Singer furious after Trump posts fighter jet meme with his famous song
Singer Kenny Loggins demanded that his song be removed from a meme President Donald Trump posted on Saturday.
In a statement shared with Variety on Monday, the musician slammed Trump for using his “Danger Zone” track in an A.I.-generated post in which Trump dumped fecal matter on “No Kings” protesters from an F-18 fighter jet.
“This is an unauthorized use of my performance of ‘Danger Zone.’ Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately,” Loggins said.
WATCH: ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTERS AT MASSIVE NYC RALLY REVEAL MOTIVATION FOR TAKING TO THE STREETS: ‘DISGUSTING’
Trump’s meme served as a response to the “No Kings” demonstrations that occurred in multiple U.S. cities on Saturday, protesting the Trump administration’s agenda — including its federal crackdown on immigration and crime in U.S. cities.
In the A.I. video, a crown-wearing Trump flew an F-18 over “No Kings” demonstrators and dumped fecal matter onto them from the plane. In one shot from the clip, a protester — believed to be young progressive activist Harry Sisson — bore the full brunt of Trump’s payload.
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Loggins’ song made famous by the movie, “Top Gun,” played throughout the clip. The artist lamented that his song had become part of what he described as a divisive post.
“I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together,” he said. “We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriotic. There is no ‘us and them’ — that’s not who we are, nor is it what we should be. It’s all of us. We’re in this together, and it is my hope that we can embrace music as a way of celebrating and uniting each and every one of us.”
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Sisson also commented on Trump’s meme, posting on X on Sunday: “Can a reporter please ask Trump why he posted an AI video of himself dropping poop on me from a fighter jet? That would be great, thanks.”
Vice President JD Vance replied to the left-wing influencer, stating, “I’ll ask him for you Harry.”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Former Navy captain challenges ‘ineffective’ Massie after Trump calls for backup
FIRST ON FOX – A former longtime Navy SEAL and fifth-generation Kentucky farmer who is backed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday declared his candidacy in the state’s 4th Congressional District, as he challenges Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in next year’s GOP primary.
“I’ve dedicated my life to serving my country, and I’m ready to answer the call again,” Ed Gallrein said in a statement shared first with Fox News Digital.
And pointing to Massie, a frequent GOP critic of the president during his second term in the White House, Gallrein emphasized, “This district is Trump Country. The President doesn’t need obstacles in Congress – he needs backup. I’ll defeat Thomas Massie, stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump, and deliver the America First results Kentuckians voted for.”
The campaign launch comes four days after Trump took to social media to praise Gallrein, urge him to run, and blast Massie.
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Trump argued that Massie was a “Third Rate Congressman,” a “Weak and Pathetic RINO,” and a “totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly.”
And the president applauded Gallrein, calling him a “Brave Combat Veteran” and a “very successful Businessman” who, if elected to Congress, would “fight tirelessly to Keep our now very Secure Border, SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.”
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Trump’s social media post included a photo of himself and Gallrein holding red MAGA hats in the Oval Office.
Gallrein served three decades in uniform, rising to the rank of Captain. According to his campaign bio, he served multiple times on SEAL Team SIX, deploying to Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and earned four Bronze Stars and two Presidential Unit Citations.
His campaign release also highlighted that “Gallrein’s roots run deep in Kentucky.” He was born and raised in the state. And his family, which has farmed for over a century, built Kentucky’s largest dairy farm and Gallrein Grain Farms, one of the state’s largest grain operations.
Massie took aim at Gallrein following Trump’s social media endorsement, calling him a “failed candidate and establishment hack,” as he pointed to Gallrein’s unsuccessful run last year for the state Senate.
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“After having been rejected by every elected official in the 4th District, Trump’s consultants clearly pushed the panic button with their choice of failed candidate and establishment hack Ed Gallrein,” Massie said in a statement to Politico. “Ed’s been begging them to pick him for over three months now.”
Trump started targeting Massie for ouster earlier this year over the seven-term lawmaker’s opposition to the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which passed the GOP-controlled Congress early in the summer nearly entirely along party lines. The sweeping GOP megalaw is the president’s major legislative achievement since returning to the White House.
Massie is also leading the push, along with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, in forcing a House floor vote to urge the release of the Justice Department’s files on the late convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a move the White House and House GOP leaders have aimed to counter. Massie is on the verge of reaching the needed 218 signatures to force the vote.
Two top Trump political advisers — 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita and pollster Tony Fabrizio — in June launched a super PAC that aims to defeat Massie. Nearly $2 million has been spent already to run TV ads targeting Massie.
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But Massie has used the attacks from Trump and his allies to boost fundraising, hauling in more than $750,000 the past three months, which was the best fundraising quarter of his congressional career.
Massie’s district, in the northeastern part of the state, includes Louisville’s eastern suburbs and Cincinnati’s Kentucky suburbs.
Texas uncovers thousands of illegal immigrants on voter rolls as Abbott vows action
A Texas election review has identified thousands of illegal immigrants on the state’s voter rolls, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said Monday.
Nelson said a crosscheck of state voter records found that more than 2,700 possible illegal immigrants were registered on the voter rolls, leading to an eligibility review across the 254 counties.
The data came from a full comparison of Texas’s 18 million registered voters against federal citizenship records in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
“Only eligible United States citizens may participate in our elections,” Nelson said. “The Trump Administration’s decision to give states free and direct access to this data set for the first time has been a game changer, and we appreciate the partnership with the federal government to verify the citizenship of those on our voter rolls and maintain accurate voter lists.”
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The investigation showed after running the SAVE crosscheck, that state officials could identify 2,724 potential noncitizens whose voter files have been sent to local counties to be further investigated.
This process falls under Chapter 16 of the Texas Election Code, which requires counties to verify each voter’s eligibility and remove confirmed noncitizens from the rolls.
Nelson said the review is part of an effort to maintain an accurate voter list and to safeguard election integrity ahead of the 2026 election cycle.
“Everyone’s right to vote is sacred and must be protected,” Nelson said. “We encourage counties to conduct rigorous investigations to determine if any voter is ineligible – just as they do with any other data set we provide.”
Each flagged voter will receive a notice from their county registrar giving them 30 days to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. If a voter does not respond, their registration will be canceled, though it can be reinstated immediately once proof of citizenship is provided.
Nelson’s statement said confirmed noncitizens who voted in previous Texas elections will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office for further review and potential prosecution.
The announcement comes amid growing national scrutiny of voter rolls as several states – including Georgia, Arizona, and Florida – have conducted similar audits of voter eligibility.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott said that since Senate Bill 1 was signed into law, Texas has removed more than one million ineligible or outdated registrations from the state’s voter rolls, calling the effort essential to safeguard Texans’ right to vote.
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“These reforms have led to the removal of over one million ineligible people from our voter rolls in the last three years, including noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who moved to another state,” Abbott said. “The Secretary of State and county voter registrars have an ongoing legal requirement to review the voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, and refer any potential illegal voting to the Attorney General’s Office and local authorities for investigation and prosecution. Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated. We will continue to actively safeguard Texans’ sacred right to vote while also aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting.”
Abbott has called the initiative proof that Texas is “leading the nation in election integrity.”
A breakdown of the information was released by the Secretary of State’s office showing Harris County with the largest number of potential noncitizens at 362, followed by Dallas County (277), Bexar County (201), and El Paso County (165).
Smaller counties, including Andrews, Llano, and Cooke, reported fewer than ten flagged registrations.
In total, all 254 Texas counties were included in the SAVE database review. Counties began sending verification notices this week as part of the 30-day review process.
In June, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced that she had referred to the Office of Attorney General to investigate the names of 33 potential noncitizens who voted in the November 2024 General Election.
The statement released by Nelson said the referral came within weeks of Texas gaining access to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s SAVE Database.
“Gaining access to this database has been a game-changer. Not only have we been able to identify individuals who should not have voted in the last election, we have also been able to confirm naturalization of dozens more,” Secretary Nelson said.
The crosscheck was made possible after the Trump Administration granted states direct and free access to the federal SAVE database for the first time.
The tool allows election officials to confirm voter citizenship against immigration and naturalization records.
The statement also said Texas was among the first states to join a pilot program with DHS, USCIS, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to improve the database’s functionality.
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“We are in the early stages of this pilot program, but we already see promising results. This may be the most current and accurate data set there is when it comes to citizenship verification,” Secretary Nelson said.
County registrars are expected to complete their investigations by early December, with official removals and potential referrals to follow.
The Secretary of State’s office said the review will continue with periodic checks against federal databases to ensure accuracy.
“The SAVE database has proven to be a critically important data set and one of many that we will continue to use in Texas to ensure that only qualified voters cast a ballot in our elections,” Nelson said.
The real rage behind ‘No Kings’: Trump’s success exposes the left’s hypocrisy
Millions of Americans turned out across the country last Saturday for the “No Kings” rallies, protesting, according to the New York Times, a president that the crowds view as “acting like a monarch.”
The success of the protests, however, denies their case. A monarch would have attempted to disperse the crowds or put important meeting sites off-limits. A monarch would not have gone about conducting the business of state while people dressed in goofy costumes banged drums and hurled vile insults at his head. A monarch… would not have been elected by a majority of the nation.
The crowd size should impress no one. The protests were driven by labor unions like the American Federation of Teachers, which claims almost 3 million members and the AFL-CIO, which claims 15 million.
NATIONWIDE ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS TARGET TRUMP AS CROWDS RALLY IN CITIES FROM COAST TO COAST
Fair-minded Americans should wonder what exactly are the Trump White House policies that have people so riled up?
Are Americans angry that President Donald Trump has taken on the drug cartels which have flooded our nation with fentanyl and other deadly substances that have killed hundreds of thousands of our young people?
Are Americans protesting the securing of our southern border, no longer allowing millions of undocumented people to illegally crowd our cities’ schools and hospital emergency rooms?
Do voters oppose shrinking the size of our federal bureaucracy, attempting to bring the outlandish spending engineered by President Joe Biden under control?
Is it Trump’s efforts to turn our education establishment on its head, demanding better performance for the Black and brown kids who are not being taught to read?
And what about crime? Are most Americans unhappy that the president is trying to bring our dangerous cities, like Chicago, under control?
‘IT’S A JOKE’: WHITE HOUSE DISMISSES ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS, WHILE NANCY PELOSI RIPS CROWN IN DEFIANCE
The answer to all these questions is no. Polling shows most Americans agree with the tough policies that President Trump has adopted on crime, immigration and trimming the federal government.
Most of the country, in addition, is thrilled that the Trump White House has negotiated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, however fragile, and brought the hostages home. It is hard to find anyone who was unhappy that the president commanded the destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons.
And Trump’s efforts to bring manufacturing back to the United States have brought him acclaim from labor unions who stand to benefit from those changes. Surely most voters back a production renaissance in our country.
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What has really riled Democrats is that we have a president willing, even eager, to expose the pervasive corruption and dishonesty of their party.
President Trump, along with Elon Musk, revealed the complex of tax-payer supported NGOs that support Democrat candidates and causes; NGOs, described by Musk as “fake charities,” funded by the very billionaires whom Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., rails against.
Billionaires like those who supposedly threw millions of dollars into promoting the No Kings rallies, like The Arabella Network, the Soros network, the Tides Foundation and many others.
The Trump White House is also delving into the swamp, disclosing the political origins of the Russiagate hoax, the efforts of the Biden administration and media pals to censor the opposition, and Biden’s diversion of government spending to favored left-wing allies.
Biden assigned long-time Clinton apparatchik John Podesta to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars included in the Inflation Reduction Act that was meant to fund climate initiatives. Trump’s EPA head Lee Zeldin exposed the “Biden Administration’s scheme to quickly park $20 billion outside the agency…we suspected that some organizations were created out of thin air just to take advantage of this.” Yes, like a group affiliated with left-wing political activist and serial election loser Stacey Abrams.
Democrats are also angry that President Trump won reelection in spite of an all-out legal assault meant to make him unelectable. They are also angry that, in spite of Vice President Kamala Harris enjoying a war chest of well over a billion dollars, Democrats were not only denied the Oval Office but also both houses of Congress. It is an election outcome that has allowed the GOP to investigate the malfeasance of people like former FBI Director James Comey, who was up to his neck in the Russiagate affair.
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Democrat leaders like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are furious that their party is on the ropes, increasingly directed by far-left candidates who do not reflect America’s values. They know that Trump currently occupies the middle of the policy spectrum. He is winning on issues like opposing transgender people competing in women’s sports and on banning DEI, which is unpopular.
In Michigan, local No Kings organizers claimed they were objecting to sending immigration agents into cities, pushing for the redrawing of congressional maps to favor Republicans and “gutting health care.” To be sure, the aggressive rounding up of people in the country illegally is controversial. But, sending National Guard to protect federal property and law enforcement officials should not be. Meanwhile, the only thing new about the redistricting battles is that the GOP has wised up and is finally countering long-time gerrymandering by Democrats. As far as “gutting health care,” that is an issue before Congress, not the Trump White House.
Some question the legality of Trump’s attacks on alleged drug runners from Venezuela, or to impose tariffs on our trading partners. His critics should be calmed by the intervention of the judiciary. Most of us have lost track of the number of lawsuits wending their way to the Supreme Court. It’s not very king-like to have to answer to judges.
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Asked about the “No Kings” rallies, the president said, “I’m not a king, I work my a** off to make our country great.”
And that is what is making Democrats crazy.
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Borrowers win big as Trump admin agrees to student debt relief plan
In a significant win for student loan borrowers, the Trump administration has agreed to a court-supervised plan that will speed up debt cancellation under income-driven repayment programs and protect borrowers from unexpected tax bills next year.
The administration and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) reached the agreement Friday in the AFT v. U.S. Department of Education case, resolving months of legal tension over the government’s obligation to cancel student debt for borrowers who have made decades of payments under federal law.
The AFT said in a statement that the deal — now awaiting court approval — requires the Education Department to follow through on debt forgiveness for eligible borrowers in 2025 and ensures they won’t face a surprise tax hit because of bureaucratic delays.
“For nearly a decade, the AFT has fought for the rights of student loan borrowers to be freed from the shackles of unjust debt—and today, a huge part of that affordability fight was vindicated,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said. “This year, we took on the Trump administration when it refused to follow the law and denied borrowers the relief they were owed.
STUDENT LOAN DELINQUENCY RATES HIGHEST IN 21 YEARS AS COVID MORATORIUM FADES AWAY
“Our agreement means that those borrowers stuck in limbo can either get immediate relief or finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. And, crucially, they won’t ever get taxed on that relief,” Weingarten continued. “The AFT will hold the federal government to its word, and we won’t stop fighting until college is affordable and taking out a student loan doesn’t trap millions of Americans in a ruinous and exploitative debt cycle.”
According to the filing, the administration must cancel student debt for all eligible borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment, income-contingent repayment, Pay As You Earn, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) programs. Borrowers who make payments after becoming eligible for cancellation will be reimbursed.
The Education Department must also process IDR and PSLF “buyback” applications, including those from borrowers no longer required to prove financial hardship. Borrowers whose loans are canceled on or before Dec. 31, 2025, will not receive IRS forms treating the forgiven balances as taxable income.
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Additionally, the administration must file six monthly progress reports with the court to show the pace of application processing and loan discharges, the AFT said.
The union said the deal also tackles what it called a looming “tax bomb” stemming from a 2026 change in federal tax law that will treat canceled debt as income. Without this agreement, borrowers whose loans should be wiped out in 2025 could have been penalized simply because of government slowdowns.
“This is a tremendous win for borrowers,” Winston Berkman-Breen, the legal director for Protect Borrowers, said. “With today’s filing, borrowers can rest a little easier knowing that they won’t be unjustly hit with a tax bill once their student loans are finally canceled, pursuant to federal law.
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“The U.S. Department of Education has agreed to follow the law and deliver congressionally mandated affordable payments and debt relief to hard-working public service workers across the country, and will do so under court supervision,” Berkman-Breen added. “We fully intend to hold them to their word.”
FOX Business has reached out to the White House for comment.
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The AFT and several individual borrowers filed the lawsuit in March 2025 after the administration removed IDR enrollment applications from federal websites and quietly instructed loan servicers to stop processing them. The government later resumed accepting and handling applications but had not publicly committed to canceling debt until now.
The joint status report filed Friday is awaiting court approval.
Stephen A Smith reveals decade-long feud with NBA legend: ‘Don’t like his a–‘
Stephen A. Smith still thinks about the LeBron James courtside confrontation, and he told one former NBA star why he felt he was “set up” by the league’s all-time scoring leader in that moment.
Smith and James went viral earlier this year during a Los Angeles Lakers game, where the latter confronted the former in his courtside seat to seemingly address Smith’s criticism of how the Lakers were handling Bronny James, the superstar’s son.
Smith revealed in March that the incident stemmed from his televised critiques of Bronny.
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“That wasn’t a basketball player confronting me. That was a parent. That was a father,” Smith said on ESPN at the time. “I can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in that regard. By all accounts, he’s obviously a wonderful family man and father who cares very, very deeply about his son.
During a recent episode of “7PM In Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony,” Smith revisited the moment with the New York Knicks legend, saying that the circumstances of the conversation with James as well as how it appeared on camera still doesn’t sit right with him.
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“The day that he rolled up on me courtside, it was the day my contract was announced that I had stayed with ESPN,” Smith explained on the podcast. “Go back and look at the camera angle…This is 2025, we got technology everywhere. TNT is a nationally televised game. How is it we got one angle, and the only angle you see was of him and his face, but you see the back of my peanut head?”
Smith believes that, considering James’ star status, there would’ve been many more camera angles of the courtside meeting.
“There’s no way that you’re in an arena, you’re LeBron James, and the only angle that somebody sees is a straight up shot of you getting in my face,” Smith added. “They see no reaction. They see nothing. And that’s an accident?”
Smith delved into the conspiracy realm here, but he stood his ground as he expressed his feelings about it potentially being an orchestrated confrontation.
“Damn right I did,” Smith quickly responded to a question of whether he felt set up or not. “That’s how I feel. But no big deal, no problem because I go on the air the next day and I’m like, ‘That’s a dad reacting to his son.’”
And in case you’re wondering, no, Smith and James have not made up. In fact, Smith said it plainly how he feels about James.
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“I don’t like his a–, not a little bit,” he said. “This dates back more than a decade. I’m not gonna go into detail at the stuff this man has tried to do to me. You do not understand the lengths this man would go to… If it were up to him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. It’s some low, low stuff.”
The beef is real between these two, and it doesn’t seem like there will be any patching it up heading into the 2025-26 season this week.
Toronto makes dramatic comeback, ends 31-year World Series drought with thrilling homer
For the first time since 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays are heading to the World Series.
And they can thank the man who has won one for the chance.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, with runners on second and third with nobody out, George Springer stepped to the plate with the chance to tie a 3-1 ball game in favor of the Seattle Mariners, a team desperate for its first-ever World Series appearance in franchise history.
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Springer decided to do one better, sitting on a fastball from Eduard Bazardo and launching it over the left field fence to take a 4-3 lead. That was the swing needed for the Blue Jays to cement their American League pennant victory.
The Blue Jays will now face the reigning-champion Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
BLUE JAYS FORCE GAME 7 WITH CRUCIAL WIN OVER MARINERS
This was a series filled with theatrics from the very start, but the Blue Jays found themselves heading back home down 3-2 in the series and needing two straight victories to be crowned pennant winners. They made that happen on Sunday night, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger delivered home runs to force a win-or-go-home Game 7.
But Monday night didn’t start the way Toronto would’ve liked, as Josh Naylor put Seattle ahead early with an RBI single to score Julio Rodriguez. However, Daulton Varsho, who has been another clutch Blue Jays hitter throughout the postseason, smacked a single to center to score Springer to knot the game at one apiece.
Then, in the top of the third inning, Rodriguez got the Mariners back on top, belting a solo home run to deep left center field. And who other than Cal Raleigh, the AL MVP hopeful, coming through when his team needed him with a solo home run himself to make it a 3-1 ball game in the top of the fifth inning.
With the Mariners’ pitching staff being one of the best in baseball all year, there were options for who to deploy late in the game considering it was an all-hands-on-deck situation. Mariners manager Dan Wilson went with Bryan Woo after George Kirby gave him four innings, and Woo gave him clean fifth and sixth innings.
But Woo opened the door with a walk to Barger to begin the seventh inning, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa woke up Rogers Centre with a single that left runners on first and second with nobody out. After Andres Gimenez moved them over with a sacrifice bunt, Bazardo came in to face Springer.
Springer came out on top.
Jeff Hoffman finished off the Mariners in the ninth inning, striking out all three batters, including Rodriguez, to start the celebration.
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The Blue Jays are hoping they can do what that team did in 1993, as the Toronto team secured back-to-back World Series titles that season.
Teaching assistant facing charges after Turning Point table meltdown fired by school
An Illinois State University teaching assistant has been fired after he was captured on video flipping a Turning Point USA table and tearing up the group’s flyers.
“While Illinois State University does not comment specifically on personnel matters, we can confirm Derek Lopez has been relieved of his duties as a graduate teaching assistant pending further investigation,” the school confirmed in a Monday afternoon release.
Lopez, a 27-year-old graduate student, can be seen in the video speaking to a man next to where the conservative group was promoting an upcoming appearance by political comedian Alex Stein.
ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY TEACHER’S ASSISTANT FLIPS TURNING POINT USA TABLE, TEARS DOWN FLYERS: ‘JESUS DID IT’
“Well, you know, Jesus did it, so you know I gotta do it, right?” Lopez told the man before he was seen flipping the table over.
“Thanks guys, have a great day,” he said before walking away.
He was also accused of disrupting a second informational table hosted by a student group, according to Illinois State University Police.
He was arrested on Friday and faces charges for disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property. Police said the case is pending and may be grounds for additional charges and university disciplinary action.
OKLAHOMA STUDENT SAYS STAFF ‘THREAT’ AFTER CHARLIE KIRK TRIBUTE WON’T SILENCE HIM
On Saturday, the school reaffirmed its commitment to free speech.
“The University recognizes the diverse perspectives represented on our campus. We expect everyone to listen and respond to opposing views with civility,” a statement said.
So, too, did the campus police force.
“We are committed to protecting the First Amendment rights as well as safety of everyone in our campus community,” Police Chief Aaron Woodruff said.
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“We encourage all members of our community to learn more about free speech rights and responsibilities at Illinois State University, including constructive ways to respond when encountering speech they may disagree with,” the statement continued.
New video appears to show suspects in daring daytime jewel theft at the Louvre
A new video has emerged showing what could be the Louvre thieves in action as they carried out Sunday’s daylight robbery at Paris’s world-famous museum.
The footage, obtained by French broadcaster BFMTV, purportedly shows what has been called one of the most brazen art thefts in recent memory.
The short clip appears to show someone inside the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, which was home to some of the museum’s most priceless treasures.
Footage taken by an anonymous bystander shows a person in a bright yellow jacket standing beside a glass display case.
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The amateur footage was replayed for BFMTV, who filmed that phone’s screen and verified it Sunday. The Associated Press has not been able to independently confirm its authenticity.
According to French authorities, the thieves executed a highly coordinated operation that unfolded just after the museum opened to the public in the morning.
At around 9:30 a.m., thieves used a basket lift to reach the Louvre’s facade, forcing open a window to gain entry to the Apollo Gallery, which contains displays of the royal jewels.
LOUVRE MUSEUM CLOSED AFTER ROBBERY, FRENCH OFFICIAL SAYS
According to reports, the group made off with jewels once belonging to Napoleon III’s court, including pieces from Empress Eugénie’s personal collection.
“They breached through a window and made this really brazen. These guys are fast and moving quickly with a purpose, and they breach, and they get in there really quickly,” former FBI Art Crime expert Tim Carpenter told Fox News Digital.
After the heist, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez spoke to radio station France Inter and said the thieves “entered from the outside using a basket lift” and “a disc cutter” to slice through glass panes containing precious jewels.
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“The investigation has begun, and a detailed list of the stolen items is being compiled,” the ministry also said in a statement. “Beyond their market value, these items have inestimable heritage and historical value.”
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The Louvre remained closed on Monday as investigators combed through the scene and reviewed surveillance footage.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Louvre Museum and the Ministry of Culture for comment.