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Black residents in New York are voicing sharp concerns to state officials over a proposed reparations plan, warning that broadening the program’s scope to include other marginalized groups and recent immigrants could co-opt and dilute their movement.”I think it’s important because as Foundational Black Americans who’ve been here since the founding of the country, coming in as slaves, and also indigenous people who are here, we have a claim to the country,” Aubrey Muhammad told Fox News Digital. “We have our own culture, and we deserve to be compensated for what our ancestors have been put through.”Muhammad delivered his testimony to the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies during a crowded public hearing at Hempstead High School on Long Island last month. During the session, he accused Democrats of actively importing “Latinos” from South America to fill “voting rolls” as “replacements for us,” while further alleging that incoming populations are gentrifying traditionally Black neighborhoods.NEW YORK SHERIFFS ‘MAD AS HELL’ AS HOCHUL PUSHES TO BAN KEY LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTNERSHIPIn a follow-up interview with Fox News Digital, Muhammad doubled down on his public testimony.”The Democrats, in a sick way, imported 25 million immigrants. And 70% of them came into poor Black neighborhoods,” Muhammad claimed. “Hempstead, since the ’90s, has been flooded with immigrants. That’s taking the resources, putting them towards others.”Demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the Village of Hempstead has undergone significant demographic shifts over the last three decades. Today, the community of roughly 59,000 is evenly divided between majorities, sitting at approximately 45.7% Black or African American and 44.8% Hispanic or Latino. In 1990, the Hispanic population accounted for around 14%. The public hearing was organized by the state’s nine-member reparations commission—which was established by law in December 2023—to gather public input and examine the historical legacy of slavery and subsequent discriminatory policies in New York.”I think that we are owed a debt,” Caprice Reins, a local resident who attended the event as a spectator, told Fox News Digital.LEFT KEEPS CRYING JIM CROW BECAUSE SUPREME COURT REJECTED RACIAL DISTRICT GAMESThe public hearing was organized by the state’s nine-member reparations commission—which was established by law in December 2023—to gather public input and examine the historical legacy of slavery and subsequent discriminatory policies in New York.Several speakers at the hearing represented “The United States Freedmen Project,” a group of self-identified “Foundational Black Americans.” The organization aims to educate the public on the legal and historical distinctions between African Americans who are direct descendants of enslaved people in the U.S. and those who immigrated to the country voluntarily in recent decades.The debate grew contentious at times, culminating in at least one speaker storming out of the auditorium while shouting at Freedmen Project supporters.”Sit down with the clowns if you want to!” the speaker, who declined to identify himself to Fox News Digital, yelled as he left. “Stand up for freedom.”INSIDE CUBA’S FOREIGN INFLUENCE CAMPAIGN: FROM THE VENCEREMOS BRIGADE OF THE 1960S TO SATURDAY IN A UNION HALLSupporters of the Freedmen Project argued that any state-level reparations bill based strictly on race would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. They urged state officials to base eligibility criteria strictly on proven “lineage” to insulate the program from inevitable legal challenges.”If those are based on race, they’re going to be shot down like affirmative action, like the Fearless Fund, like the farmer’s bill,” Divine Prince, a spokesperson for the Freedmen Project, told Fox News Digital, referencing recent federal court rulings that struck down race-conscious policies.Addressing those legal concerns at the conclusion of the hearing, commission member Dr. Ron Daniels acknowledged the complexity of navigating the law.”The idea that we feel that we should somehow craft something that will not in some way look like it’s racial is somewhat problematic,” Daniels said. “We do have a legal team, we have legal counsel, and there is a whole body of lawyers who, in fact, are dealing with… an injury- and harm-based proposition in terms of how to present reparations.”Tensions also flared over the presence of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). Members of the Freedmen Project argued that the left-leaning organization and its local chapters do not represent the specific interests of ancestral Black Americans.Susan Gottehrer, the Director of the Nassau County Chapter of the NYCLU, defended a broader approach to addressing systemic inequities.”These government policies have affected Black New Yorkers regardless of lineage. Excluding a subset of Black Americans would leave a significant portion of documented racial injustice completely unexamined,” Gottehrer said.NAACP OFFICIAL CONDEMNS WHITE POLITICIANS TRYING TO REPLACE RESIGNING BLACK MAYORMuhammad called Gottehrer’s remarks “disrespectful” because they conflate the distinct historical experiences of different Black populations.”The ACLU just wants funding so they get some of our reparations money to pay for these other causes,” Muhammad alleged. “They form these organizations, they give them funding, and they bless these immigrants—they bless these other groups, marginalized groups.”Brooke Lean, who attended the hearing wearing a shirt promoting the Freedmen Project, agreed that the civil liberties group’s platform diverges from the core goals of the reparations’ movement, asserting that not all Black residents have an equal claim.”They want to erase our story, dilute our story by adding in a bunch of people who just got here, whose ancestors did not build this country,” Lean told Fox News Digital.Freedmen Project members also criticized New York State Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solages (D-22nd District), a primary sponsor of the legislation that created the commission, for suggesting that reparations should address systemic issues impacting all Black New Yorkers.”When we draft the legislation for the commission, we want to ensure that we’re having a thorough conversation about slavery and its harms, whether it’s mass incarceration, health disparities, the lack of educational opportunity for folks, or the wealth gap,” Solages said.

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).Veterans with cancer face a higher risk of suicide attempts, according to new research from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).The risk is especially prevalent in the months following diagnosis and can persist for years, states the study, which was published in JAMA Oncology.The researchers analyzed Veterans Health Administration data from more than 292,000 veterans with cancer from 2014 to 2023.GRIEVING MOM HOSPITALIZED WITH RARE ‘BROKEN HEART SYNDROME’ AFTER VETERAN SON’S SUICIDEThe data was measured against the rate of suicidal self-directed violence (SSDV), including both fatal and nonfatal suicide attempts, the study stated.Veterans with cancer experienced suicide attempts at a rate of 203 per 100,000, which the researchers noted is “significantly higher than the general population.”The study also found that overwhelming distress tied to disease diagnosis, treatment and long-term effects puts patients at risk “well into survivorship,” or long after active treatment is over.The risk was highest in the first six months after diagnosis, but persisted for up to five years.VETERANS’ PTSD SYMPTOMS COULD IMPROVE WITH HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY, STUDY SHOWSThose with higher SSDV rates included veterans with severe frailty, chronic mental illness, advanced cancer and high pain scores.High rates of nonfatal attempts were recorded most in veterans under the age of 45, females, and veterans with central nervous system cancer or thyroid cancer.Prescription medications were the most common method used in nonfatal suicide attempts, including opioids, while firearms were most common in fatal attempts.As the study was observational, the results show an association but don’t prove that cancer directly caused the suicidal behavior.CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIESLead study author Donald R. Sullivan, MD, associate professor of medicine at the OHSU School of Medicine, commented that this is a “concerning public health crisis that disproportionately affects America’s servicemen and servicewomen.””We hope to raise awareness and inform the development of approaches to better support veterans and mitigate the impact of a cancer diagnosis on their well-being,” he said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.In a press release statement, Sullivan added that a cancer diagnosis is often a “profound shock.””Even cancers with good survival rates can trigger an immediate fear of death,” he said. “That initial moment, combined with pain, treatment side effects, anxiety or depression, can be incredibly destabilizing.”Jim Whaley, CEO of Mission Roll Call — a nonprofit veteran advocacy group — reflected on these findings in an interview with Fox News Digital.”The study shows that more investigation and action is needed to medicate the higher percentage of veterans diagnosed with cancer committing suicide,” said Whaley, who was not involved in the study.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER”Understanding the chain of events and upstream factors is vital, as is sharing the study results and recommendations with veteran support organizations involved in these efforts on the ground in communities across the nation.”Whaley also stressed the importance of recognizing that health encompasses both mental and physical well-being, especially for military service members.”Just as we trained in physical fitness daily, we must exercise our mental health in the same manner,” he said. “Veterans sometimes need the tools to do that.”TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZWhile veterans are “great” at helping other veterans, Whaley suggested that they’re “not so good at asking for help.” It’s imperative that loved ones and people within the veteran community watch for warning signs of mental health decline, he added.The number of veteran suicides is 425% higher than the number of combat deaths since 9/11, he noted.”Despite good intentions, the decline in the number of suicides is not dropping enough to end this scourge,” Whaley said. “We need to combine efforts in research, outreach and care … It is a national crisis that needs a national-level task force.”

Millions Of Americans Are Giving Up On Buying New Cars

A growing number of Americans can no longer afford to buy new vehicles. Since 2020, roughly one million potential buyers have exited the market, and industry forecasts suggest they are unlikely to return soon, according to Wall Street Journal. 

Although automakers initially expected sales to recover to pre-pandemic levels, persistent economic pressures have kept demand below earlier expectations.

Before COVID-19, U.S. new-vehicle sales typically reached around 17 million units annually. Today, most forecasts place demand closer to 16 million vehicles or less, with little chance of a full recovery in the near future. One major reason is cost: the average new vehicle now sells for nearly $50,000, and many models exceed $55,000. As entry-level options disappear, new cars have become increasingly out of reach for middle-income households.

The WSJ writes that automakers recognize that affordability has become a major obstacle. While some companies have announced plans to introduce less expensive models, substantial price reductions are not expected anytime soon. Rather than competing through discounts, manufacturers have concentrated on producing higher-margin vehicles such as pickups, SUVs, and premium trims.

The industry’s approach changed during the pandemic, when supply shortages limited production but allowed companies to maintain strong profits through higher prices. That experience convinced many automakers that selling fewer vehicles can be more profitable than chasing volume through aggressive incentives. As a result, manufacturers have become more cautious about discounting and more focused on protecting profit margins.

Consumers who are priced out of the new-car market often look to used vehicles instead, but prices there have also risen significantly. Many households have responded by delaying purchases altogether and keeping their current vehicles longer. This trend has pushed the average age of cars and light trucks on U.S. roads to a record level of roughly 13 years.

At the same time, automakers face mounting expenses from tariffs, supply-chain challenges, and large investments in electric vehicle development. These costs further reduce the incentive to prioritize low-priced vehicles. Companies such as GM and Ford continue to emphasize trucks, SUVs, and other profitable models that generate stronger returns than compact economy cars.

Some manufacturers, including Stellantis, have pledged to expand their lineup of lower-cost vehicles in the coming years. Meanwhile, brands such as Toyota, Nissan, and Hyundai still offer some of the market’s more affordable options, although they too have increasingly shifted toward SUVs and larger vehicles.

Industry analysts increasingly believe that annual U.S. vehicle sales may remain below the pre-pandemic norm for years to come. Returning to the 17-million-unit level would likely require a much larger supply of vehicles priced under $40,000. Until that happens, many consumers will continue postponing purchases and extending the life of the vehicles they already own.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 06/01/2026 – 06:55

A man standing in line for the ice cream stand nudged his friend when AB Hernandez walked by.”Hey, that’s AB Hernandez,” he whispered to his friend on top of the ramparts at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Clovis, California.”I don’t know who that is,” the friend responded, before the other man filled him in.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMHernandez was in between qualifying for events in the final round of the state championships in high jump, long jump and triple jump on Friday.Whispers, rumors and attention had become the norm for the well-known transgender athlete. Hernandez summoned national media hurricanes to two high school track seasons and a volleyball season in the span of one year.Daisy Gardner, a local pro-LGBTQ activist says she has known Hernandez and the athlete’s mother Nereyda Hernandez since 2024, when news about the trans athlete’s identity and participation in girls’ sports began to garner local attention.”I think the two of them have walked through fire. I don’t know anyone else who’s a high school kid who has been targeted by President Trump… I have seen death threats and threats, wishing physical injury upon AB,” Gardner told Fox News Digital.”Every single time, Nena and AB Hernandez brush it aside, and just go and do the thing that all great athletes do, which is put it out of their mind and focus on the game.”AB lived up to that reputation in one last high school competition this weekend, right after making a big political campaign debut alongside Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer on Friday morning.Hernandez’s political video and competition footage were now topics of viral debate. There was a social media firestorm raging beyond the walls of the stadium before and after Hernandez captured two state championships Saturday night, and then shared podium spots with every girl who finished one spot behind, in a growing social media punchline.Through it all, Hernandez kept an easy smile during the competition, on the podium, and especially while interacting with the girls competing in the same events. Hernandez talked and laughed with female counterparts in between jumps.One of the girls that was frequently close to Hernandez throughout the weekend was the daughter of California mom Jennifer Oliver.”There was a great group there and were just being silly and supporting the other girls while jumping since there is a lot of downtime you just start hanging out,” Oliver said.Oliver does not believe biological males should compete in girls’ sports. She says the topic, and a difference in views with her daughter, has been an issue at home recently.”It is a sensitive subject somewhat at home right now because [my daughter] is young and can’t see the broader implications of males in female sports. Even when we discuss very specific cases where girls have been injured due to a male player or lost ranking etc., doesn’t really resonate yet as she has not been personally impacted and in fact has had a positive experience,” Oliver said.”She wants to be inclusive and I absolutely think that the schools have focused so much time on not triggering anyone and training on microaggressions and not misgendering anyone or you can be disciplined for that.”INSIDE THE SCOTUS HEARING BOUND TO BE A TURNING POINT IN THE CULTURE WAR OVER TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTSAfter Oliver spoke out against trans athletes in girls’ sports in an interview the previous week, she says her daughter was confronted for the mother’s comments.”She was super upset at me. My older daughter told me that this probably created huge drama for [her] and my older daughter actually was mad at me too and said I had no idea what it is like in high school with all of the social media,” Oliver said.Oliver believes in a kind approach, that she hopes is taken by all sides.”Two things can exist at the same time – we can be kind humans to each other regardless of gender identity and also create guidelines for sports based on biological birth.  This doesn’t make the people that want only biological girls in sports evil,” she said.Jolene Vayo, the mother of another girl who competed against Hernandez this past weekend and at last year’s state meet, says her daughter also wouldn’t dare to speak out against the trans athlete publicly, even if she privately disagrees with the concept of males in girls’ sports.”She agrees males have an unfair advantage and allowing them to compete in girls’ sports is unfair, I feel she hesitates from publicly expressing that out of fear that saying so will hurt her transgender peer’s feelings, or cause them distress,” Vayo told Fox News Digital.”I have had to talk to my daughters a number of times about the importance of advocating for your boundaries, and that they should never feel guilty if they feel something being forced on them is unfair or uncomfortable… I feel a lot of the silence from many, not just my daughters, stems from the fact that speaking about gender ideology is highly polarizing.”The story of AB Hernandez has been just as much the story of the girls who have shared the field, court and podium spots with the trans athlete in recent years. The girls who have opposed Hernandez’s inclusion have been allegedly targeted with harassment and death threats, just as Gardner claimed Hernandez had.Hernandez’s former track and field opponents, including Reese Hogan, Olivia Viola, Katie McGuinness and Julia Teven are among those who have been bold enough to step forward in the “Save Girls Sports” movement.Hogan previously told Fox News Digital she faced alleged backlash for speaking out against and protesting Hernandez’s presence in girls’ sports.CALIFORNIA GIRLS TRACK STAR OPENS UP ON VIRAL PODIUM PROTEST OF TRANS OPPONENT AND IF SHE’LL DO IT AGAINHernandez’s own former volleyball teammates Hadeel Hazameh and Alyssa McPherson were allegedly ostracized and targeted after taking a stand against the athlete in the fall. Hazameh previously told Fox News Digital she received a death threat over it.”No kid should be targeted with harassment online and I’m sorry to hear that,” Gardner said of the alleged attacks on the girls who have spoken up against Hernandez.Fate scheduled Hernandez’s final high school sporting event just days before the California gubernatorial primary.Steyer’s Friday video invited a new layer of scrutiny on Hernandez and the athlete’s mother, as the family was officially directly standing in the political arena with a major Democratic contender.”I’m so proud of you for what you’re doing,” Steyer said to Hernandez in the video.Republican candidate Steve Hilton responded just hours later at a “Save Girls Sports” rally outside the stadium.”Tom Steyer has taken a wildly extreme position on this issue that is totally out of touch with most California families and young people,” Hilton told Fox News Digital.Just one year earlier, Hernandez became the biggest trans athlete name in high school sports when President Donald Trump made a Truth Social post slamming Gov. Gavin Newsom for a trans athlete’s participation in the girls’ track and field championships.Newsom’s handling of trans athletes in California girls’ sports in recent years has proved to anger both sides, previously saying the concept is “deeply unfair” while also criticizing right-wing activism to “Save Girls Sports.”As an LGBTQ activist, Gardner couldn’t offer any praise to the current governor for his handling of the issue.”I would say I want to focus on the future,” Gardner said when asked her thoughts on how Newsom has managed the issue of trans athletes in girls’ sports. “I’m so grateful that both [Xavier] Becerra and Steyer have come out in support of a very vulnerable minority of kids.”Meanwhile, Oliver and Vayo are taking a political but civil approach as well, as they seek to quietly remedy the issue of trans athletes in girls’ sports through voting, without getting involved in protests.”People need to get out and vote and pay attention to your local elections and speak up at school boards,” Oliver said on how she hopes to address the issue.Vayo added, “The only way this will end and women’s rights will be restored is at the ballot box. Every adult that continues to remain silent along with the majority of Democrat state leaders who approve and support this are setting a precedent and conditioning our girls to believe that males have the right-of-way when it comes to females.”Other community members have taken a more active approach in addressing the situation. During a press conference, organized by the local California LGBTQ advocacy groups Pride at the Pier and Rainbow Families Action, outside of the stadium for Hernandez’s final meet on Saturday, police were summoned after a group of “Save Girls Sports” activists descended on the event and loudly disagreed with the LGBTQ activists.Nereyda Hernandez had just given a speech, and was one of the first LGBTQ activists to leave the scene once the opposing protesters arrived. Other activists, including Gardner, stayed behind as the confrontation eventually dissipated under the police supervision. Everyone involved returned to a civil state, as activists on both sides settled down to do interviews with media, and some did the interviews right next to the activists of opposing beliefs.It was there and then that Gardner agreed to do the interview with Fox News Digital, after a brief moment of consideration, as other LGBTQ activists had declined to do so.It marked a step of progress in relations between the two sides compared to a more violent police-related incident that happened one year earlier.At the 2025 California state track and field championships at the same location, when Hernandez was making the athlete’s first run at the girls’ state titles with a massive political spotlight, local conservative activist Josh Fulfer was assaulted by a pro-trans activist with a transgender pride flag, and footage of the attack and the activist’s subsequent arrest went viral across social media as a dark reminder of the tension between the two groups.No such known incident happened at this year’s state title. And Fulfer says he forgives his assaulter.”I forgive him. That’s what the bible says to do,” Fulfer told Fox News Digital. I’m just praying for that person.”But the tension between the groups has by no means simmered after this year’s finals. The ramped up emotions and social aggression of a high-stakes election cycle has only amplified that tension, especially on social media.And now, with California’s primary now just one day away, Hernandez’s track meet and shared-podium spots that have become an infamous viral sensation in recent weeks, are still fresh in the minds of voters.Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

The Road To Hell Is Being Paved With Suicidal Empathy

Authored by Bronwyn Eyre via The Epoch Times,

In his book-cover endorsement of “Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind,” author Bruce Bawer calls it “easily more important than any book in recent memory.” Elon Musk adds: “Western civilization is doomed unless the core weakness of suicidal empathy is recognized and actions are taken.”

They’re right. Professor Gad Saad’s newest book will jar your mindset and leave you with a degree of shock. You’ll want to tell others about it, and it will be a bestseller (in fact, it already is).

The book cover’s sketched lamb holding a sign reading “FREE THE WOLVES” delivers the book’s thesis in a nutshell—that the madness of misplaced empathy toward alien entities, cultures, and religions is suicidal. And the Western world—or at least a critical mass of its cultural and political influencers—is sold on the idea.

The book is freighted with stunning examples of lunatic policies that prioritize marginalized groups over cherished time-tested Judeo-Christian tenets, customs, and practices. In his chapter “Cultural Theory of Mind,” for instance, Saad discusses how both the British police and government declined “over several decades” to intervene in the “organized sexual exploitation of young white girls by ‘Asian’ grooming gangs across countless cities on an industrial-scale level … lest they might be accused of bigotry or, worse, Islamophobia.”

Some instances of suicidal empathy occur where you’d least suspect it. Traditionally, for example, merit and scientific aptitude have comprised the hallmark for entrance into medicine. But according to Saad, CanMEDS (which develops professional codes for physicians and surgeons in Canada) has devised a new model that “would seek to centre values such as anti-oppression, anti-racism, and social justice, rather than medical expertise.”

He then provides a 150-word statement elaborating on CanMEDS’ 2025 renewal guidelines—ones that address “ongoing structures of racism, white supremacy, settler colonialism, heteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, classism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and more.”

Suicidal empathy—a Saad coinage, by the way—has become well-implanted in Canadian universities.

The University of Waterloo’s Cheriton School of Computer Science recently advertised for two positions—one in AI, the second in computer science. Position one “is open only to qualified individuals who self-identify as woman, transgender, gender-fluid, non-binary, or Two-spirit” while position two “is open only to qualified individuals who self-identify as a member of a racialized minority.”

Not to be outdone, the University of British Columbia recently advertised for a chair in oral cancer research. “The selection,” read the ad, “will be restricted to members of the following federally-designated groups: people with disabilities, Indigenous people, radicalized people, women, and people from minoritized gender identity groups.”

So that’s how the empathy cookie crumbles these days. Illegal immigrants are welcomed by the hundreds of thousands and often more accommodated than tax-paying citizens. Hamas terrorists are noble; Israel’s IDF “genocidal.” Squatters are prioritized over residents. Twerking drag queens entertain kindergartners during reading hour. Foreign aid is sluiced out with no strings attached. The “unhoused” occupy and despoil public parks. Free needles are handed out with little expectation they’ll be returned. Medical and fire department personnel are burned out by the coddling of street addicts.

Saad notes an academic movement that actually seeks to change the term “pedophile” to “minor-attracted people” (MAPS). In one of its papers entitled “Humanizing Pedophilia as Stigma Reduction,” the abstract begins: “The stigmatization of people with pedophilic sexual interests is a topic of growing academic and professional consideration, owing to its potential role in moderating pedophiles’ emotional well-being. Thus, reducing stigmatization toward this group is of paramount importance.”

My favourite example of suicidal empathy? That’s a tough one, but I’ll go with the government grant awarded to researchers at Concordia University to de-colonize light. On their “Decolonizing Light” website, the researchers explain that the “website explores ways and approaches to decolonize science, such as revitalizing and restoring Indigenous knowledges, and capacity building. The project aims to develop a culture of critical reflection and investigation of the relation of science and colonialism.”

It’s somewhat reassuring that the phenomenon of suicidal empathy has existed, in some form, for centuries. Saad cites two Aesop’s Fables—in one case, a kindly farmer takes a freezing viper into his warm coat pocket but is fatally bitten when the viper warms. In another, a scorpion convinces a frog to carry him across the river on his back then fatally stings the frog, because it’s in his nature to do so.

How proud one could feel if our political leaders were wise to the folly of misplaced empathy. But as Saad puts it: “Two former Canadian prime ministers, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his son Justin Trudeau, are perfect exemplars of Western political leaders who have destroyed their nation’s cultural fabric via their empathetic commitment to cultural relativism.”

That might explain why, in 2017, Justin Trudeau authorized a $10.5 million payout to Omar Khadr for Canada’s alleged complicity with the United States in the violation of Khadr’s constitutional rights at Guantanamo Bay. He had killed an American soldier in the Afghan war and spent years in that prison, but was eventually handed over to Canadian authorities.

Saad, who fled the Lebanese civil war with his Jewish parents (who had earlier been kidnapped and ill-treated by the Palestine Liberation Organization), settled in Montreal and was taken on by Concordia University in 1994 as a marketing professor. He now terms himself an “evolutionary behavioural scientist.” He recently revealed on the Joe Rogan podcast that, amid repeated death threats, he’s leaving Canada to live in the United States.

Saad told the National Post: “I love Canada, but there comes a point where the abject antipathy that you experience from Canadian society forces you to look elsewhere to a place where you might be appreciated and allowed to flourish.” He’s now a scholar at the Center for the Study of American Freedom at the University of Mississippi.

A while back, I reviewed Piers Morgan’s latest book “Woke Is Dead” and wrote that it “might go a long way toward straightening out an age—as his subtitle states—‘of total madness’ for all of us.” Perhaps more than I realized at the time, Morgan’s optimism may involve too much wishful thinking. For, alas, Saad’s ominous outlook trumps Morgan’s auspicious one. Morgan himself revealed doubts in saying, for example, that “we must keep pounding” against wokeism and “woke is dead … but we’re not totally in the clear.”

Saad tells how, in March of 2024, he posted some thoughts on his X feed regarding the “suicidal empathy” he felt is sending the West “into a death spiral.” He received an email from the publisher of Broadside Books with a link to the post and the comment, “Here’s your book idea.”

That idea is in sync with previous thinkers and writers. Arnold Toynbee argued that societies collapse when they fail to intelligently respond to new challenges. Thomas Sowell believed that the intelligentsia often espouse policies that make them feel virtuously compassionate, while being decoupled from the negative consequences of said policies. James Burnham, in his “Suicide of the West“ (1964), wrote that “suicide is probably more frequent than murder as the end phase of a civilization.”

So Saad is in good company in holding that the “West’s elitist progressive political class is infected by a mind parasite that causes its empathy module to misfire in every conceivable manner. Many of the policy decisions that are wreaking havoc in the West stem from this poor calibration of empathy, resulting in a society that is galloping toward the abyss of infinite lunacy.”

Hon. Bronwyn Eyre, LLB, is a Senior Fellow with the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy and Saskatchewan’s former Minister of Justice, Attorney General, and Minister of Energy.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 06/01/2026 – 06:30

A growing number of Americans are trying to consume more protein. Dr. Ken Berry, a physician in rural Tennessee, traces some of the trend to people reporting improved health by following meat-based diets.Each year, the International Food Information Council survey asks Americans to select the qualities that best define a healthy food. In 2025, Americans’ views shifted, with “good source of protein” overtaking “fresh” as the top criterion.The survey also found that for the fifth year in a row, most Americans (70%) reported protein as the nutrient they’re most trying to consume. That’s up from 62% in 2021.RFK JR. CLAIMS HE LOST 20 POUNDS IN 20 DAYS, GAINED MENTAL CLARITY ON EXTREME DIETWhile protein remains a priority for many Americans, nutrition experts continue to debate the optimal amount and sources of protein for long-term health.Berry was the keynote speaker at Meatstock 2026, an annual convention for followers of carnivore and ketogenic diets.”Meatstock continues to grow each and every year, sometimes doubling,” Berry told Fox News Digital.Carnivore diets vary slightly, Berry said. Some people eat only meat, some eat ruminant meat only, while others incorporate meat, eggs and fish.They all experience remarkable health benefits, according to Berry, who said he heard testimonial after testimonial from people who said they’ve lost stored fat, reduced fatty liver and inflammation and generally transformed their health on the carnivore diet.FOLLOWERS OF BIBLE-BASED DIET SAY SCRIPTURE-GUIDED EATING TRANSFORMED THEIR HEALTH”The stories you hear at Meatstock grab your heart, and they also grab your brain and make you think,” he said.Berry himself testified to dropping 70 pounds and reversing “a list of maladies,” including prediabetes, by making the switch from the diet prescribed by the American Diabetes Association to the carnivore diet nine years ago.”I live on beef, butter, bacon and eggs,” Berry said.The carnivore diet “sounds like basically a terrible idea,” Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in 2024. He said people miss out on fiber and other key nutrients and that eating animals could lead to climate change.Others have criticized the diet for being too restrictive to be maintained long-term. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIESThey have also pointed to a lack of clinical evidence they say is necessary to support the diet.Still, people are intrigued. Berry’s keynote speech has gained nearly 80,000 views on YouTube in three weeks. The theme of his talk was that people have been “misled and misfed.”Some of the biggest misconceptions, he said, people believe about nutrition are that whole grains and fruit juices are good for you. They’ll keep you alive, he said, but they won’t “optimize your health.”Popular whole-grain foods such as bread and oatmeal are “almost uniformly inflammatory for most people,” Berry said, though many nutrition researchers have found associations between whole-grain consumption and improved health outcomes.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTERHe added that the starch present in legumes, beans and other foods commonly accepted as healthy spikes people’s insulin.Fruit juices found in many smoothies and other products labeled as wellness beverages “in many cases, have more fructose than Coca-Cola,” he said, though nutritional content varies significantly by product.Many nutrition studies contain conflicts of interest that consumers may not recognize, Berry argued.Concerns about bacon, red meat, cancer and heart disease are overstated, Berry said, though major health organizations continue to cite evidence linking processed meat consumption to increased health risks.CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIESThe World Health Organization’s (WHO) cancer research arm has classified processed meat as carcinogenic and red meat as probably carcinogenic, while other researchers continue to debate the strength and interpretation of the evidence.”We have not changed as a genetic species from 100,000 years ago. Therefore, our diet should be predominantly meat, or all meat,” Berry said.The diet can be affordable because consumers do not need to buy premium cuts or exclusively grass-fed meat, Berry said.Bacon, baloney and hot dogs can be health foods if the consumer is “an ingredient sleuth” and selects those made with only meat, salt and spices, Berry said.Critics of carnivore diets have also raised concerns about the elimination of fruits, vegetables and other plant-based foods that provide fiber, vitamins and other nutrients commonly recommended in dietary guidelines.

Before Prince Philip captured Queen Elizabeth II’s heart, another aristocratic suitor may have been in the running for the future monarch.According to royal historian Hugo Vickers, author of “Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History,” his research revealed that Hugh, Earl of Euston — who later became the 11th Duke of Grafton — was considered a potential match for the young princess before she ultimately fell for the man who would become the love of her life.”The Queen Mother was very keen that [her daughter] should marry a Grenadier Guard,” Vickers told Fox News Digital.PRINCE PHILIP’S NOTORIOUS STRAIGHT TALK AND UNFILTERED OPINIONS WERE FEARED BY PALACE STAFF: ROYAL BUTLER”And the Grenadier Guards [are] the most prestigious of all the British regiments. If you’re a Grenadier Guard, you are the top.””Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, as young girls, were contained in Windsor Castle during the war,” Vickers shared. “There were quite a number of Grenadier Guards stationed. And Princess Margaret used to say that the whole of the castle was surrounded by barbed wire, which wouldn’t have kept the Germans out, but certainly kept [them] in.””With all of these Grenadier Guards around the place, the queen mother was very much hoping — she placed a number of Grenadier Guards, as it were, on Princess Elizabeth’s path. She would have loved her to marry Lord Euston. I think it was slightly in the cards at one point, and that could have happened.”WATCH: WHY QUEEN ELIZABETH REJECTED HER MOTHER’S PREFERRED MATCH: AUTHORAccording to the book, Sir Henry “Chips” Channon, a politician whose diaries chronicled what people in royal and high-society circles were saying at the time, believed that in 1943, Hugh was “reserved for a higher destiny — the very throne itself.””The Queen Mother may well have preferred an English aristocrat,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital.In the book, Lady Brigid Guinness told Channon that while Hugh was pursuing her, she believed he would wind up with the young Princess Elizabeth because “she likes him.”WATCH: QUEEN ELIZABETH WAS FURIOUS PRINCE PHILIP LEFT WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE: AUTHORBut it was Lord Mountbatten, Philip’s uncle, who reportedly helped smooth the way for his nephew while other potential suitors, like Hugh, fell out of the picture.”My understanding is that Lord Mountbatten was instrumental in getting Earl Euston a fabulous job as ADC (Aide-de-Camp) to the Viceroy of India,” Vickers told Fox News Digital. “So Earl Euston went to India, which, of course, got him out of the way.”The book also suggests Hugh fell out of favor because the royal family came to see him as too passive. By October 1943, Channon was writing that the royal family had encouraged the Euston romance but dropped him as “too inert and énervé.” Billy Whitaker, a Grenadier Guard at Windsor, also told Channon that he thought Hugh hadn’t been seriously considered, whereas Philip was.”I think it was a much better choice that Queen Elizabeth married Prince Philip,” said Vickers. “Prince Philip was a breath of fresh air. He had a very good naval career during the war. He was bursting with ideas. They feared he would be a modernizer. They were absolutely right. I think the Duke of Grafton, a charming and cultured man, would not have been a modernizer or a vibrant influence on how to move the House of Windsor forward.”In 1946, Hugh married Ann Fortune Smith, a member of the Smith banking family. She went on to become Lady of the Bedchamber from 1953 to 1966 and then Mistress of the Robes to the queen from 1967 until she died in 2021 at age 101.British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital she believes Philip was destined to be with the late queen, who died in 2022 at age 96.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER”Thirteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth fell head over heels with 18-year-old Philip on that crucial fine weekend of July 1939,” she explained. “She was so amazed by the handsome, athletic Philip. A smitten Elizabeth kept a photograph of Philip in her bedroom.””Despite Princess Elizabeth’s heart set on Philip, her parents thought he was a brash, totally unsuitable match,” said Chard. “They discussed other potential suitors from high-society circles. One of these high-ranking British nobles was the Earl of Euston. But after his marriage to Fortune, she became a close friend and confidante to Elizabeth, serving the royal household for 69 years, even accompanying the queen on overseas tours.””Elizabeth steadfastly refused to look at anyone else. If anyone was a possible match, it was Lord Porchester, nicknamed “Porchie.” At least he had a passion for horse racing. However, their relationship was platonic.”The future queen and Philip would go on to develop a romantic relationship, though it was largely conducted through letters and occasional meetings. During World War II, Philip served in the Royal Navy, and the pair reportedly exchanged letters. By the mid-1940s, their relationship had become more serious.Philip would visit the royal family when he was on leave. The then-princess remained committed to him despite concerns within royal circles about his finances, foreign background and family connections.”Determined, Princess Elizabeth eventually convinced her father to allow her to marry Philip after a royal tour of South Africa,” said Chard. “King George VI realized that ‘distance made the heart grow fonder.’ Princess Elizabeth, now 21, didn’t forget about Philip. She missed him more.”LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS”The king was not enamored with Philip, who he saw as a rather brash young man,” royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital. “But Elizabeth became infatuated with the dashing young blond. She kept a photograph of Philip, wearing a beard, in her boudoir without her parents’ permission. When it was obvious that Elizabeth was in love with Philip, the king took Elizabeth and her sister Margaret on a royal trip as a cooling-off period, to no avail. His daughter had made up her mind.””Princess Elizabeth’s parents eventually gave their full blessing,” said Chard. “Their engagement was officially announced in July 1947, and their relationship of choice, not arrangement, was a huge success. Let’s face it, Philip was the most handsome of them all!”Elizabeth and Philip married on Nov. 20, 1947. Then in 1952, the king died of cancer at age 56. Philip gave up his naval career before pledging to become the queen’s “liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship,” The Associated Press reported.Philip spent more than seven decades supporting his wife. Before he died in 2021 at age 99, he fulfilled more than 20,000 royal engagements to boost British interests at home and abroad. He headed hundreds of charities, founded programs that helped British schoolchildren participate in outdoor adventures and played a prominent part in raising his four children.”What many now don’t know or realize is that Prince Philip initially wasn’t viewed as appropriate by many, particularly courtiers, who found him too foreign, too rough-edged, too ambitious and insufficiently English,” said British royals expert Hilary Fordwich.”It was a testament of the queen’s deep feelings for him that she wouldn’t be dissuaded from him despite considerable pressure from all sides. Their relationship was based on genuine love and mutual appreciation, rather unusual for royal marriages.”

LAS VEGAS — A former federal prosecutor who wrote a book on no-body murder cases told Fox News Digital that a “key question” in the search for a missing American woman is why her husband’s sailboat stopped transmitting location data on the night she disappeared.Brian Hooker and Lynette Hooker left shore at Hope Town in the Bahamas at around 7:30 p.m. on April 4, Brian Hooker told authorities that rough waters caused his wife to fall off their dinghy. Brian Hooker paddled to shore and arrived at Marsh Harbour around 4 a.m. on April 5, according to authorities.The couple was headed back to their sailboat Soulmate, their full-time home in retirement, when Lynette fell overboard, Brian claims. The couple frequently sail around the U.S. and Caribbean, according to their social media pages.Data obtained by Fox News Digital through marine tracking company VesselFinder shows the Soulmate’s Automatic Identification System (AIS), which broadcasts a vessel’s identity, speed and position, went dark at 9:29 p.m. on April 4 and did not resume until 8:40 a.m. the following morning, a blackout of more than 11 hours.SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTERBlaine Stevenson, a friend of Brian Hooker’s, previously told Fox News Digital that Brian returned to his sailboat with search and rescue officials on the morning of April 5. The Coast Guard Investigative Service is conducting a criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance.Tad DiBiase, a former federal prosecutor and author of the book “No-Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Guide to Investigating, Prosecuting and Winning Cases When the Victim is Missing,” told Fox News Digital that finding out how the tracking data went dark will be a key question for investigators.SEND US A TIP HERE”I believe there’s evidence that the tracking of the boat was turned off at a time that closely parallels around the time that she went missing. All of those things are highly suspicious,” DiBiase said.FRIEND OF BRIAN HOOKER SPEAKS OUT, QUESTIONS DISAPPEARANCE OF WOMAN IN BAHAMAS MYSTERYDiBiase said if he were a prosecutor being consulted on this case, he’d want to see a few questions answered.LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST”I’d wanna know a lot more about their relationship and then I would want to be very certain that the tracking system was turned off, what time it was turned off, all of that kind of forensic evidence,” he said. “I’d want to make sure that it was very solid and very clear what happened and what the position of the boat was, as opposed to where he said the boat was.”U.S. authorities recently asked the Bahamian government for clearance to search a new area in the Sea of Abaco for Lynette Hooker’s remains after investigators found GPS data that allegedly contradicted what her husband told investigators on the night she disappeared, CBS News first reported and sources confirmed to Fox News Digital.LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? FIND MORE ON THE TRUE CRIME HUBA source in the Bahamas told Fox News Digital that the new search, if approved by Bahamian authorities, will focus on an area of the Sea of Abaco with waters reaching 25-foot depths. The renewed efforts are based on GPS data from Brian Hooker’s phone, in which he was using a marine navigation app. The Hookers’ dinghy allegedly visited the same area, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital.The Coast Guard seized the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, in early May and took it to Fort Pierce, Florida, but it was recently moved to Fort Lauderdale, as authorities couldn’t pull it from the water.Brian Hooker’s Michigan-based attorney previously asked Americans during an interview with ABC News to give him the benefit of the doubt.”I would ask those watching to treat him the way you would want to be treated, to give him the benefit of the doubt, and to consider that not all of us, nor you, considering your own relationships, the way you speak to one another, we all handle things in different ways,” Crystal Marie Hauser said.Fox News Digital reached out to Brian Hooker’s lawyer for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: NEW YORK CITY — A Brooklyn landlord says he has been trapped in a nearly decade-long legal nightmare that has cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent and legal fees, while New York courts repeatedly delay resolution as his tenant continues living in the apartment without making direct rent payments to the landlord.Thomas Diana, who owns a small eight-unit building in Park Slope, told Fox News Digital he has spent the last nine years trying to remove a woman who originally moved into one of his apartments as a live-in companion for an elderly, disabled tenant.Court records show the woman moved into the apartment in 2014 after responding to a Craigslist advertisement seeking a live-in companion for the tenant, who later died in 2016.What followed was nearly a decade of litigation spanning multiple courts and proceedings. After the elderly tenant’s death, disputes arose over the woman’s tenancy status, rent obligations and whether the apartment remained subject to New York rent-stabilization laws as Diana sought unpaid rent and possession of the apartment.SQUATTER TURNS COUPLE’S DREAM HOME PURCHASE INTO NIGHTMARE”This has gone on for nine years. Nothing about this is justice,” Diana told Fox News Digital. “Every time the case gets close to resolution, there’s another delay, another lawyer change, another new story.”Diana says the tenant has changed lawyers at least eight times in the ongoing legal saga, which Diana refers to as a “9-year squatter situation,” although the case technically centers around a dispute over rent stabilization laws with the two sides disputing nearly every aspect of the case.”It drained my daughter’s college fund,” Diana told Fox News Digital inside his home while wearing a now-outdated T-shirt that says, “Stuck with 8-year-squatter.””Now we’re borrowing money to pay for college while this just keeps dragging on. It gets pretty stressful. People think eviction cases are like TV where it takes two weeks. In New York it can take years, and this one has turned into almost a decade.”IS MAMDANI’S SOCIALIST PUSH FOR RENT CONTROLS ABOUT TO WRECK THE NEW YORK CITY HOUSING MARKET?Attorneys for the tenant strongly dispute Diana’s characterization of the case, and the tenant at one point sued Diana, claiming the apartment had been improperly removed from rent stabilization protections.”Mr. Diana’s distortion of the facts in this case is a sad attempt to harass our client out of her rent-stabilized apartment, and he will not be successful,” Casey Gilfoil, an attorney with Brooklyn Legal Services, told Fox News Digital.Gilfoil said a judge has already ruled Diana improperly removed the apartment from rent stabilization and said the remaining issue before the court is determining the legal rent and any potential damages.Brooklyn Legal Services also says the tenant has money set aside in escrow pending the court’s final ruling.Diana pushed back, saying the court did not find that he committed fraud and that he followed the guidance he says he received from New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal when the apartment was deregulated years before the tenant sued. “The judge ruled there was no fraud,” Diana told Fox News Digital. “She said I incorrectly destabilized the apartment. I did it as they told me to.”Diana also disputed Brooklyn Legal Services’ claim that the tenant has years of rent saved in escrow, saying the numbers do not add up and that, based on court communications regarding her employment history, it is unlikely she has accumulated “anywhere near” $300,000.Diana says the occupant’s lawsuit relied on what he describes as a series of shifting and contradictory claims, including allegations that the original elderly tenant was not disabled, that the occupant had been on the lease and that the apartment was illegally deregulated.During depositions, Diana said his attorney challenged those claims with emails, photographs, rent records and testimony. He contends the allegations did not withstand scrutiny during questioning.”She got destroyed on all 18 claims,” Diana said. “And once those fell apart, they just made up new ones.”WASHINGTON POST BLASTS RENT CONTROL AS ‘FAILED POLICY’ THAT LEAVES RENTERS ‘WORSE OFF’ THAN BEFORECourt stipulations required the occupant to make monthly use-and-occupancy payments, similar to interim rent payments, of roughly $835 per month at one point, but Diana says those payments stopped years ago. He estimates total unpaid rent now ranges between $275,000 and $325,000.In her deposition, the occupant testified she has not worked full time in years and has limited income, a factor Diana says the courts have effectively allowed to justify continued nonpayment.Diana, who started a GoFundMe page to help with his financial struggles, says the prolonged case has left him struggling to maintain his building and cover basic expenses, including tuition for his children.”One apartment out of eight not paying rent wipes out any profit,” Diana said. “Judges talk in terms of months. They don’t talk about what $300,000 actually does to a family.”He also pointed to an overall problem with the system and described repeated housing court inspections that he says resulted in excessive and duplicative violations, which further delayed proceedings and increased costs.”They’ll cite you for a paint drip from 20 years ago and call you a slumlord,” Diana said. “Meanwhile, the tenant hasn’t paid rent in nearly a decade.”Diana says his case highlights what he views as a systemic imbalance in New York’s housing courts that allows bad-faith actors to exploit tenant protections indefinitely.”They tell you to sell your building. They tell you to accept a buyout, to pay the person who owes you hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “That’s not justice. That’s legalized theft.”In April, the case was adjourned again until this summer, essentially guaranteeing that the saga will extend into its 10th year.”This court case has become a Twilight Zone Marathon,” Diana said.

More than a year after 17-year-old Austin Metcalf was fatally stabbed during a confrontation at a Frisco high school track meet, the Texas suspect accused of killing him is expected back in court as jury selection begins for his murder trial on Monday.Karmelo Anthony, 18, faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with Metcalf’s death. The start of jury selection is expected to provide the latest indication of how prosecutors and defense attorneys plan to navigate a case that has drawn widespread attention and competing claims about whether Anthony acted in self-defense.As Anthony prepares for his trial, Texas defense attorney and legal analyst Jeremy Rosenthal told Fox News Digital that one of the biggest hurdles facing both sides may be finding jurors who have not already formed opinions about the case.”This case in particular has a lot of disturbing history when it comes to misinformation online, rumors, doxing, things like that,” Rosenthal said.TEXAS PRESS CONFERENCE IN AUSTIN METCALF KILLING DEVOLVES INTO CHAOS OVER TRACK MEET STABBINGRosenthal noted that publicity surrounding the case became so intense that one of the judges previously involved in the proceedings required FBI involvement after receiving threats.”There’s particular concern about have people already heard of this case, have they already formed opinions,” he said.While Rosenthal believes a jury can ultimately be seated in Collin County, he said the process may take time.TRIAL DATE SET FOR AUSTIN METCALF’S SUSPECTED KILLER IN TRACK MEET STABBING”Collin County is a bigger place. I think we have close to a million residents, so I do think we’ll be able to seat a jury, but it is going to take a little bit of work,” he said.Rosenthal said the defense’s anticipated self-defense argument could ultimately become the defining issue of the case.”Self-defense is a really intricate defense that you have to sort of set up,” Rosenthal said.Under Texas law, self-defense is what attorneys call a “confession and avoidance” defense, meaning a defendant admits to the conduct but argues it was legally justified under the circumstances.SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SHOWS FATAL STABBING OF AUSTIN METCALF AT TEXAS TRACK MEET, OFFICIALS SAY”The crux of the issue is that you cannot provoke the harm and then retreat behind self-defense,” Rosenthal said.According to Rosenthal, one of the key legal questions could be whether evidence shows Anthony provoked or escalated the confrontation before the fatal encounter, a factor that could significantly affect how a self-defense claim is evaluated by the court and jury.WATCH: The killing of Austin Metcalf has devastated our entire community, says Greg Willis”Did Karmelo Anthony initially provoke the harm? Did he initially elevate the tenseness or the threat in the situation?” Rosenthal said. “Or did the victim provoke it?”Rosenthal said jurors are likely to hear competing accounts about who said what, where individuals were standing and whether anyone escalated the confrontation before the stabbing occurred.He added that the jury could ultimately be asked to consider not only murder, but potentially a lesser offense such as manslaughter depending on how the evidence develops and what instructions are given by the court.AUSTIN METCALF’S ACCUSED KILLER NEEDS SUPPORT FIGHTING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ AFTER MURDER INDICTMENT: SPOXAnthony was indicted by a Collin County grand jury after prosecutors presented evidence related to the fatal confrontation that unfolded during a track meet in Frisco on April 2, 2025.”For weeks, my team has been presenting evidence to the grand jury,” Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said after the indictment. “Today, I summarized that evidence, and I asked the Grand Jury to return a first-degree murder indictment against Karmelo Anthony — which they did.””With that indictment, the case now moves formally into the court system,” Willis added.SUSPECTED TEXAS TRACK MEET KILLER EXPECTED TO WALK FREE AFTER BOND SLASHEDAccording to the arrest report, the confrontation occurred inside a Memorial High School team tent during the track meet.GRIEVING TEXAS FATHER SPEAKS OUT AFTER SON WAS STABBED TO DEATH AT HIGH SCHOOL TRACK MEETInvestigators allege Anthony warned Metcalf, “Touch me and see what happens,” before reaching into a bag and pulling out a knife.A witness told police Anthony stabbed Metcalf during the encounter. Metcalf later died from his injuries.WATCH: Father speaks out after son was stabbed to death at track meetAccording to police records, Anthony told responding officers he acted in self-defense. Investigators also reported that Anthony made a spontaneous statement after being detained, telling officers, “I’m not alleged, I did it.”Anthony’s attorney, Mike Howard, has maintained that the full circumstances surrounding the confrontation have yet to be heard in court.”We expect that when the full story is heard, the prosecution will not be able to rule out the reasonable doubt that Karmelo Anthony may have acted in self-defense,” Howard said following the indictment.MOURNING MOTHER, TWIN BROTHER OF SLAIN TEXAS TEEN SPEAK OUT: ‘LOST MY BEST FRIEND IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE’Austin’s father, Jeff Metcalf, has remained outspoken throughout the case and previously welcomed news of the indictment.”I am pleased that we are moving forward,” Metcalf told Fox News Digital after the indictment. “With the first-degree murder indictment, it now goes into the court system. I fully believe that justice will be served for Austin Metcalf. I look forward to the forthcoming trial. But it will never bring my son back.”The case has generated significant public attention since the stabbing, with supporters of both families weighing in online and advocacy groups becoming involved.GOT A TIP?Dominique Alexander, founder of the Next Generation Action Network and a spokesman for Anthony’s family, has repeatedly argued that the case should not be tried in the court of public opinion.”This case involves multiple minors and sensitive details that I cannot and will not speak about publicly,” Alexander said after the indictment. “That is why, from the beginning, I have refused to let this be tried in the court of public opinion.”FOLLOW US ON XAnthony’s legal team has similarly rejected efforts to frame the case through a racial lens.AMERICA STILL CAN’T PUT DOWN THE RACE CARD. AND IT’S THE SHAME OF OUR NATION”The factual and legal issues involved in this case are not about race,” Howard previously told Fox News Digital. “The law applies to every person, regardless of their race, equally. We have faith in the people of Collin County to apply the law blindly.”GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAILLooking ahead, Rosenthal said some of the most consequential moments in the case may come once jurors are finally seated.He noted that jury selection could take several days and that opening statements are often among the most important moments of any criminal trial because they provide jurors with their first opportunity to hear each side’s theory of the case.CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWSUnlike some high-profile murder prosecutions that center on allegations of long-term planning or premeditation, Rosenthal said this case is expected to focus heavily on the events immediately surrounding the fatal confrontation.”I think you’re going to see a lot of localized focus on the people who were there and on the hours that really surrounded that one incident,” Rosenthal said.”Everything really in the immediacy of those few hours is going to be crucial.”Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.