Police arrest conservative journalist as anti-ICE protesters gather in Portland
Conservative journalist Nick Sortor was captured on video being taken into custody in Portland, Oregon, during another night of chaotic protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
The arrest came after the Portland Police Bureau said it was “monitoring the protest during the evening and observed some protest participants engaging in fights.” Sortor was charged with disorderly conduct in the second degree.
“This was as big of a surprise to me as it was to everybody else. All of a sudden, you know, I’m being jumped by Antifa thugs,” Sortor told Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin following his release. “I get back up, I stumble away and go back toward cops where I think, you know, at least, all right, well, maybe that’ll be a safer place for me to go… never suspected that I was going to be the target of the arrest, that they were coming in to me.”
“And when they put me into handcuffs, the first thing that went to my mind wasn’t, ‘Oh, you’re being arrested.’ It’s, ‘Oh, they’re trying to help you and get you out of here and make it look like they’re doing something.’ Because they weren’t telling me what they were doing. They weren’t telling me I was under arrest. They weren’t telling me what I was being charged with. And it took over an hour for me to find out what I was charged with,” Sortor claimed.
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The Portland Police Bureau did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital about those allegations.
Sortor also told Fox News that, “the Antifa people out here don’t exactly love the First Amendment.”
“They act like they do until it’s reciprocated on them. I have every right to stand out here and film them. We saw them get in the way of federal agents trying to come out of the ICE facility here, and they end up pushing up against ICE agents. And what happens? They get maced. Okay, so I go in, and I film that aftermath,” Sortor said.
“The Post Millennial” investigative reporter Katie Daviscourt said on X that police “announced they were making targeted arrests following several scuffles,” and that, “Sortor was being targeted by Antifa shortly before.”
“So they threw multiple punches at me. They broke my camera by hitting that. So I was on the ground at that point. I tried to swing. I missed. I think I have every right to swing on somebody that has got me on the ground after punching me and after breaking my equipment,” Sortor told Fox News.
The Portland Police Bureau said, “At about 8:09 p.m., PPB Dialogue Officers (DLOs) observed two men fighting near the ICE building driveway.
“The DLOs called in additional resources and officers were responding when the fight ended following one participant being knocked to the ground. He did not lose consciousness and never requested medical help,” it added in a statement. “Both involved were detained by federal law enforcement and were later released. Neither party indicated they wanted to make a police report.”
“PPB continued to monitor the situation and responded after seeing additional fights break out,” the bureau said.
ANTI-ICE PORTLAND RIOTERS WITH GUILLOTINE CLASH WITH POLICE IN WAR-LIKE SCENES
At about 11:16 p.m., Portland police said its Rapid Response Team moved in and arrested three people, who were all booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) on charges of disorderly conduct in the second degree.
Police identified those arrested on the disorderly conduct charge as Nicholas Sortor, 27, of Washington, D.C., Son Mi Yi, 43, of Portland, and Angela Davis, 49, of Vernonia, Oregon.
Melugin also said in a post on X that he had spoken to Sortor on the phone after he was released from custody. Melugin said Sortor told him that “he was getting video of protesters getting maced by federal agents, which was embarrassing video for them as they were ‘crying’ etc.”
“He says they then swarmed/surrounded him, pushed him down into a flower bed, and someone threw a punch,” Melugin wrote. “Nick says he swung back and missed, then disengaged and walked over to a group of Portland PD. He says he was then shocked to be arrested by them, and he sat in the back of a police cruiser while officers figured out what to charge him with.”
“I asked him about the female protester who was also arrested with him,” Melugin added. “He said he talked to her in the jail, and she didn’t seem like she was the one who assaulted him.”
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Sortor appeared to be covering the unrest at the Portland ICE facility prior to being taken into custody.
In one video posted to his X account, Sortor said an individual “just jumped onto federal property at the Portland ICE facility and CHALLENGED agents to ‘do something about it.’”
“And they DID — QUICKLY,” he added. “Dude ended up on the pavement, arrested, and dragged into the facility.”
The clip showed law enforcement officers rushing at a man who approached them outside the facility.
In other footage of the unrest, two men were seen engaging in a fistfight outside the ICE facility before they were detained.
In an exclusive interview with Melugin, Cammila Wamsley, director of Portland’s ICE office, previously said the facility has faced violence for more than 100 consecutive nights, with Portland police largely absent under guidance from the mayor and city council.
“It’s frustrating for us to watch people be attacked on the street and know that we don’t have the authority to be able to really step in unless there’s some nexus to federal law,” Wamsley said.
She said nightly protests have escalated beyond chants and signs, with bottle rockets striking the ICE building, rocks shattering windows, lasers targeting officers’ eyes and barricades blocking vehicles.
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Wamsley said protesters had followed ICE staff members home and doxxed at least six employees.
Trump delivers final warning to Hamas over Israeli hostages with Sunday evening deadline
President Donald Trump issued a blistering public warning to Hamas on Friday, saying the “ruthless” terrorist group will be “hunted down, and killed” unless they release the remaing Israeli hostages and reach an agreement by Sunday evening.
“They will be given one last chance” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “THIS DEAL ALSO SPARES THE LIVES OF ALL REMAINING HAMAS FIGHTERS!”
“We will have PEACE in the Middle East one way or the other. The violence and bloodshed will stop,” Trump added. “RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, ALL OF THEM, INCLUDING THE BODIES OF THOSE THAT ARE DEAD, NOW! An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time.”
He added that innocent Palestinians should immediately move out of areas at risk of “potentially great future death,” saying those who relocate would be cared for by relief efforts.
Utah attorney reveals potential flaw in Charlie Kirk assassination timeline
PROVO, Utah — One of the biggest vulnerabilities in the case against Charlie Kirk’s accused assassin, Tyler Robinson, could be the prosecution’s timeline, according to a prominent Utah defense attorney — and she expects the defense to drag discovery in the case on for up to a year before he finally gets a preliminary hearing.
Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, was shot and killed around 12:20 p.m. on Sept. 10 while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. He was a founder of the conservative student group, which had a national footprint and is credited for a resurgence of youth support for the Republican Party.
“There’s just so much we don’t know yet as this case develops,” said Skye Lazaro, of the Salt Lake City firm, Ray Quinney & Nebeker.
The defense doesn’t know much yet, either. The discovery process began Monday with a five-day deadline for prosecutors to make their initial disclosures, and Robinson’s team already pushed his waiver hearing back by a month.
CHARLIE KIRK’S ASSASSINATION LEAVES UNANSWERED QUESTIONS AS INVESTIGATORS PIECE TOGETHER GAPS IN CASE
Some evidence has been made public already, at news briefings, in comments from authorities or in the charging documents filed last week. Prosecutors included damning text messages between Robinson and his roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, in which he allegedly took responsibility for Kirk’s murder. But they don’t include timestamps.
Robinson, 22, was arrested in his hometown in southern Utah 33 hours after the murder. Before that, he allegedly returned to the crime scene, where police found the suspected murder weapon, Fox News Digital was first to report — still, authorities have not made clear the timing of his encounter with a police officer stationed at the perimeter.
“If it doesn’t line up in a way that makes sense, it could definitely be bad for them,” Lazaro told Fox News Digital.
Robinson allegedly told the officer he wanted to get something he left near a parking garage in the area — which is also near where police found the rifle, according to a law enforcement source. That wasn’t immediately deemed suspicious because hundreds of people had dropped things as they fled for safety in the wake of Kirk’s shooting death in front of a crowd of roughly 3,000. But the officer did a routine check on Robinson’s license plate, which authorities linked to the encounter after he had been identified as a potential suspect, according to the source.
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If the officer’s bodycam wasn’t turned on, that could be an opening for Robinson’s defense to attempt to poke holes in the investigation, Lazaro said.
Additional details about the texts could also be more damaging to Robinson’s defense, Lazaro said.
“A lot of times what you can get when you subpoena cellphone records are where messages were sent from,” she said.
If the subpoenas show they were sent from Robinson’s phone in Orem and received by his partner’s phone in St. George, that would align with the prosecution’s allegations.
“The defense is going to want to get, going to wanna see, and probably spend a lot of time, whether they get their own forensic expert to analyze it or do it themselves, to really piece together a timeline,” she added.
Twiggs is cooperating with investigators, authorities have said. But the defense is expected to do their best to undermine the state’s case.
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“It could come out that those aren’t as damaging as they sound,” Lazaro said. “You have to keep in mind, when the government writes a probable cause affidavit, it’s their greatest hits that they have in the moment.”
Gaps in what authorities have said publicly have also led to speculation online, much of which is unsubstantiated, and that won’t be of much use to the defense, Lazaro added.
WATCH: Suspect flees rooftop from UVU’s Losee Center after Charlie Kirk assassination
“There are some conspiracy theories about…somebody else wrote the text messages or something was planted,” Lazaro said. “As a defense attorney, unless you absolutely know and can prove that something like that happened, that’s not the greatest defense, right? I think you tend to lose credibility unless you really can substantiate it.”
The charging documents don’t contain anything exculpatory that the defense would try to use later. So they’ll seek those items in discovery or through witness testimony at a preliminary hearing, which could still be a ways off, she said.
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Robinson has not yet entered a plea. At a waiver hearing Monday, the court accepted two out-of-state attorneys to assist his Utah public defender, Kathy Nester. They are Michael Burt and Richard Novak, both from California.
In Utah County, where a large proportion of residents are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and have traveled widely as part of their mission work, she said she does not expect their Golden State ties to be a hindrance.
“If you were trying this case in Eastern Montana, I would say it’s probably not helpful to have a big city lawyer, because people don’t like big city people telling them what to do, or telling them the way they should do their job, or beating up on their cops,” she said. “I don’t think that will be as big of a problem here.”
Plus, their experience defending capital cases in multiple states and at the federal level also shows this isn’t the first time they’ve had to appear as out-of-towners on behalf of a client, she said.
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The Justice Department has not yet announced federal charges, but they remain a possibility.
Nester asked the court for more time to decide whether Robinson will force a preliminary hearing, an evidentiary hearing in which the prosecution is required to show probable cause in court before the case can move forward.
While there’s no expectation that Robinson’s defense would have the case tossed at such a hearing, it could still give the defense a chance to find better footing before trial — such as a chance to cross-examine witnesses before trial and see how well they perform under intense questioning.
“It’s probable cause, it’s in a light most favorable to the state,” Lazaro said.
In Utah, preliminary hearings can be delayed for months in cases involving serious felonies, sometimes up to a year, according to Lazaro. Robinson faces a top charge of aggravated murder, which carries the death penalty, making it as serious as it gets.
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His next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30 in Provo, but Lazaro said she expects his defense to ask for more time once again.
Keith Urban’s guitarist thrown into limelight amid divorce from Nicole Kidman
Keith Urban‘s guitarist Maggie Baugh has been thrust into the spotlight, while whispers continue to swirl about the country star’s failed marriage to Nicole Kidman.
Days before Kidman filed for divorce from Urban, Baugh — a 25-year-old country star who is currently on tour with Urban and his band — posted an eyebrow-raising video from a recent show that caught fans off guard.
In the video, posted by Baugh, Urban is heard swapping out a key lyric from his song, “The Fighter” – a track famously inspired by Kidman.
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“When they’re tryna get to you, Maggie, I’ll be your guitar player,” Urban, 57, sang onstage — replacing the original line, “When they’re tryna get to you, baby, I’ll be the fighter.”
She wrote in her caption, “Did he just say that,” accompanied by the eyes emoji.
However, according to People, Urban often ad-libs when performing the song live. For example, while singing “The Fighter” with Carrie Underwood at the 2017 CMT Music Awards, he interjected, “Carrie Underwood, I’m gonna be your fighter!”
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Baugh’s father, Chuck Baugh, told the Daily Mail that he’s not privy to any relationship between the two besides a working relationship.
“I don’t know anything about it, other than she’s a guitar player for him,” he said on Thursday. “It’s more of a musician thing than a dating thing,” he said, before admitting that he hasn’t “heard one way or the other.”
Chuck’s comments came after rumors started swirling there may be a new woman in Urban’s life.
While an insider confirmed to Fox News Digital that there have been whispers of another woman, TMZ was first to report that the country star may already be involved with someone else.
“All the signs point to the fact Keith is with another woman. Let’s just say Nicole doesn’t dispute that, but she’s still shocked over it,” a source close to Kidman told the outlet.
A representative for Baugh did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
On top of her professional connection to Urban, here are five things to know about the rising star.
1. Maggie moved to Nashville to pursue a dream at 18 years old
During a recent interview with The Hamilton County Reporter last month, Baugh said, “I started going to Nashville when I was 13 and started songwriting around the same age. I put out my very first record when I was 13 years old.”
“When I was 18 years old, I moved to Nashville and started touring a bunch,” she said. “Last year, I was on tour with Keith Urban and it’s been a crazy wild journey, man.”
2. She’s a self-starter
During that same interview, Baugh revealed no one in her family has a musical background.
“Nobody in my family plays music,” Baugh said. “I’m literally the only one. Isn’t that crazy? I’m the oddball. My dad is a microbiologist, and my mom is a stay-at-home mom who runs a dog training business on the side.”
“I had to write my feelings down,” Baugh told People in 2021. “I chose music as an outlet instead of doing something horrible that kids do now when they’re depressed and bullied. I fell in love with music and pouring my heart out into words.”
3. Music is her true love
Baugh once compared music to her “boyfriend.”
“I feel like music has always just been my boyfriend. So, whenever I have a boyfriend, it’s always like, ‘Oh, you’re just temporary,'” she told People. “But when I do go through a breakup, I don’t go to the bar. I put my guitar in my hands.”
Baugh recently teased a new single about fighting temptation among negativity.
“There is so many negative vibes in the world right now. I wanted to write this song to give some encouragement,” Baugh wrote on Instagram, alongside a preview of the song.
The lyrics to the song, titled “The Devil Win,” read: “I don’t know what the hell I believe in/ I don’t know how to heal my soul or how to fight this feeling/ It’s a damn good place to go/ No matter how close I get to the burning edge/ Tempting as it is/ I won’t let the devil win.”
Fans were quick to point out the coincidental timing. “Hmm interesting lyrics here,” one user wrote.
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“Karma – does not hold a candle to Nicole,” another wrote. Though others praised Baugh for her creativity.
“Maggie, you are a beautiful songwriter ~ along with all your other incredible talents. Continue to shine girl and live it up as your career is simply shining evermore! This is a great song,” one fan quipped.
4. She’s famous on TikTok
Baugh created her TikTok series, Finish the Lick, in 2022.
During an interview with Up N Country in 2022, Baugh admitted she had some reservations about joining the popular social media platform.
“I never really found like my thing on TikTok until literally a month ago,” she said. “I did a few guitar videos throughout the year and, I think, a few of them blew up. But my following was 20,000 followers or something like that. And so, literally a month ago, I was just in my room hanging out and I was [thinking], ‘I want to do this thing called Finish the Lick.’”
5. Maggie’s currently on tour with Keith Urban
The country singer, who has played alongside stars such as Luke Bryan and Trace Adkins, is currently on Urban’s “High and Alive World Tour.”
She’s been actively sharing moments from the tour on social media.
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College ‘dream girl’ warns quick cash comes with risks few want to talk about
A startling trend sweeping college campuses across the country is causing concern as students turn to untraditional ways to turn quick cash while in school.
Shayna Loren, 21, is in her senior year as an advertising major at Boston University. When she was 18, Loren approached her parents with a business proposal – she wanted to start posting content on OnlyFans.
OnlyFans – a website that allows adults to produce and monetize sexually explicit content – has become increasingly popular for college students looking to make a quick buck to cover tuition costs.
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“I was very curious how someone like me could apply marketing skills I already had through a completely different business, and apply it to photos of myself,” Loren told Fox News Digital. “I talked to my parents, wrote up a business plan and was like, ‘Hear me out, I know this is crazy, but just give this a chance.’”
Loren’s parents agreed to what she viewed as a “research project,” and she began posting.
“I blew up,” Loren said. “And I haven’t stopped since.”
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Three years later, Loren has leaned into her status as a student, looking to market herself to viewers wanting to consume explicit content specifically from the college category.
“Pretty much everyone relates to having a crush, whether they were in high school or college, and being able to look across the classroom and see them,” Loren said. “And so for me, I just pushed that fantasy by showing it on social media – that I am that college dream girl.”
The soon-to-be college graduate has cemented herself as a popular creator on the platform, boasting over 700,000 followers just on Instagram. Loren was able to use the money she made from posting content to cover the cost of her college tuition and help her parents retire – solidifying an attractive sales pitch to fellow students looking to do the same.
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In 2025, the average cost of college in the United States is roughly $38,270 a year, according to the Education Data Initiative. The cost has reportedly more than doubled in the 21st century, with student loan interest rates forcing students to pay as much as $500,000 for a bachelor’s degree.
However, experts warn the temptation of making fast cash comes with significant safety risks for college students surrounding posting explicit content online, especially if they reveal personal details about themselves to their subscribers.
“They are putting themselves in danger because some men start to believe that the girl is putting on this act for them personally,” Dr. Carole Lieberman, a forensic psychiatrist, told Fox News Digital.
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“[Their viewers] believe that they are the ‘Only Fan’ who she really cares about, even loves, and that she wants to have sex with them. They develop a fixation on the girl and want to find her in real life to ‘consummate’ the relationship.”
OnlyFans did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Members of law enforcement have also voiced their concerns regarding the potential for stalkers seeking out young girls posting to the platform who may be more focused on the funds over their own security.
“Today’s youth is living in two worlds, the cyber world and the real one,” Bill Stanton, retired NYPD officer and author of the book “Prepared, Not Scared,” told Fox News Digital. “What I see happening is that for some those lines become blurred, sometimes with dire outcomes. Creating a fantasy for those paying into an OnlyFans account may not be enough for some wanting to take a perceived online relationship into the real world.”
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The risk of online interactions spilling into real-life threats for OnlyFans creators is nothing new for Rock Jacobs, director of a documentary series about the online platform infiltrating college campuses called “Lonely Fans,” who recalled a disturbing secondhand account he was told while filming.
“There’s one guy that literally drove five hours to a girl’s house,” Jacobs told Fox News Digital. “[He] broke into her house and was living in her attic.”
“The stalkers can be digital, but it can actually turn physical and real – and in some cases, it can get violent.”
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Jacobs also pointed to another woman’s testimonial featured in the documentary.
“She’s done really well [and] she’s made over a couple million dollars,” Jacobs said. “She’s been able to change her entire life and set herself up. But she admitted that every night when she goes to sleep, she feels like someone’s going to break into her house and murder her. She said she’s come to terms that she’s not going to have a peaceful death.”
The startling reality is not lost on Loren, who is careful not to walk alone on campus at night and insists she keeps her personal safety top-of-mind while creating content on OnlyFans. However, she believes that the risk of stalkers may be more prevalent among smaller creators who monetize the illusion of a personal relationship with their subscribers – and are often everyday students looking to have an extra stream of income while studying.
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“Once you reach a certain level, people realize that this is a job, and there is more of a boundary between work and their personal life,” Loren told Fox News Digital.
Loren insists that less prominent creators looking to earn more money by blurring the line between professional and personal could ultimately put them at risk, marking a stark warning for parents who may have children considering the side hustle.
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“Some of the smaller creators that I’ve met will try to push the relationship in almost like a digital girlfriend kind of way,” Loren said.
“And that’s where the lines can get blurry with girls who have less of a following and less subscribers, because they want to milk it for all it’s worth. They want the most money, and so they want guys to be in love with them. And that’s where it starts to get scary, and people can become very attached.”
Furloughed SBA staffers unleash on Democrats for shutdown in searing auto-replies
Staffers with the Small Business Administration who were placed on furlough set up automatic response emails pinning blame on Democrats for the shutdown, which they said already has affected hundreds of businesses from accessing millions in funding.
“I am out of office for the foreseeable future because Senate Democrats voted to block a clean federal funding bill (H.R. 5371), leading to a government shutdown that is preventing the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from serving America’s 36 million small businesses,” an automatic response from a furloughed SBA employee received by Fox News Digtal reads.
“Every day that Senate Democrats continue (to) oppose a clean funding bill, they are stopping an estimated 320 small businesses from accessing $170 million in SBA-guaranteed funding,” the email continued.
The Small Business Administration is charged with providing U.S. entrepreneurs with business counseling and capital resources as part of its mission to strengthen the economy by protecting the growth of small businesses.
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The government partially shut down early Wednesday morning after Senate lawmakers failed to reach a spending agreement in time for the end of fiscal year 2025. A short-term extension of fiscal year 2025 funding, aimed at keeping the government open through Nov. 21, passed the House earlier in September.
Republicans have since blamed Democrats for the shutdown, arguing they refused to fund the budget as an attempt to provide taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants through Democrat lawmakers’ continuing resolution. Democrats, however, have cast the Republicans’ claim as a “lie” from the Trump administration.
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The automatic response email from an SBA staffer continued that employees will quickly resume their duties once the shutdown ends but that many services will remain unavailable until that time.
“As a result of the shutdown, we wanted to notify you that many of our services supporting small businesses are currently unavailable. The Agency is executing its Lapse Plan and as soon as the shutdown is over, we are prepared to immediately return to the record-breaking services we are providing under the leadership of the Trump Administration,” the email continued.
Fox News Digital obtained an internal email from SBA’s human resources arm sent to SBA employees Wednesday evening — when the shutdown was imminent — that provided staffers with the suggested automatic response email text. The message also included a step-by-step guide on how to set up automatic out-of-office email responses.
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Staffers were only advised to use the suggested email language, not required, Fox News Digital learned.
Fox News Digital received a similar automatic email response from the White House’s press team Friday morning.
“Due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown, the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays. We ask for your patience as our staff work to field your requests in a timely manner. As you await a response, please remember this could have been avoided if the Democrats voted for the clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open,” the White House press office’s automatic response email reads.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter,” it added, playing off Trump’s frequent use of the phrase in social media posts.
The SBA, led by former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, also displays a bright red “Special Announcement” message on its website, warning: “Senate Democrats voted to block a clean federal funding bill (H.R. 5371), leading to a government shutdown that is preventing the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from serving America’s 36 million small businesses.”
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“Every day that Senate Democrats continue to oppose a clean funding bill, they are stopping an estimated 320 small businesses from accessing $170 million in SBA-guaranteed funding,” it added, similar to the auto response emails.
‘Full House’ star splits from husband after college admissions scandal fallout
Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli have separated, Fox News has learned.
The “Full House” alum and her fashion designer husband have been married for nearly 28 years — their anniversary is on Nov. 27.
“Lori and Mossimo are living apart,” Loughlin’s rep, Elizabeth Much, told Fox News Digital. “There are no legal proceedings underway.”
The couple met in 1995 and got married in 1997.
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The estranged couple share two adult children: Bella Rose, 26, and Olivia Jade, 25.
The separation comes five years after the couple were ensnared in the college admissions scandal, pleading guilty to wire and mail fraud related to paying hundreds of thousands in bribes to get their daughters into the University of Southern California.
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Loughlin served two months in prison and Giannulli served five months. They were released in December 2020 and April 2021.
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Loughlin recently made light of the scandal when she played a version of herself in an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” In the episode, main character Larry David helps the actress get into a country club when she’s bogged down with her legal drama.
Her character also has a fake handicapped license plate and cheats at golf.
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The pair also put their Hidden Hills home in Los Angeles on the market for $16.5 million earlier this year after buying it for $9.5 million in 2020.
Loughlin has continued to act on other shows since her release from prison, including reprising her role in Hallmark’s “When Hope Calls,” Great American Family holiday movies “Fall into Winter” and “A Christmas Blessing” and the TV police procedural “On Call.”
In an interview with First for Women last year, Loughlin talked about perseverance.
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“Every day, we’re met with different obstacles. But, for me, it’s like that song says, ‘I get knocked down, but I get up again,’” she said. “Nobody said life was going to be a breeze; we all make mistakes, but the important thing is to persevere.”
Professor tied to anti-fascist gun group reinstated after threat probe
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor with ties to an anti-fascist gun group has been reinstated after being placed on administrative leave earlier this week over concerns that he was voicing support for political violence.
“The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has performed a thorough threat assessment of Teaching Associate Professor Dwayne Dixon based on recent reports and expressions of concern that he is an advocate for political violence,” Vice Chancellor for Communications and Marketing Dean Stoyer said in a statement Friday.
Following the conclusion of the investigation, school officials said they “found no basis to conclude that he poses a threat to University students, staff and faculty, or has engaged in conduct that violates University policy.”
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“As a result, the University is reinstating Professor Dixon to his faculty responsibilities, effective immediately,” Stoyer added.
Dixon was placed on administrative leave earlier this week after Fox News Digital reported on his involvement with Redneck Revolt, an organization established in 2016 and described by the Counter Extremism Project as a “far-left group” that “stands against capitalism and the concept of the nation-state, including its symbols such as police, prisons and courts.”
According to the Counter Extremism Project, Redneck Revolt is “an offshoot of the John Brown Gun Club,” which prompted outcry last week after posting flyers at Georgetown University celebrating the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Fox News Digital previously obtained a video of a 2018 panel hosted by Harvard University’s Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights, in which Dixon spoke for about 30 minutes about Redneck Revolt’s presence at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, while advocating for armed political action – painted as self-defense – against White supremacists, Nazis and fascists. He went on to describe the “far-right” as “filled with murderous rage,” but at no point defined the term “far-right.”
HARVARD FACULTY EXPRESSED SUPPORT FOR POTENTIAL LEFT-WING POLITICAL VIOLENCE DURING 2018 PANEL
“Let the Nazis assemble and speak in public, and they will attack you, and then they’re going to come for the people you love,” said Dixon. “To paraphrase Robert F. Williams … Robert F. Williams of Monroe, North Carolina, my struggle is against White supremacy, not for civil rights. I’m here to smash White supremacist capitalism, not defend civil society.”
The video was initially posted to the center’s YouTube page on Feb. 3, 2018, and remained public until Fox News Digital’s Monday report that Dixon had been placed on administrative leave.
The initial decision to sideline Dixon sparked an uproar on UNC’s campus, with members of the university’s community rallying in support – and against – the professor on Wednesday.
UNC PROFESSOR ON LEAVE OVER TIES TO FAR-LEFT GUN CLUB ONCE HEADLINED HARVARD PANEL ON ARMED ACTIVISM
Dozens of students and faculty members convened in front of the school’s South Building, with many individuals wearing masks and holding flags, WRAL reported.
Signs saying “Reinstate Dixon” and “UNC, Stop Taking Orders From Fascists” were reportedly placed on the building’s steps as individuals from various campus organizations spoke to the crowd.
“I’m 100% OK with this demonstration here because I’m a free speech advocate, and I think that even if it’s not something I agree with, I think everyone has a right to fight for what they believe in,” Jack D’Entremont, a UNC student and member of the UNC GOP and local Turning Point chapters, told WRAL. “But you fight with words, you don’t fight with calls to violence or actual violence, and I think there’s a lot of room for education here for everyone involved.”
PROFESSOR AT ELITE COLLEGE BELONGS TO OFFSHOOT OF LEFTIST GUN CLUB CELEBRATING VIOLENCE AT GEORGETOWN: GROUP
The decision to remove – and subsequently reinstate – Dixon comes as officials throughout the country are looking to turn down the temperature surrounding violent political rhetoric following the recent assassination of Kirk and an attack on a Dallas ICE facility by a gunman who allegedly possessed left-wing views.
“The average student [at UNC] is probably going to be in support or not upset by what happened to Kirk and it’s awful,” D’Entremont told WRAL. “Regardless of his beliefs, you shouldn’t be killed for your beliefs, especially ’cause actions were nothing but good, all he did was talk to people. If you’re glorifying it, people have a right to be upset by that.”
Dixon previously faced misdemeanor charges as a result of his participation in Redneck Revolt, though he has not been convicted. In 2018, he was charged with simple assault on the night a Confederate statue, named “Silent Sam,” was torn down on the UNC campus, but the charges were later dropped.
UNIVERSITIES CRACK DOWN ON EMPLOYEE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS CELEBRATING, DEFENDING KIRK’S DEATH
He also faced a gun crime charge stemming from his connection to an anti-KKK protest in nearby Durham, North Carolina, at which the KKK was present.
Both Dixon and Redneck Revolt were sued by the city of Charlottesville after the Unite the Right rally, with the city accusing the organization of violating anti-paramilitary law.
On Wednesday, Redneck Revolt posted a message to its website saying that the organization disbanded in 2019. A page highlighting Dixon’s activism under a tab called “Analysis” was also removed, but has been archived.
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Dixon is a teaching associate professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the university, according to his biography page. He is set to return to his faculty responsibilities immediately.
“The University continues to reaffirm its commitment to rigorous debate, respectful engagement, and open dialogue in support of free speech, while fulfilling our responsibility to protect the physical safety of the Carolina community,” Stoyer added.
Diddy prosecution claims rapper’s ‘respect for the law is just lip service’
Sean “Diddy” Combs appeared in court Friday, months after he was convicted on federal prostitution charges.
The now gray-haired rapper walked into court wearing a white shirt with a cream sweater over it. Diddy hugged all of his lawyers before giving a lengthy handshake to his lead attorney, Marc Agnifilo. The rapper then gestured to his family and put on his glasses.
While speaking about the sentencing guidelines, which came out to be between five and seven years, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Slavik emphasized other factors that should be considered. She claimed that throughout these proceedings, it had been made clear that Diddy does not consider the gravity of his crimes. “His respect for the law is just lip service,” she told the judge.
According to the prosecution, Diddy has already booked speaking engagements in Miami for next week.
DIDDY PLANNING UNCONVENTIONAL MOVE IN COURT AHEAD OF SENTENCING FOR PROSTITUTION CHARGES
The hearing began with the prosecution noting Diddy’s victim, “Mia,” had chosen not to give a victim impact statement despite being granted permission, partly due to a defense letter submitted to court. Judge Arun Subramanian noted the tone of the defense’s letter was inappropriate and should not be done again.
The federal judge rejected Diddy’s bid to exclude acquitted conduct from consideration at sentencing – a decision that opens the door to Cassie Ventura’s allegations being factored into his sentence.
Diddy is expected to speak in open court before his sentence is handed down. Subramanian approved the disgraced music mogul’s request to wear non-prison clothing for the somber occasion.
Diddy could spend a maximum of 20 years behind bars, 10 years for each count he was convicted of. The prosecution recommended 135 months (just over 11 years) for his sentencing.
Diddy’s family arrived in court ahead of the sentencing. The rapper’s mom, Janice Combs, arrived first around 9:00am ET. His kids, Quincy, the twins Jesse and D’Lila, Christian and Justin, all arrived around 9:45am. His children are expecting to speak on behalf of their father during the sentencing hearing.
DIDDY’S LAST-DITCH LEGAL MOVES SHUT DOWN BY JUDGE DAYS BEFORE SENTENCING
Ahead of court Friday, Diddy’s legal team released a video to be played in court. The over 11-minute video features clips of the rapper with his kids when they were young, as well as current videos where his children tell their dad they love him.
WATCH: DIDDY AND FAMILY MAKE COURTROOM PLEA FOR FREEDOM AHEAD OF SENTENCING
A jury convicted Diddy on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution on July 2. The “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper was acquitted of his most serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
The prosecution claimed Diddy deserves a “substantial” prison sentence because the rapper is “unrepentant” in the sentencing recommendation filed Tuesday.
“Incredibly, while the defendant conceded his acts of violence and abuse throughout trial, he now argues that his victims should shoulder the blame,” the filing read.
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In the disgraced music mogul’s demand for prison release, Diddy’s lawyers claimed he has faced “inhumane” living conditions at MDC Brooklyn. His legal team proposed a 14-month sentence ahead of his Oct. 3 hearing for federal charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. The “I Need A Girl” rapper has already spent 13 months behind bars.
Diddy’s legal team claimed the musician had been “sufficiently punished” for his crimes.
“Mr. Combs has suffered physically and mentally, and continued incarceration serves no positive goal. Courts do not simply punish, but must restore and rehabilitate with a goal to returning the convicted person to their community as soon as practicable,” the sentencing memorandum, obtained by Fox News Digital, stated. “Upon release, Mr. Combs fully intends to abide by every order of this Court and to renew and repair relationships that have been damaged, in a healthy, positive, and lawful manner. After embarking on this journey, Mr. Combs will devote attention to his family and community and to creating new initiatives and opportunities for others.”
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Diddy has been behind bars since his arrest on Sept. 16, 2024. He has requested bail and been denied multiple times.
According to his lawyers, Diddy has been subjected to “constant suicide watch” while behind bars. Other instances of the alleged “inhumane” conditions the rapper has been subjected to include limited access to clean water, food with maggots in it, no physical therapy, lack of physical exercise and no functioning washing machine or dryer.
Days before Diddy was set to appear in court for his sentencing, Judge Subramanian rejected the rapper’s last-ditch request for a new trial and demand for a full acquittal. The federal judge said the prosecution provided “overwhelming evidence” of Diddy’s guilt on the charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.
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