and immigrant groups. The Democratic Party of Orange County declined to comment.
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In an effort to push back against federal immigration raids and strict policies, Los Angeles city leaders earlier this month formally voted to become a sanctuary city. The city has followed sanctuary city guidelines for years, but an ordinance was never codified into law.
The law ensures that all Los Angeles residents “can interact with our government without the fear that Donald Trump’s deportation squad is around the corner,” Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez said during the meeting.
First video from Harris since election loss goes viral: ‘There’s something, ummm, off’
Vice President Kamala Harris’ first video to her supporters after the election stunned social media users Tuesday.
The video, shared by the Democratic Party’s official X account, featured Harris speaking directly to followers discouraged by the recent election.
“I just have to remind you, don’t let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before Nov. 5, and you have the same purpose that you did. And you have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don’t ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you,” Harris said.
Many X users were buzzing about Harris’ appearance in the video, commenting about how there seemed to be something “off” with the vice president and expressing surprise it was publicly shared.
HARRIS CAMPAIGN CHAIR FUMES ABOUT NARRATIVE SHE WAS AFRAID TO DO INTERVIEWS: ‘COMPLETELY BULLS—‘
DC Examiner contributor Kimberly Ross responded, “Is this a…joke? It’s a terrible video. Yikes.”
“I’m not sure you guys want to be amplifying this. There’s something, ummmm, off with the vice president,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha joked.
OutKick columnist Mary Katharine Ham wrote, “When you hand your phone to someone to police your social media posts when y’all go hard, you wanna hand it to someone who likes you.”
Senior National Review Online writer Dan McLaughlin reacted, “No video like this would ever have been released by a politician who is not hated by her staff.”
“The joy is gone,” the Republican Committee of Prince William County surmised.
Former Trump White House advisor Ben Williamson remarked, “I’d read a 5,000 word article on how this got approved for release.”
“They wouldn’t let her go on @joerogan but they let her do this,” American Principles Project president Terry Schilling posted with a facepalm emoji.
“Who thought this was a good idea? Who is this for? What is this for? What is she even saying? Once again, I will reiterate that we are ruled by imbeciles,” Atlantic contributing writer Tyler Austin Harper wondered.
National Review senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty wrote, “Besides the, er, vibe of flammability, the message ‘don’t let anyone take your power from you’ is perhaps less than ideal as a theme during the peaceful transfer of power.”
KAMALA HARRIS CAMPAIGN AIDES SUGGEST TRUMP’S SIT-DOWN WITH JOE ROGAN TO BLAME FOR HER NOT JOINING PODCAST
The video reportedly came from a call Harris took with donors and volunteers earlier today where she addressed her election loss for the first time since conceding to President-elect Donald Trump.
“The outcome of this election obviously is not what we wanted. It is not what we worked so hard for. But I am proud of the race we ran, and your role in this was critical. What we did in 107 days was unprecedented,” Harris said.
Harris has mostly kept out of the spotlight since the election and has been vacationing in Hawaii with second gentleman Doug Emhoff since last week.
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It’s time for Democrats to self-reflect because Americans they forgot about are mad
Rural Americans are mad. For the last four years, we have felt ignored and abused for an agenda we did not sign up for. Democrats, who claim to be the party of the people, proved they were not, and left us behind. And so, on Election Day, we made our voices heard, with upward of 65 percent of rural voters supporting Donald Trump for president.
The population and voice of rural America is growing. After a decade in decline, from 2020 to 2022, rural America grew, with people leaving their urban communities seeking the opportunity to live the American dream for their families.
With that growth, many in rural communities worried that their values would change – that the liberal ideals espoused by many of the urban elite would infiltrate our communities. But the election showed this was not the case. Donald Trump held on to his margins in rural communities – in many areas, even exceeding them.
FOX NEWS VOTER ANALYSIS: HOW TRUMP REGAINED THE WHITE HOUSE
As we look toward the incoming Trump administration in 2025, America’s political elite need to ask themselves why these rural voters – including farmers, ranchers, and small business owners – showed up to support a new Trump presidency with such overwhelming force. Precincts in these communities are vast, requiring at times up to an hour’s drive to walk in and exercise our right as Americans to vote.
Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had their chance. They did nothing to support the interests of rural America. They spent billions in taxpayer dollars on “climate-smart” grants to support their green new scheme but those dollars were never felt in most rural communities.
Rural Americans are committed to drive further – often parking their tractors, trucks, construction equipment, school buses or even garbage trucks to cast their ballots. Many took unpaid breaks from their work. But for these Americans, voting was important. It was an opportunity to send a clear message to those in Washington who, so often, dismiss the values and challenges of those in “fly-over” country.
What Democrats failed to calculate, throughout the 2024 election campaign, is that rural communities are made up of families whose income would have been decimated by their policies. Tax proposals, like taxes on unrealized capital gains and doubling the number of individuals paying inheritance tax, would have ended the possibility of passing a thriving business to a new generation. Democrat policies incentivize companies to move operations offshore, costing American jobs and investment capital.
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And while Democrats were proposing higher taxes, our purchasing power shrunk, with regulation, out-of-control spending, and a misguided climate agenda leading to rampant inflation. According to an AP VoteCast survey, 96% of voters said “high prices for gas, groceries, and other goods” impacted their vote. Nowhere is this truer than in farming and ranching communities, where every single element of agricultural production is affected by energy costs. And when our costs go up, so do prices consumers face at the grocery store.
American agriculture has also experienced the loss of international markets and the income that comes from being able to sell our products to consumers around the world. Under the Biden-Harris administration, we had no discernible “salesperson” for U.S. agriculture, and it showed. Democrats did not prioritize international trade, and so the agricultural trade balance cratered, going from a surplus to a deficit over the last three years. On the current trajectory, the U.S. will suffer its fourth year of negative agricultural trade balances. This trend is unsustainable.
On Election Day, rural Americans examined the last four years. We looked at where we were when Donald Trump left office and where we are now. And the answer was clear: Democrats, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, had their chance. They did nothing to support the interests of rural America. They spent billions in taxpayer dollars on “climate-smart” grants to support their green new scheme, but those dollars were never felt in most rural communities.
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So, we chose a president who would. Donald Trump’s sound energy policies will make America energy independent and keep our rural communities thriving. He prioritizes the American worker and American introduction, working to sign trade deals that will open new international markets. And he will implement tax and fiscal policies that will help our communities grow.
My message for Democrats: It may be time for a little self-reflection. Rural Americans have been called names – “deplorables,” and worse by Democrats — for years. But at the ballot box, we have power, and our voices cannot be ignored.
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Al Sharpton facing backlash among MSNBC colleagues over growing scandal
The growing scandal plaguing MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton has been “ricocheting around the halls” of 30 Rock with his colleagues calling it a “bridge too far” for them, Fox News Digital has learned.
On Tuesday, MSNBC said it was “unaware” that Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign paid $500,000 to Sharpton’s National Action Network nonprofit ahead of a friendly interview with the Democratic nominee just weeks before the election.
“MSNBC was unaware of the donations made to the National Action Network,” an MSNBC spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon, which first broke the story.
Harris sat down for a friendly interview on Oct. 20 with Sharpton, an open supporter of Harris and the Democratic Party. Following Harris’ defeat to President-elect Donald Trump, FEC filings revealed the Harris campaign gave two $250,000 donations to Sharpton’s nonprofit organization in September and October. However, the MSNBC weekend host did not disclose to viewers the apparent conflict of interest before or after the interview. Neither did he disclose the donations to his bosses at the network, according to the Free Beacon.
“No one’s surprised that anybody at MSNBC was rooting for Harris. This feels like another level of nonsense. Like, you’re kidding me, right? This is weird,” a current MSNBC employee reacted to Fox News Digital.
“Harris could have given Al Sharpton an interview, and it would have gone the same way,” they continued. “But what are you paying for?… There’s no way that this can’t seem weird.”
MSNBC WAS ‘UNAWARE’ HARRIS CAMPAIGN. GAVE $500K TO AL SHARPTON’S GROUP AHEAD OF FRIENDLY INTERVIEW
“Everybody knows who Al Sharpton is… but this feels like a bridge too far. A big bridge too far… This is not landing well,” the MSNBC staffer said.
“This has a bit of a dirty feel to it… These things happen and they don’t bounce around MSNBC all that much. Like people just don’t care,” they continued. “This one feels, I’d say, there’s a deeper disappointment. There’s a sense of like, ‘Ugh, we don’t need this. This feels kind of grifty and gross.'”
The insider says everyone at MSNBC knows Sharpton is given a “wide berth” and that he’s “not heldto the same journalistic standard” as others at MSNBC since he’s far more known outside the network for his high-profile political and social activism. That said, the controversy reeks of a “pay-to-play” scheme.
“There is a sense among the people I’ve spoken to that this feels like something wrong and that something should be done about it,” the MSNBC employee said. “I don’t know what that something is… That’s a lot of money! That’s not a small matter… It just doesn’t sit well with people.”
KAMALA HARRIS INTERVIEWERS RECEIVED LARGE CAMPAIGN DONATIONS TO THEIR GROUPS AHEAD OF SIT-DOWNS
They, however, cast doubt that Sharpton will face any consequences, telling Fox News Digital “Generally speaking, people do things and they kind of get away with them at MSNBC, I mean, other than in the Me Too era.”
“I don’t care whether somebody does something to Al. I’m more interested in where does this fit into who we are,” the MSNBC insider said. “How does this s— happen? How does half a million dollars change hands?… How can you possibly think you’re holding somebody to account in an interview when they donate money to you? We’re told not to take tickets to a ballgame!”
“It’s got a real bulls— feel to it. People who like Al and respect him and understand what his value is… it ranges from disappointment to disgust. Not a whole ton of surprise, I will tell you that,” they continued. “There are some organizational rules- I understand he has different rules, but they can’t be that, that you donate money and then you get an interview. That can’t be acceptable… I think a three-year-old would see a potential conflict in this.”
MSNBC’S FUTURE A ‘BIG CONCERN’ FOR STAFFERS AS COMCAST MOVES TO SEPARATE LIBERAL NETWORK FROM NBCUNIVERSAL
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The MSNBC staffer was taken aback by the network being caught flat-footed by the controversy.
“For MSNBC to start by saying they weren’t aware of otto start with, like, wow. That’s something… Everything about this stinks,” they said. “Like, why did the campaign not think that this would come out and be a really bad look for them? I mean, if Kamala Harris had become president, it’d be a scandal!… You’re not gonna sway my opinion for tickets to a ballgame but for half a million dollars? You might!”
“That kind of money should not be changing hands to people who are cosplaying being a journalist. Maybe that’s not a fair term because I don’t know, is he a journalist? I don’t know. But that just feels a little bit like pay to play, and it doesn’t feel right in an organization that we’re all still part of. I understand that not everyone is held to the same standard, but there should be a set of common rules. And my understanding of this is that this would be breaking a rule… it feels like I couldn’t get away with that,” the employee added.
MSNBC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Mystery drones taunt US fighter jets prompting heightened defense response
Unidentified drones have been spotted over joint U.S.-U.K. bases in the United Kingdom for nearly a week.
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reports that four U.S. military bases in the U.K. that house the American F-15 Strike Eagle and F-35 fighter jets have been targeted by “swarms of small drones” since Wednesday, Nov. 20.
Military officials say they are “alarmed” at what appears to be a coordinated effort to test security at RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell in eastern England, as well as RAF Fairford in southwestern England.
The U.K. military has sent around 60 personnel to protect the bases being targeted by multiple drone incursions.
RUSSIAN FORCES CAPTURE FORMER BRITISH SOLDIERS FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE IN KURSK: REPORT
A senior U.S. official told Fox that the drones do not appear to be those of “hobbyists.” Witnesses say they are small quadcopters and octocopters and are more sophisticated than those that can be bought off the shelf.
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said earlier Tuesday that none of these drone incursions have impacted the base residents, the facilities or U.S. assets on the bases.
US LAWMAKERS REACT TO CEASE-FIRE DEAL BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH
“We, of course, always maintain the right to defend ourselves if we deem something to be a threat,” Ryder said.
U.S. officials have not revealed the origin of the drones, but the coordinated nature suggests an aggressive state actor that began a day after Ukraine used long-range American ATACMs to target Russia after President Biden lifted restrictions on the use of longer-range missiles.
Soon after, President Vladimir Putin said his country had the right to strike nations that allow their weapons to be used against Russia.
The U.K. Defense Ministry said it is working closely with U.S. and local police to find out what these drones are doing and whether a foreign adversary is involved.
“The number of systems has fluctuated, and they have ranged in sizes and configurations,” U.S. Air Forces Europe said in a statement. “Our units continue to monitor the airspace and are working with host-nation authorities and mission partners to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities and assets.”
The incursion of drones comes a month after Fox first reported that surveillance drones flew for 17 days near Langley Air Force Base in Virginia last December. Those drones were large but pose a similar challenge to base commanders.
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Lakenheath is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, which the U.S. Air Force describes as the foundation of its combat capability in Europe. Mildenhall hosts the 100th Air Refueling Wing, and Feltwell is a hub for housing, schools and other services. Fairford is home to the 501st Combat Support Wing Headquarters and the 420th Air Base Squadron.
Accused killer forced to explain alleged act in room tied to judge’s death
Former Letcher County, Kentucky Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines pleaded not guilty on Monday in the murder of District Court Judge Kevin Mullins in the same courthouse where the lawman opened fire upon the jurist in September.
Attorney Jeremy Bartley said Monday that Stines has a “compelling defense” lined up to justify the shooting of his longtime colleague in his office, the Courier-Journal reported.
The timing of the sheriff’s deposition in a sex abuse-related lawsuit earlier that month is “certainly something that’s going to be crucial in this case,” Bartley added, according to the newspaper.
“I do believe that that is a piece,” Bartley said after Monday’s court proceedings, which lasted about five minutes. “This is a large story. It’s a story that, in some ways, is difficult to tell. We look forward to sharing a more complete version of that as we go through this judicial process.”
SHERIFF ALLEGEDLY GUNS DOWN JUDGE IN HIS OWN CHAMBER IN EXECUTION CAUGHT ON VIDEO; INDICTMENT RETURNED
Prosecuting Attorney Jackie Steele declined to comment when asked if he thought the deposition factored into the shooting, but said that he does not expect Stines to face any additional charges beyond murder of a public official. He told the outlet that it is still too early to know whether he plans to pursue the death penalty in the case.
The lawsuit in question was filed by two women, one of whom alleged that Letcher County deputy Ben Fields forced her to perform sexual favors inside the same judge’s chambers where the shooting took place, where there were no cameras. The woman, who was on house arrest, accused the deputy of repeatedly sexually assaulting her for six months in exchange for staying out of jail.
Stines was accused in the suit of “deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise” Fields, who was convicted on state charges and spent several months in jail. That litigation is pending.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in that case said Stines’ deposition lasted several hours, and that they were surprised by the shooting, according to the Courier-Journal.
Ned Pillersdorf, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, told the outlet that he’s heard varying opinions on whether the deposition is connected to the Sept. 19 shooting. His co-counsel took the deposition, he said, and recalled that Stines had an “odd demeanor” throughout.
KENTUCKY SHERIFF CHARGED IN JUDGE’S MURDER DID NOT PLAN KILLING, CAUGHT IN ‘HEAT OF PASSION’: LAWYER
Stines was denied bond on Monday. Bartley said they planned to file a motion for adversarial bond, but told the outlet that it was “unlikely” to be successful.
Retired Judge Julia H. Adams, who was appointed to serve as special judge in Stines’ case, told the outlet that she decided not to grant the former sheriff bond after “significant consideration,” citing the capital offense charge as a key factor in her decision.
Stines pleaded not guilty on Sept. 25. He formally resigned as sheriff at the end of September after receiving a letter from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Kentucky General Counsel S. Travis Mayo urging him to do so. He is being held two counties away at Leslie County Jail, police said.
It is still unclear what motivated the former sheriff to pull the trigger.
KENTUCKY SHERIFF CHARGED WITH FATALLY SHOOTING JUDGE DEPOSED IN RAPE-RELATED CASE DAYS EARLIER
Kentucky State Police Det. Clayton Stamper testified at the preliminary hearing that the two men had eaten lunch together with a group in the hours before the shooting, the Courier-Journal reported.
According to Stamper, Stines attempted to call his daughter on his own phone, then on Mullins’ phone.
“Our investigators seized the two cellphones, and they’re being analyzed,” Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart previously told the Daily Mail.
“I was told that the judge made a statement to Mickey about, ‘Do we need to meet private in my chambers?’” Stamper testified, The Associated Press reported.
NEW VIDEO SHOWS KENTUCKY SHERIFF POINTING GUN AT JUDGE BEFORE ALLEGED FATAL SHOOTING
“It could be, but I don’t know that for a fact,” Stamper said when asked whether Stines was motivated to shoot Mullins based on what he saw on the judge’s phone.
“I talked to him, but he didn’t say nothing about why this had happened,” Stamper said, according to the AP. “But he was calm… Basically, all he said was, ‘Treat me fair.’”
When Stines was taken into custody, he allegedly told another officer, “they’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid,” Stamper said.
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Bartley previously told People that the shooting “was not something that was planned and occurred in the heat of passion.”
“For us, the highest level of culpability should be manslaughter based on the partial defense of extreme emotional disturbance,” Bartley said.
The shooting in the city of Whitesburg has shaken the community of Letcher County, Kentucky, where Stines served as a bailiff in Mullins’ court before becoming sheriff in 2018.
“We’re all in a state of shock over it,” Garnard Kincer Jr., Mullins’ friend and former mayor of Jenkins, told People. “It practically immobilized us. We just can’t believe it happened.”
Timeline of secret between college volleyball teammates that erupted nationally
The San Jose State volleyball team is set to compete in one of the most unprecedented college tournaments in women’s sports history this week.
The Spartans will compete in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Tournament, and all eyes will be on senior Blaire Fleming. Fleming’s participation in the tournament this week was in question after an emergency hearing in Colorado, when plaintiffs, including Fleming’s teammate Brooke Slusser, contested that Fleming should be excluded from this year’s tournament on the basis of being a biological male.
However, Fleming is in the clear after a federal judge ruled that the athlete will be allowed to play. With Fleming on the court, the tournament is bound to be at the center of national political discourse over the consequences of trans inclusion in women’s sports.
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The situation involving Fleming and Slusser became a national scandal, highlighting an issue that became a deep vulnerability for Democrat candidates leading up to the November election.
The story of Slusser, Fleming and the discourse that rippled throughout the country will come to a head in Las Vegas. Here is how it got there.
January 2021
On Jan. 20, 2021, just hours after President Biden assumed office, he issued an executive order on “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.”
This order included a section that read, “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”
It was just the first in many steps taken by the Biden administration and Democrat lawmakers at the congressional and state level that enabled a sudden wave of trans athletes to compete as girls and women in the U.S. during the current president’s term.
It set a clear precedent for Biden’s entire party on what the baseline stance on trans inclusion in girls’ and women’s sports would be.
Summer 2022
Fleming came to the Bay Area as a transfer ahead of the 2022 season. Fleming, a Virginia native, transferred from Coastal Carolina as one of the top players in the transfer portal. Fleming previously set a single-game record at John Champe High School with 30 kills in a match in 2019 and a single-season record of 266 kills for the school’s girls’ volleyball team.
Footage from the athlete’s Hudl page of the school-record 30-kill match in September 2019 shows how hard and fast Fleming’s spikes came down at the high school level against girl opponents.
According to testimony by former San Jose State assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose in a lawsuit against the university and the Mountain West, Fleming was given a full scholarship. The lawsuit alleges coaches and the athletic department were aware Fleming was a biological male.
Meanwhile, Fleming’s arrival on the team, and alleged natural ability to spike the ball harder than the other players, may have ended up costing a female player a spot and a scholarship. Former San Jose State volleyball player Alyssa Sugai, who is part of the lawsuit and joined the team as a walk-on in 2021, alleges she declined offers to transfer to another school to stay at San Jose State for the 2022 season and potentially earn a scholarship.
Spring 2023
In April 2023, the Biden administration proposed a plan to forbid outright bans on transgender athletes. The outline of the plan outraged conservatives who labeled it as a ploy to enable trans inclusion in women’s sports. However, some on the left thought the plan was actually too right-leaning.
Supporters of the plan argued that it would provide framework for schools and universities to put rules in place to restrict trans inclusion legally. Certain Democrats, including New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, labeled the plan as “indefensible and embarrassing,” in a post on X for not being pro-trans enough.
GOP GOVERNOR REVEALS WHY HE ORDERED SCHOOLS TO BAR TRANSGENDERS FROM GIRLS’ SPORTS
It was one of the first signs that there was a broad range in the spectrum of beliefs on the issue of trans inclusion in women’s sports within the Democratic Party, and a sign that more infighting would be coming.
Summer 2023
Slusser came to San Jose State one year later as a transfer out of Alabama. Slusser, a Texas native, was on a full scholarship, just like Fleming.
Slusser’s very first residence at the university was shared with Fleming, her lawsuit alleged. Slusser also alleged that no one at any point ever indicated to her that Fleming was a biological male, despite the fact that head coach Todd Kress and others at the university were aware of it.
“Due to her personal convictions and religious beliefs, Slusser would not have roomed with Fleming or changed clothes in front of Fleming if Slusser had known Fleming was male,” the court documents read.
“Slusser’s right to protect her bodily privacy was violated by SJSU, Kress, and the MWC through actions, policies and practices that caused her to lose her right to bodily privacy without consent and against her will.”
Fall 2023
Slusser and Fleming’s first season together at San Jose State saw them share rooms together frequently, and the lawsuit alleges it was because Fleming requested it.
“Slusser did learn however that the reason she had been assigned to room with Fleming so often during road trips in the 2023 season was that Kress and other SJSU women’s volleyball officials asked Fleming who Fleming wanted to room with, and Fleming chose Slusser,” the court documents read.
Meanwhile, on the court, the team struggled to a 13-18 record and did not even qualify for The Mountain West Tournament.
Then, near the very end of the disappointing season, Slusser learned the truth. The lawsuit claims Slusser overheard a conversation between two San Jose State students, who were not on the volleyball team, in which they referred to Fleming as “a guy,” the court documents state. The students then told Slusser that her teammate who she had slept in the same room with and undressed in front of was “a dude.”
Slusser says she did not even know what to do with this information when she found out, but it all made sense to her when she thought about how high Fleming could jump and how hard Fleming could spike the volleyball.
However, Slusser just sat on the information and did not rush to any conclusions at the time.
Spring 2024
Things changed in April 2024 for San Jose State’s team and the country. That month, the Biden administration passed a sweeping Title IX re-write that sought to protect trans inclusion and protection in schools.
The administration issued a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions,” in April. The administration insisted the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that it would ultimately put more biological men in women’s sports.
That same month, an online news article focused on Fleming prompted Slusser to finally confront her teammate about what she had heard the previous semester, per court documents.
The day the article was published, Slusser came back to her apartment, and Fleming and another student asked if Slusser would join them for ice cream. It was there Fleming revealed to Slusser the nature of Fleming’s birth gender.
“Slusser asked why Fleming had not shared this information with her before, particularly as they had been living together. Fleming responded that there never seemed to be a good time to bring it up, and that he had been afraid that Slusser might not be his friend if Slusser knew the truth. Fleming also said that if Slusser was uncomfortable with it that Fleming would leave the volleyball team,” the documents read.
“Slusser was uncomfortable with Fleming continuing on the SJSU Team as she questioned whether it was safe or fair for the other women on the team and for opposing teams for Fleming to compete on the women’s team.”
A team meeting was held days later. It included Kress and other university officials. The lawsuit alleges that in that meeting, players were told not to speak about Fleming’s birth sex publicly.
“Criticism of Fleming or his participation on the SJSU Team would indicate bigotry and harm their reputation and could subject them to discipline or loss of their scholarship and could be considered a violation of school policies or state law,” the documents read.
August 2024
The Biden administration’s sweeping push to enable trans inclusion in women’s and girls’ sports saw its heaviest wave of resistance yet in August.
On Aug. 16, The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reject a Biden administration emergency request to enforce its sweeping Title IX reforms in states that filed lawsuits or passed state laws in protest of it.
The request would have permitted biological men in women’s bathrooms, locker rooms and dorms in 10 states where there are state-level and local-level rules in place to prevent it.
However, the Supreme Court’s ruling struck a blow to the administration’s national authority on the issue. News of the ruling was widely celebrated in conservative circles and brought more of a mainstream focus onto the issue on a national scale.
The issue garnered so much attention nationally, that even in states where there were no major incidents of it happening, laws were passed to make sure it would not happen. Idaho was one of those states, when Gov. Brad Little passed an executive order to enforce the “Defending Women’s Sports Act” in his state. Little told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that there were no incidents of trans inclusion in women’s sports that prompted the order, but it was rather the influence of former NCAA swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines.
Little cited Gaines as the most influential figure in his decision to pass the order.
Gaines, an ascendent conservative influencer, became a lightning rod, drawing attention to the issue of trans inclusion in women’s sports amid her ongoing lawsuit against the NCAA. Gaines’ experience sharing a locker room and competing against Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championships made her that lightning rod.
Gaines then lent her influence to Trump and Republicans on the campaign trail. Gaines spoke at a former President Donald Trump rally in Arizona on Aug. 23, as Trump began to cement the agenda of protecting women’s sports as a pillar of his campaign messaging amid Democratic dysfunction on the issue.
Gaines’ influence, along with the others who joined her in the lawsuit against the NCAA, planted the seeds for a widespread woman-first counterculture movement against the Biden administration and Democrats over the enabling of biological men in women’s sports.
SJSU WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL’S 1ST OPPONENT DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT TRANS PLAYER, SUGGESTS MATCH WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED
On the last weekend of August, Fleming, Slusser and their San Jose State teammates kicked off their 2024 season at the Cal Fulerton Invitational in Fullerton, California. Their first opponent of the season, Louisiana Tech, took the court against Fleming without knowing about the biological gender of the player.
Louisiana Tech head volleyball coach Amber McCray confirmed to Fox News Digital that her team did not know about the situation involving Fleming’s natural birth sex, and they did not find out until the day after the match via rumors from parents.
LA Tech athletic director Ryan Ivey suggested that if they had known Fleming’s natural birth sex, the team “would have sought “a different outcome,” in emails obtained by Fox News Digital.
September 2024
It was not long before the Spartans’ next opponents caught on to what was going on with Fleming. Eventually, one of the programs decided to do something about it.
Southern Utah’s volleyball team became the first team to forfeit its match against San Jose State on Sept. 14.
Armed police protection was assigned to the team starting with a match on Sept. 19 and has been present at every game since. As the media attention only got more intense, the school had to commission the help of police departments in other states for the team’s away games.
On Sept. 23, Slusser made the consequential decision to join Gaines and the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) in their lawsuit against the NCAA, citing her experience with Fleming and San Jose State.
Slusser joining the lawsuit amplified the scale of the national controversy for San Jose State. A university spokesperson, in liaison with the police department, confirmed to Fox News Digital that the volleyball team was told it would be getting added security of some kind after its first cancelation by Southern Utah.
INSIDE SAN JOSE STATE’S POLICE BATTLE TO PROTECT WOMEN’S ATHLETES THREATENED BY A TRANSGENDER CULTURE WAR
Soon, more teams followed Southern Utah’s lead, as Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State all announced forfeits to San Jose State that same month. Each forfeit only amplified the national controversy surrounding the team, and it quickly entered the political conversation.
Gov. Little, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, all Republicans, praised the universities and volleyball teams in their respective states who refused to face San Jose State in public statements.
After a 9-0 start to the season, and by virtue of the forfeits, San Jose State secured its 12th win without even having to play in that many games by the end of September.
The growing nationwide cultural movement to defend women’s sports grew in September, as certain logos and merchandise started to become more easily synonymous with the movement. Parents in New Hampshire were banned from a girls’ soccer game that included a trans athlete for wearing armbands that read “XX” in reference to the natural female chromosomes.
The incident and a subsequent lawsuit ultimately proved to be a fruitful publicity stunt for the movement and sports clothing brand XX-XY Athletics, founded by former gymnast Jennifer Sey. The brand, tied to the activism of protecting women’s sports, just launched earlier this year and saw a surge in popularity when it landed Slusser as a sponsor.
The movement to oppose trans inclusion in women’s sports officially became a lucrative business with organic marketing, all in the midst of a heated election year.
October 2024
San Jose State’s first volleyball game of October was overshadowed by fear of Slusser’s physical well-being. Slusser previously told Fox News Digital that the night before her team’s game against Colorado State on Oct. 3, her teammate received a message warning that teammate to keep her distance from Slusser during the game, because “something bad” was going to happen to Slusser.
Additional police security was assigned to the event, as multiple officers patrolled the floor that night.
Afterward, Slusser said she was made aware of an alleged plot involving Fleming and Colorado State player Malaya Jones that aimed to have Jones spike a ball into Slusser’s face during the match. These allegations were included in an eventual Title IX complaint by Batie-Smoose against San Jose State and the lawsuit filed by Slusser and Batie-Smoose.
The university has denied these allegations, and a Mountain West investigation into the incident concluded that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the claims.
Still, it was a point of frustration for Slusser, she said, watching the university go out of its way to protect Fleming. Still, the team continued to play together. Videos of Fleming’s spikes hitting opposing players went viral after multiple matches.
Trump himself weighed in on the situation involving Fleming during a town hall event on the Fox News Channel’s “The Faulkner Focus” on Oct. 17. Trump addressed Fleming directly, referencing a video where one of the athlete’s spikes was seen hitting the body of another player.
“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump said. “But other people, even in volleyball, they’ve been permanently, I mean, they’ve been really hurt badly. Women playing men. But you don’t have to do the volleyball. We stop it. We stop it. We absolutely stop it. You can’t have it.”
Trump used the situation as a springboard to reveal his intention to ban trans inclusion in women’s sports entirely if elected. It became a talking point he made sure to reference at every rally from then until election day, as he and Republican allies hammered the Democrats on their growing-unpopular position of protecting trans inclusion.
Eventually, some Democrats had to back off from their previous positions supporting it. Texas Rep. Collin Allred had to release ads disavowing his past support for allowing “boys in girls sports” in a race to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz for his Senate seat in Texas.
Vice President Kamala Harris hardly ever addressed the issue during her campaign and sidestepped questions about her past positions trans inclusion in various interviews. Trump just kept hammering the issue more and more at every rally and in various campaign ads that repeated the phrase “Kamala Harris is for they/them, Donald Trump is for you.”
The consequences of Democrat-passed laws that protect trans inclusion came under scrutiny leading up to a scheduled volleyball match between San Jose State and Nevada on Oct. 26. Leading up to that game, players on Nevada’s team approached the athletic department and expressed their desire to forfeit the match. However, the university did not honor those wishes initially.
A Nevada spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the university could not forfeit the match because it would be a violation of an amendment to Nevada’s constitution. A 2022 amendment, passed by Democrats, established parameters that prohibited trans discrimination, and the university deemed that forfeiting a match over a trans player would violate that law.
Players came forward publicly condemning the university, garnering the praise and attention of Tulsi Gabbard along the way.
The situation involving the Nevada players speaking out against their university and the NCAA over being pressured to face San Jose State became a national controversy on its own just weeks before the election, in a key battleground state.
Eventually, Nevada forfeited the match the day before the game after it concluded that it would not have enough players to compete.
The Nevada players had prevailed as the country watched a movement that was being driven and powered by the passion and defiance of young women.
November 2024
Batie-Smoose was suspended from San Jose State’s coaching staff on Nov. 2, the same day as the team’s game against New Mexico. Batie-Smoose’s suspension came after she filed a Title IX complaint that alleged the university was favoring Fleming over Slusser throughout the situation and alleging Fleming’s plot to have Slusser hit by a spike during the Oct. 3 Colorado State game.
Slusser told Fox News Digital on November 3 that news of Batie-Smoose’s suspension caused players in the locker room to cry, and left them feeling “unsafe.”
Slusser also officially came out in support of Trump’s proposed ban, calling it necessary and adding that she would not trust Democrats to handle the situation.
“I think it’s completely necessary,” Slusser said of Trump’s proposed ban. “We could trust a lot more that if Trump was elected things would be handled in the right way that we want them to be.”
The topic of Slusser’s team and transgender volleyball players as a whole became a sudden talking point at every Trump rally and on major cable news talk shows leading up to the election, as Democrats failed to deliver a unified message on the topic.
Trump won the election in a landslide, as Republicans also took control of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The aftermath of the Democrats’ crushing defeat caused many of its figures and media pundits to point the finger at trans inclusion as one of the biggest issues that lost them the election. HBO host Bill Maher has devoted ample air time on his weekly show to lambasting Democrats for defending trans inclusion in women’s sports and criticizing any in the party who still stand behind it, in the weeks following the election.
On Nov. 7, the New York Times published a story that quoted Democratic Reps. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Tom Suozzi of New York, and each spoke out against trans inclusion and their party for championing it over the last several years.
Other Democrats, like Ocasio-Cortez and newly-elected transgender Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, are still firmly in favor of far-left policies to defend trans athletes that want to compete against women, leaving the party with an unresolved divide going forward.
Biden-appointed federal Judge Kato Crews in Colorado was the latest figure with Democrat ties to enable trans inclusion in women’s sports, when he ruled that Fleming would be eligible to play in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament after an emergency hearing by ICONS and Utah State to have Fleming disqualified from competing.
Now, the country will get to watch the product of that ruling, combined with laws in California that protect trans inclusion in women’s sports, that have allowed Fleming to take the court with a conference title on the line in Las Vegas.
San Jose State is guaranteed to play either Boise State or Utah State in the semifinal round. Both teams have already refused to face Fleming and the Spartans in the regular season.
Officials warned it would happen, then it did — the latest illegal immigrant gang arrests
Authorities arrested two members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Tennessee last week, when officials issued a warning about a resurgence of the gang in the state.
On Nov. 19, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officials arrested Luis Alejandro Ruiz-Godoy, who was wanted on outstanding warrants through INTERPOL, a spokesperson with the Memphis Police Department said.
ICE transported the suspect to Louisiana for deportation. Additional details about his arrest were not available.
On Monday, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) officials announced the arrests of four individuals, including one Tren de Aragua member, during a sex trafficking sting last week.
VENEZUELAN GANG’S HUMAN TRAFFICKING OPERATIONS SURGE IN TENNESSEE’S MAJOR CITIES
Tennessee’s Human Trafficking Task Force obtained information that led them to a hotel in Hamilton County, where law enforcement encountered the four suspects and confirmed that they were part of a human sex trafficking operation.
Three female suspects – Wilimar Herrera Guedez, 29; Rebeca De Los Juarez Lucena, 26; and Yidalbris Marcano Salas, 29 – are charged with prostitution. Salas is also facing multiple counts of drug-related charges, as well as one count of unlawful weapons possession.
NEW REPORT WARNS BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG’S FOOTPRINT WILL REMAIN IN US ‘FOR DECADES’
The male suspect, Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona, 30, is facing one count of patronizing prostitution, multiple counts of drug-related charges, and one count of unlawful weapons possession. TBI investigators determined that Rodriguez-Carmona is “a known member of Tren de Aragua (TDA) who is additionally suspected of committing violent crimes in Chicago and New York City.”
“This is part of an active and ongoing investigation and there is no information available at this time,” Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Nashville Public Affairs Officer Mike Meares said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
At the time of the release, he remained in the custody of the Hamilton County Jail on $125,000 bond.
The arrests came the same week TBI officials issued a warning about the growing number of TDA members in the state.
“This gang has exploited [the border],” TBI Director David Rausch on “Fox & Friends” on Nov. 22. “They go from human trafficking to organized retail crime theft, and then they move into the drug trade, taking on the cartels in very violent, bloody battles that they’ve had.”
WATCH: TBI DIRECTOR DAVID RAUSCH DISCUSSES TREN DE ARAGUA
Rausch said the gang has been running human trafficking operations and expanding into other criminal activities in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Law enforcement is limited in their efforts to crack down on gang-related activity, especially if suspects do not have an immigration “detainer,” the TBI director added.
“If we come upon them and they have a detainer on them, then we can take them into custody. But other than that, then all we can do is monitor and assure that they aren’t violating the law. But that is a challenge,” said Rausch, calling it a game of “cat and mouse” that’s getting more dangerous.
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Rausch warned Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee during a budget hearing about the resurgence of the gang in major Tennessee cities.
The Department of Homeland Security recommended last month that more than 100 migrants that it has identified as having possible ties to a bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang be put on an FBI watchlist, after the agency flagged more than 600 with possible ties overall.