News they don't want you to see

Wednesday July 17, 2024

BUTLER, PA - Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told ABC News in an interview on Tuesday that a decision was made to put local law enforcement inside the building that gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed on top of to shoot former President Donald Trump on Saturday instead of the rooftop due to the “safety factor” of putting someone on a “sloped roof.” Cheatle’s comments explained why local law enforcement officers were inside the building that 20-year-old Crooks climbed onto despite the building reportedly being a staging and lookout point for local law enforcement assisting the Secret Service.

While local law enforcement commonly supplements the Secret Service at special events — such as campaign rallies — the Secret Service is in charge of the security plan. Click here to read more.

LANSING, Mich - Despite garnering national exposure for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, her memoir is setting any sales records.

True Gretch: What I’ve Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything In Between, co-written by Whitmer and Lisa Dickey, was released last week, The book boasts jacket blurbs from The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper, actor Lynda Carter, and U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, R-NY. Additionally, Whitmer has appeared on national television to promote sales of the book.

In one such appearance, late-night host Stephen Colbert mocked the relatively small size of the book, 158 pages with large type and wide spacing. “It’s slender,” he observed, eliciting laughter from his studio audience.

However, despite rumors Whitmer might replace either incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket, national book buyers aren’t biting. The latest New York Times list of hardcover nonfiction bestsellers includes recent releases by Anthony Fauci, a book detailing the abuse of women in the Kennedy family orbit, and celebrity autobiographies by Griffin Dunne and Jennette McCurdy. But there’s no sign of Whitmer or her book anywhere on the list. It has also failed to gain traction on the Publishers Weekly Bestsellers list. Click here to read more.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled a Minnesota law requiring a person to be at least 21 years old before obtaining a permit to carry a handgun in public for self-defense is unconstitutional.

The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with gun rights groups in finding the state's ban violated the rights of 18- to 20-year-olds under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment to keep and bear arms.

U.S. Circuit Judge Duane Benton, writing for a panel of three judges all appointed by Republican presidents, held that under recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have expanded gun rights, the state's 2003 law could not be deemed valid.

"Importantly, the Second Amendment's plain text does not have an age limit," he wrote.

The panel upheld a lower-court judge's ruling last year in favor of the Second Amendment Foundation, the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, gun rights groups which had sued alongside some of their members.

Gun rights groups have filed similar lawsuits challenging age-based restrictions on carrying firearms in other states, including in Georgia, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Click here to read more.

WASHINGTON D.C. - Former President Donald Trump is now leading President Joe Biden in  Virginia by three points, according to polling results reported on Monday.

For the first time, Biden is trailing Trump by three points in the state, with Trump polling at 39% and Biden polling at 36%, according to the latest VCU/Wilder poll. Virginia has consistently voted for Democratic presidential candidates for two decades, with the last Republican to win the state being former President George W. Bush in 2004. Biden beat Trump by over 10% in the state in 2020, and former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won the state by 4.9% in 2016.

However, several recent findings in addition to the latest VCU/Wilder poll show that support for the Democratic incumbent has significantly declined in the state. Click here to read more.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A teacher in South Dakota has lost her job after she commented about last weekend’s assassination attempt on the former president.

Cassandra Oleson was a behavior facilitator at Ben Reifel Middle School.

After the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, Oleson posted on Facebook, “Shoot if only he would’ve had his scope sighted in correctly.”

Others picked up the teacher’s social media post in the community and some residents said they found Oleson’s comment particularly disturbing for someone in her position. “Parents are putting their trust and children in your care, and your job is ironically to teach them to restrain and discernment in their actions and reactions. This needs to be addressed,” Lisa Barlow, a concerned Sioux Falls resident, said.

Representatives with the Sioux Falls School District said this week that Oleson was no longer employed and that her statement didn’t align with the school district’s values. Click here to read more.