THE NEWS

Melissa Joan Hart couldn’t let an opportunity like Star Wars Day pass without reminding everyone that she once dressed up as Slave Leia. Well, she could have, but that wouldn’t be in the spirit of May the Fourth now, would it?I’m not one to dress up in a costume, let alone dig through my closet looking for an old Star Wars T-shirt or anything. I won’t be putting on one of the movies to celebrate either. I haven’t nor will I be telling anyone, “May the Fourth be with you.”It’s not that I’m not a fan of the Star Wars movies. I am. The first three in particular. I’ve seen the second three, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go. I haven’t, and I don’t plan on seeing anything beyond that. I don’t need any sequels or spinoffs.ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!But this isn’t about me. I’m not here to rain on any parades. If you’re all in and want to keep being force-fed Star Wars content, have at it. I tagged out long ago, but I can appreciate a piece of nostalgia as much as the next guy.That’s where Princess Leia, or should I say these Melissa Joan Hart throwbacks, come into play.The 50-year-old actress wore the costume for Halloween in 1997 when she was near the beginning of her run as the star of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.” She had one of her favorite costumes locked and loaded for Star Wars Day.That’s how you celebrate May the Fourth. I’m not buying any arguments about Melissa Joan Hart or anyone else trying to make this about themselves. She’s not doing that here. That isn’t her style.This is her correctly paying her respects to the earlier movies without the need to try and reach to pay those respects. She has the perfect throwbacks for the occasion and she fired them off.That’s how you get a guy like me to say Happy Star Wars Day to all who celebrate.

Photo courtesy of the United States House Committee on Appropriations.
 
The United Nations is facing insolvency. In a January 28, 2026 letter to all 193 member states, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the organization faces “imminent financial collapse,” with cash reserves nearly exhausted and outstanding dues hitting a record $1.57 billion by the end of 2025, more than double the amount outstanding at the end of 2024. Unless collections improve, Guterres warned, the UN will run out of cash by July 2026.
The crisis is compounded by a structural rule requiring the UN to return unspent budget funds to member states even when those funds were never collected in the first place. In early 2026, the UN was forced to return $227 million it had never received, with an additional $72 million offset against arrears. Guterres described this as a “Kafkaesque cycle, expected to give back cash that does not exist.”
To address the shortfall, the UN cut its 2026 budget from $3.72 billion to $3.45 billion, abolishing approximately 2,900 staff positions, nearly a fifth of its workforce, and slashing special political mission allocations by 21 percent. Wide-scale non-payment by member states has accelerated the crisis. In 2025, 42 of 193 member states failed to pay their assessments in full, and by the February 8, 2026 due date, only 55 countries had paid.
The United States is the dominant factor. Historically the UN’s largest contributor at 22 percent of the regular and peacekeeping budgets, roughly $820 million per year, the U.S. paid no dues at all in 2025 and accounts for approximately 95 percent of all unpaid contributions currently owed. The total U.S. debt stands at $2.2 billion to the regular operating budget, $767 million for 2026 and the remainder from 2025, plus a separate $1.8 billion owed for peacekeeping operations and $528 million for past peacekeeping missions.
In August 2025, Trump cancelled roughly $800 million in peacekeeping funds previously appropriated for 2024 and 2025, and the White House budget office has since proposed eliminating all U.S. peacekeeping funding for 2026. Trump also withdrew the U.S. from at least 66 international organizations, including 31 within the UN system, among them the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Democracy Fund, UN Oceans, and UN Women.
In mid-February 2026, the U.S. made a first partial payment toward its debt, which a UN spokesperson confirmed goes toward past dues on the regular budget. As of early May 2026, the U.S. has paid approximately $160 million of the more than $4 billion it owes across regular and peacekeeping budgets combined. Guterres has stated that the outstanding assessed contributions are “non-negotiable,” a mandatory legal obligation of membership, and has stressed that non-payment and reform are two distinct issues. A UN spokesperson was blunter: “when it comes to paying, it’s now or never.”
The Trump administration frames its position as leverage. U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz told Congress the UN has “drifted from its core mission of peacemaking” and confirmed the administration has conditioned payment on reform: “We’ve withheld this year. We haven’t paid any, and my first meeting with the Secretary-General was, ‘here are the reforms that we need to see before you start talking about taxpayer dollars.’” Waltz argued the organization needs to be “cut up” and reformed before U.S. money flows again, pointing out that seven separate UN agencies work on climate alone.
The administration has branded its approach “Make the UN Great Again,” MUNGA. In April 2026 Senate testimony, Waltz cited $570 million in UN budget cuts and the elimination of nearly 3,000 headquarters positions as evidence the pressure is producing results, while U.S. Ambassador for Management and Reform Jeff Bartos stated flatly: “The UN has to stop doing stupid things.”
The administration’s case for cutting or eliminating UN funding rests on documented institutional failures spanning decades. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated at the 2026 Munich Security Conference, the UN failed to stop the war in Gaza, failed to end the war in Ukraine, and failed to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The failure in Ukraine is structural and chronic: when Russia moved to annex Crimea in 2014, the Security Council convened seven emergency sessions only to watch Russia veto the sole draft resolution, supported by 13 of 15 members, that would have declared the referendum invalid. The General Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which Russia ignored. Eight years later, Russia launched a full-scale invasion and the Security Council was paralyzed by the same veto.
Peacekeeping missions in Mali, Lebanon, and the DRC have been judged failures by the administration’s own ambassador. Waltz told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the UN budget has quadrupled over 25 years “yet we have not seen a quadrupling of peace.” Former UN Ambassador John Bolton, an outspoken Trump critic, told the Associated Press the UN is “probably in the worst shape it’s been in since it was founded.”
The UN has consistently failed to counter the Iranian regime or to intervene when the regime has, on several occasions, killed thousands of protesters. During the 2022 Woman Life Freedom uprising, Iranian security forces killed at least 551 verified protesters, including 68 children and 49 women, across 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces. The UN established a Fact-Finding Mission, which concluded the killings constituted crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and rape, yet Iran faced no binding Security Council action.
When protests erupted again in late December 2025 following an economic collapse, the crackdown was far deadlier. Amnesty International documented massacres concentrated on January 8 and 9, 2026, with death toll estimates rising to over 30,000 based on hospital data. The United Nations issued statements and took no enforceable action.
Burma (Myanmar) presents the longest-running case. The conflict has spanned nearly eight decades, making it the world’s longest ongoing civil war. The military rejected a 1990 landslide election won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and kept Suu Kyi under house arrest. When the NLD won again by a large margin in 2020, the military staged a coup on February 1, 2021, detained the civilian government, and killed more than 600 protesters in the initial crackdown.
The UN’s own human rights expert told the Human Rights Council that the international response “has failed,” and a Special Advisory Council on Myanmar called the UN response “woefully inadequate.” The conflict has since displaced 3.6 million people and produced more than 95,000 deaths.
The institution has also been politically captured. The Human Rights Council routinely seats governments with records of systematic abuse in oversight roles. A UN Special Rapporteur praised Somalia’s human rights record before the Council while condemning U.S. counterterrorism as “naked aggression,” even as Human Rights Watch documented Somalia’s deteriorating conditions and al-Shabaab’s advance toward Mogadishu.
UNRWA acknowledged that nine of its staff members may have participated in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Against this record, the UN’s response to Trump acting against despotic regimes has been swift condemnation. When Trump captured Nicolás Maduro and removed him from Venezuela in January 2026, Guterres declared he was “deeply alarmed” by the U.S. action and warned it set “a dangerous precedent.”
The Security Council convened an emergency session at the request of Colombia, backed by Russia and China, the same powers whose vetoes had shielded Maduro, the Iranian regime, and the Myanmar junta from accountability for years. The body that stood idle through decades of massacres, stolen elections, and civilian bombings found its voice the moment the United States acted against a narco-dictatorship.
Among Trump’s complaints about the UN is the disproportionate funding burden carried by the United States. The U.S. pays 22 percent of the regular budget and 25 percent of peacekeeping costs, while China, the world’s second-largest economy, is treated as a developing nation across UN agencies, receiving favorable status that reduces its assessed share. China has simultaneously nearly doubled its staffing at UN agencies over the past decade while U.S. representation has declined, placing its nationals at all levels to advance CCP interests.
In April 2026, China vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have forced Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Senator Jeanne Shaheen warned during Waltz’s confirmation hearing that U.S. disengagement risks allowing Beijing to “write the rules” on technology, AI, health, and human rights, an argument that cuts both ways, since the U.S. is currently subsidizing the institutional infrastructure China is methodically colonizing with its own personnel.
The post UN Running Out of Cash, Trump Unmoved appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Putin warned that Russia will not tolerate disruptions of the Victory Day Celebrations
Victory Day truce may unleash unprecedented strikes.
We are approaching May 9, the date where Russians traditionally celebrate their defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, or – as they prefer – in the ‘Patriotic War’.
Just like last year, the celebration that gathers the Russian elite and a large number of foreign dignitaries will happen under the shadow of a possible drone-missile combined strike by Ukraine.
Not only that, but after Moscow announced a truce on May 8 and 9, Kiev came today with their own truce to begin on Wednesday (6).
Also today, the Russian Defense Ministry has warned Kiev of massive retaliation if it disrupts the celebrations.
Two men, two different truces
Bloomberg reported:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin designated a ceasefire for May 8-9, the Defense Ministry said in a post on Telegram. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there was no coordination with his government. He declared his own ceasefire regime starting at midnight on the night of May 5, saying Ukraine will act reciprocally starting from that moment.
‘There has been no official appeal to Ukraine regarding the modality of a cessation of hostilities’, Zelenskiy said on X after Russia’s announcement. ‘It is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war, especially since Russia’s Defense Ministry believes it cannot hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill’.”

Putin announces TRUCE for May 8-9 Victory Day
WARNING TO UKRAINE: Attempt to disrupt celebrations means Russian army will HIT KIEV’S CENTER — MoD
Civilians and diplomatic missions PRE-WARNED pic.twitter.com/vwSUyojkpg
— RT (@RT_com) May 4, 2026

The traditional May 9 parade in Moscow will take place without heavy military equipment, as a response to potential security threats.
“Putin is scheduled to deliver a speech, while guests this year for the festivities in Moscow include Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the Kremlin said.
Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russia in recent months and has also begun regularly targeting locations deeper inside the country. In the latest attack, a drone hit a residential tower in an upscale Moscow district on Monday.”

Zelensky announces earlier ceasefire starting May 6, ahead of Russia’s ‘Victory Day truce.’
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine is declaring a ceasefire beginning at midnight on May 6, amid Russia’s proposal for a temporary Victory Day truce from May 8-9.…
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 4, 2026

Russian MoD stated that civilians and foreign diplomatic missions are forewarned that massive retaliation will follow any disruption of the celebrations by Kiev.
Wach: Oreshnik missile systems in action.

NATO has no answer to Russias groundbreaking Oreshnik missile system used again tonight in Ukraine
They can’t stop it, and they know it. They also know it will be years before they can even get close.
So what is this unstoppable Russian weapon? pic.twitter.com/H1JCGqYmJN
— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) January 9, 2026

Read more:
BREAKING: Pentagon Halts Some Weapons Shipments to Ukraine After It’s Revealed Joe Biden Depleted US Munitions Stockpiles

The post Putin Announces Truce for Victory Day on May 8 and 9, Warns Ukraine: If It Disrupts Celebrations, Russian Forces Will Strike Kiev’s Center appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

New York Parole Bills Could Free Some Of The State’s Most Notorious Killers

Two parole reform bills advancing in New York are triggering intense debate, with supporters calling them long-overdue criminal justice reforms and critics warning they could allow violent offenders to leave prison early, according to the NY Post.

One proposal, known as the Elder Parole bill, would allow incarcerated individuals to request parole hearings once they reach age 55 and have served at least 15 years of their sentence. That eligibility would extend to some inmates serving life sentences, and those denied parole could reapply every two years.

The second proposal, Fair and Timely Parole, would change how parole boards evaluate inmates by placing greater focus on whether someone currently poses a risk to public safety instead of heavily weighing the original crime. Backers say the current system often ignores evidence of rehabilitation and keeps people incarcerated long after they have changed.

The NY Post writes that advocates argue older inmates are far less likely to commit new crimes and are expensive to keep in prison as they age. Release Aging People in Prison has pushed for both measures, saying elderly inmates who have taken accountability for their actions deserve a meaningful chance at release. “The evidence is clear that forcing completely rehabilitated elders to spend their final years in prison costs a fortune and delivers zero public safety benefit,” said Olivia Murphy of the organization.

Opponents, however, say the bills could have dangerous consequences. Critics point out that inmates convicted in some of the state’s most infamous cases — including David Berkowitz and Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon — could potentially become eligible for release.

Raphael Mangual of the Manhattan Institute argued that rehabilitation in prison should not erase the severity of violent crimes. “It really shouldn’t matter how well somebody behaves in prison. You should have behaved before you got there,” he said.

Victims’ families have also voiced concerns, saying repeated parole hearings force them to revisit painful tragedies. Michael Pravia, whose brother Kevin was killed in 2008, criticized lawmakers backing the legislation and warned, “They will have blood on their hands.”
Mark David Chapman

Kathy Hochul has not said whether she would sign either bill if they pass. As the legislation moves forward, the fight over parole reform continues to center on two competing priorities: rehabilitation and second chances versus justice and public safety.

Supporters of the legislation maintain that the bills are being mischaracterized by opponents who are focusing on extreme examples. Yes, how dare they exaggerate about mass murder… 

‘They argue that parole eligibility does not guarantee release and that every case would still go through a review process. Advocates also say New York’s prison population is aging rapidly, creating rising healthcare costs for the state while keeping behind bars people they believe no longer pose a serious threat.

Still, critics remain unconvinced and say the proposals send the wrong message to victims and their families. They argue that certain crimes are so severe that the original sentence should stand regardless of an inmate’s age or behavior in prison. With both sides digging in, the future of the bills could ultimately depend on whether lawmakers—and Kathy Hochul—view the measures as necessary reform or an unacceptable risk to public safety.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 05/04/2026 – 20:30

The Yankee Stadium crowd altered its usual roll call on Monday night in the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles to honor a legendary man synonymous with the team’s long history.Chants for John Sterling, the longtime radio announcer for the New York Yankees, roared from the bleachers and seats in the Bronx on a somber Monday for baseball fans in the tri-state, and even across the country.Joe Girardi was among those mourning the loss of an iconic voice that he had the pleasure of knowing as a player, manager and media colleague throughout his own career in baseball. Like many, Sterling’s impact was one Girardi felt immediately, which is why there was only one feeling when he heard the news.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM”Just sadness because I know how much he meant to the organization, to the Yankees, to me, [and] to people,” Girardi, who serves as a YES Yankees analyst, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview on Monday.”I’ve always loved to be around people that have such a great passion for what they do. John truly had that. He had a gift, but he truly had a passion. For that, his example was great. I miss him. I miss hearing him on the radio because there’s a lot of times I’m traveling and I’ll put the game on the radio. I have SiriusXM radio and listen to games. I miss it. I miss hearing him and Suzyn [Waldman].”Waldman, Sterling’s long-time partner on WFAN Sports Radio, was one of those Girardi spoke with on Monday after hearing the news.YANKEES RADIO ICON JOHN STERLING DEAD AT 87″She said something that really resonated with me about John. She goes, ‘John only did what he wanted to do and never did anything he didn’t want to do.’ You think about living your life – that’s a good life,” Girardi explained. “I think of things I do that I don’t want to do, but I do them anyway. That wasn’t John Sterling. He lived his life to the fullest. He enjoyed it, enjoyed being around people, and was ready to go and do his job. He brought life into your family room, or into your car, or wherever he was at and whatever he was doing.”For 64 years, Sterling was in the broadcast industry, but he left his mark on one of the most iconic organizations in all of sports when he joined the Yankees in 1989 and didn’t leave his post until April 2024.Even then, Sterling returned to the radio booth for the Yankees’ postseason broadcasts as they made their way back to the World Series for the first time since Girardi’s 2009 team won it all over the Philadelphia Phillies.It was during his time as a manager that Girardi said he remembers his favorite interaction with Sterling that rang true to the exceptional character and man he was.”I think the interactions that I remember the most, and it was well into my career obviously. I was the Yankees manager and John was doing the pre-game,” Girardi began. “We do it every day and John would have his old tape recorder, and have his phone with him. We were in the middle of the interview and he stops the tape. He takes his phone out of his pocket, flips it open because then they were flip phones. He says, ‘Darling, I’m doing the manager’s show. I’ll call you back in three minutes.’ I ‘m thinking, ‘Who does that?’ He beats his own drum so much, he stopped right in the middle of the show, and I believe we started over. But obviously that call was very important to him. When I think about it today, and this was many years ago, I still laugh today. This was early in my career as a manager because Suzyn took over, and I just sit laughing. That was John Sterling.”Sterling was also known for his signature home run calls, something Girardi and many others waited with anticipation to hear when a player would hit it over the fences.They always began with, “It is high, it is far, it is gone!” before breaking out into a catchphrase, or even a song. For Alex Rodriguez, “It’s an A-bomb from A-Rod,” or most recently with “Here comes the Judge!” when Aaron Judge hits a blast.”Always curious what that was going to be,” Girardi added. “And I was thinking, ‘How do you come up with that?’ He was so creative – I wasn’t given that gene. He was so creative, I always wondered how he thought of it, how long it took him to think of it, and he never missed a beat. A guy got called up and hit a home run the second day? He had it. It was there.”Girardi admitted that being older now he appreciates more and more how gifted and talented Sterling was, as well as the grind he went through for so many years calling 162 games with spring training and many postseasons as well.But even more precious to Girardi than the accolades, signature calls and a consecutive 5,060 games called was the care he had for everyone he ran into.”What you saw was how much he cared about you as an individual and how much he cared you had success,” Girardi said. “That was the amazing thing about John: he wanted you to have success and for the Yankees to win. It meant something to him. It wasn’t him just doing a job. This was a huge part of his life, and the enjoyment it brought him, you could see it.”The old cliché is do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.For Girardi, Sterling did more than just that.”He was an example of how you were supposed to live,” he said. “Find your passion and do it as long as you can. Joe Torre used to always say, ‘Don’t ever take your uniform off until they take it off you.’ That was John Sterling.”That’s the sign of a man who truly loves what he does. That’s an example that we all need to look forward.”Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Federal and state agencies have converged on rural Tennessee to hunt for a military-trained fugitive accused of shooting his wife and vanishing into dense woodland.Craig Berry, 44, identified by officials as a retired Special Forces veteran with extensive survival training, remains at large after fleeing from a residence in Stewart County early Sunday morning, according to the county sheriff’s office.Berry is wanted for second-degree attempted murder, authorities said.Deputies responded around 1:30 a.m. to a home near Old Paris Highway, where Berry is accused of shooting his wife during a domestic altercation. Emergency responders transported the woman to a hospital. Her condition has not been publicly released.SURVIVALIST’S GOOGLE SEARCHES REVEAL POSSIBLE ESCAPE PLAN AMID MANHUNT IN DAUGHTERS’ TRIPLE MURDER: REPORTBefore deputies arrived, Berry fled into nearby woods, triggering a rapidly escalating search that now spans a wide swath of rugged terrain along the Tennessee-Kentucky border region.Authorities say Berry is armed with at least one handgun, may be carrying additional ammunition and should be considered highly dangerous.Berry’s background in Special Forces and survival skills have heightened authorities’ concerns. The sheriff’s office said that he is highly familiar with the area and trained in survival tactics.NEW FLYER SHOWS SUSPECTED KILLER DAD MAY HAVE CHANGED APPEARANCE IN WILDERNESS MANHUNT: POLICE”He is very familiar with the area,” Sheriff Gray said.Berry was captured by a trail camera wearing camouflage clothing, the sheriff’s office said when releasing the photo.Investigators say Berry was last tracked by K-9 units near River Trace Road, but officials said that they no longer know whether he remains in the immediate area.POLICE CLOSE IN ON POSSIBLE LOCATION WHERE FUGITIVE DAD COULD BE HIDING AFTER ALLEGED TRIPLE MURDERThe search zone has steadily expanded from the initial scene near Old Paris Highway to include Gray’s Landing and corridors along highways 232 and 79.GOT A TIP?The operation also now involves the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service.Authorities have also warned that Berry may be attempting to evade detection by moving through wooded areas in camouflage clothing.NEW CRIME SCENE DETAILS EMERGE IN MANHUNT FOR FUGITIVE DAD ACCUSED OF KILLING 3 DAUGHTERSOfficials describe him as physically fit, capable of navigating difficult terrain and waterways, noting he is believed to be a strong swimmer and diver. Investigators said that Berry does not appear to have a phone or electronic means of communication, limiting their ability to track him.GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAILOfficials have also not ruled out the possibility that he may have received outside assistance after the shooting.MANHUNT UNDERWAY AFTER DISGRACED FORMER POLICE CHIEF CONVICTED OF MURDER, RAPE ESCAPES ARKANSAS PRISONLaw enforcement, the sheriff’s department said Monday, has begun shifting tactics by scaling back some broad woodland sweeps while preparing for more targeted searches based on leads.CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWSAuthorities have also turned to the public for help, urging residents to remain alert, lock their doors and report anything suspicious.They have asked property owners to check trail cameras for possible images of Berry, suggesting investigators believe he may still be moving through areas.”We have no information that he is no longer in the area,” the sheriff’s office said in its latest update.For now, authorities are warning residents not to approach Berry and if spotted, to call 911 immediately.Fox News Digital has reached out to the Stewart County Sheriff’s Office for additional details.

Life comes at you fast in the WNBA, but it comes even faster when you’re Hailey Van Lith.ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!The women’s college hoops star and 2025 high draft pick is now looking for a job after the Chicago Sky waived Van Lith, something of a surprise to many.The decision comes just one year after the Sky picked Van Lith with the 11th overall pick, choosing to fill that void by signing veteran Natasha Cloud, a move that suggests Chicago may have already given up on Van Lith’s development.SKY REUNITE HAILEY VAN LITH WITH ANGEL REESE IN WNBA DRAFTIt was not long ago that Van Lith was one of the most recognizable names in college hoops and one of the first NIL stars during her time at Louisville.Van Lith’s rookie campaign in 2025 saw her average fewer than four points per game. At a certain point, people were more interested in her off-court relationship with Jalen Suggs than her on-court potential. It’ll be a rough week for both, as Suggs and the Magic saw their season end Sunday in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.By bringing in Cloud on a $555,000 deal, Chicago is betting that a proven floor general is worth more than the upside of a high-profile draft pick.SKY TRADE ANGEL REESE IN STUNNING MOVE BEFORE WNBA SEASON BEINGS: REPORTSThe move also highlights a broader philosophical shift in Chicago.The team has spent the last few weeks dismantling the core of a roster that struggled to find its identity last season, most notably trading Angel Reese to Atlanta.By cutting Van Lith, the Sky have effectively wiped the slate clean of their most recent high-stakes gambles.At 24 years old, Van Lith is young enough to bounce back, which is oddly reminiscent of her stint at LSU, bound for more stardom but majorly regressing, starting from zero once again. She enters the free-agent market as a cautionary tale of how quickly a “can’t-miss” prospect can find herself on the outside looking in.Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela 

The White House was briefly put on lockdown amid reports of gunfire nearby on Monday afternoon while President Trump was participating in a small business summit.
Reporters were evacuated from the North Lawn and ushered into the press briefing room.

Journalists were brought into the briefing room at the White House after reports of gunfire heard in streets surrounding the White House. pic.twitter.com/RJcFo8BvEv
— Hiba Nasr (@HibaNasr) May 4, 2026

A uniformed Secret Service agent shot an unidentified man who pulled out a firearm and fired at agents.
The exchange of gunfire occurred at 15th and Independence.
“U.S. Secret Service personnel are on the scene of an officer-involved shooting at 15th Street and Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C. One individual was shot by law enforcement; their condition is currently unknown. Please avoid the area as emergency crews are responding,” the Secret Service said.

U.S. Secret Service personnel are on the scene of an officer-involved shooting at 15th Street and Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C. One individual was shot by law enforcement; their condition is currently unknown. Please avoid the area as emergency crews are responding. pic.twitter.com/LNUTL2F3gM
— U.S. Secret Service Office of Communications (@SecretSvcSpox) May 4, 2026

Secret Service Deputy Deputy Director Matt Quinn held a short presser to brief the public on the officer-involved shooting.
Matt Quinn said a juvenile bystander was shot during the exchange of gunfire with the armed adult male.
The juvenile suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
“My understanding is they observed a print,” Quinn said when asked how Secret Service identified the threat.
He continued, “These are trained surveillance detection personnel out there looking every day to look for just that… and they observed a visual print of a firearm.”
“Upon making contact, that individual fled briefly on foot, withdrew a firearm and fired in the direction of our agents and officers,” Quinn said. “They returned fire and engaged.”
A reporter asked Matt Quinn if the armed man was targeting President Trump.
“I can’t say. I’m not going to guess on that,” he said. “I can tell you that every time, we’re patrolling this area. In every site, we do 24/7, hardcore, whether or not it was directed to the president or not, I don’t know. But we will find out.”
WATCH:

JUST IN: The Secret Service confirmed that a juvenile bystander was hit after an armed suspect opened fire near the White House.
The suspect was shot by Secret Service officers and is currently hospitalized, while the juvenile is receiving treatment for non-life-threatening… pic.twitter.com/eU7m2a5HDx
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 4, 2026

The post A Juvenile Bystander Was Shot as Secret Service Exchanged Gunfire with Armed Man Near White House appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Elites And Their Contempt

Authored by Reverend John F. Naugle via The Brownstone Institute,

Last week, I was unexpectedly hit with a post-lockdown trauma response.

While driving to a baseball game days before the NFL Draft came to Pittsburgh, I passed a digital highway sign instructing me to avoid nonessential travel.

Suddenly, memories of empty highways with signs instructing drivers to “Stay Safe and Stay Home” came flooding back to me.

As the week developed, it began to occur to me that the parallels were deeper than my subjective emotional response.

Road closures intensified, rendering my beloved city of Pittsburgh less and less functional.

Even sidewalks were closed. 

Entire parking garages were emptied and abandoned.

Pittsburgh’s “most visited museum,” the Kamin Science Center, has been closed to the public for weeks because it was within the footprint of the upcoming event.

For the actual days of the draft, Pittsburgh Public Schools were shuttered as if a blizzard had rendered travel impossible.

How do I walk to PNC Park?

The attempt by local officials to trigger hysteria in the populace worked, maybe too well. People traveling to Pittsburgh for the event heeded the instructions to use the special free public transit to make their way in. Parking operators, expecting a huge windfall, saw themselves lower their exorbitant prices midday. For example, the Rivers Casino quickly abandoned their plan to charge $250 per day, lowering their rate to $100 for the first day of the draft and then abandoning charging altogether for subsequent days.

Local businesses outside the official footprint of the event were told to prepare for heavy crowds, but instead experienced a weekend worse than anything they had seen since the Covid hysteria. Those who didn’t want to go to the draft were terrified to go anywhere near the city.

In summary, children were deprived of education, small business owners were drastically harmed, public spaces which exist for the common good were shuttered, and normal life ceased for those who actually live in the City of Pittsburgh. While all of this was happening, local politicians were patting themselves on the back for how well everything was pulled off, taking pride that this draft broke attendance records for the NFL and that their plans of getting people in and out of the city were effective. It was our own personal Operation Warp Speed.

I think there’s a lesson here that applies not merely to Pittsburgh politics but also to the wider dysfunction we see in elected officials throughout what used to be Western Civilization.

Our political leaders view their own constituents with a sort of boredom or indifference. In the leadup to the draft, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania engaged in a number of public works projects designed to improve the area in preparation for the draft. 

Suddenly, our governments remembered that potholes aren’t supposed to be allowed to exist and that crime isn’t supposed to be allowed to happen. For three days, Pittsburgh had a heavily subsidized and highly functional public transit system, something that hasn’t existed the entirety of my lifetime.

Any one of these projects could have been accomplished at any time, but the actual people who live there provided insufficient motivation for our leaders. Rather, what really mattered to them was looking good in front of millionaires, soon-to-be millionaires, and the powerful elites who would gather to party the night away with Nelly, Steve Aoki, and 2 Chainz.

Road closures during the NFL Draft

Meanwhile, the elites themselves seem to view the common people with at least implicit contempt.

They desire entire blocks to be shut down for their own amusement.

The common man, including those who wait upon them, should be relegated to buses or walking so as not to encroach upon their experience. This is their party, and the city is lucky to have them there.

We live in a world where the elites view the common man as a problem to be solved and the leaders elected by the common man anxiously present themselves as lapdogs to these elites, forgetting any sense of duty or obligation to those who placed them in power.

We saw this during lockdowns, we saw this as inflation raged on, and we see it now as gas prices remain above $4.

The urgent and pressing question that faces all of us: what is the political solution in a system where elected officials conspire with elites who hold the voters themselves in contempt?

Tyler Durden
Mon, 05/04/2026 – 20:05

New Jersey Democratic congressional candidate Rebecca Bennett walked away from questions about political violence against President Donald Trump in a video circulating online, as a person with her repeatedly told the questioner to “get a life.”The video was shared by the Libs of TikTok account and shows a man approaching Bennett and asking whether she condemns attempts to harm the president. Bennett does not respond and continues walking as a woman accompanying her addresses the questioner.”Excuse me, Mrs. Bennett, do you think that people should stop trying to kill the president?” the man is heard asking.As he continues, the woman accompanying Bennett can be heard attempting to drown him out by singing.REPUBLICANS CRITICIZE DEM CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE’S ’86 47′ POST AS CALL FOR ‘POLITICAL VIOLENCE'”Oh my God. Dude, get a life. Get a life, dude,” the person says in the video.Bennett is then seen walking away and heading toward a vehicle, partially obscured at times by a blue sign, as the questioning continues.Bennett’s campaign told Fox News Digital that she “has and always will condemn political violence against President Trump.”PATRICIA HEATON URGES ‘FRIENDS ON THE LEFT’ TO TONE DOWN EXTREME RHETORIC AFTER WHCD SHOOTINGThe campaign also pointed to a post Bennett shared on X on April 26.”Last night’s attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was an act of political violence, and I condemn it unequivocally,” Bennett wrote. “Political violence has no place in our democracy.””I’m grateful to the Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers who responded with extraordinary courage, who acted immediately to neutralize the threat,” she added. “Their bravery kept hundreds of people safe last night, and I’m relieved that everyone went home to their families.”DEM IN TRUMP DISTRICT RACE SCRUBS SOCIAL MEDIA OF POSTS PRAISING PROGRESSIVES: ‘SCAM ARTIST'”My thoughts are with everyone who was at the dinner last night.”The Navy veteran and current member of the Air National Guard made news last year as a Democrat running for Congress who positioned herself as a moderate in a bid to unseat sitting Republican Thomas Kean Jr. in a pro-Trump district.A Fox News Digital review of Bennett’s X account — created in July 2011 and converted from @BigRedBecks to @RebeccaForNJ07 — shows several deleted posts that appear to diverge from that “moderate” label, including praise for progressive Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.”Love her,” Bennett wrote in a now-deleted post about Warren in 2019.Bennett also deleted posts praising former Vice President Kamala Harris after she was announced as then-former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.During the civil unrest that followed the death of George Floyd in 2020, Bennett wrote in a now-deleted post that she agreed with a comment from former Obama campaign strategist David Plouffe calling for investigations into law enforcement responses.Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.