News
Compiled by Michael Hernandez, 5-9-25
There are so many stories making up the mosaic of national/international news that we can’t cover them all every week. The biggest stories now seem to be: the Trump presidency, immigration (migrants and illegals), wars, weaponization of government (the deep state) against Trump and conservatives, our nation’s debt, massive inflation, climate change controversy and related expenses of government, industry attempting to address these issues, the Chinese threat, national security, abortion, Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), taxpayer cuts, and Ukraine peace and hatred and violence against Christians. Here are just a few:
May 5: Time By Miranda Jeyaretnam
What to Know About Trump’s Plan to Reopen Alcatraz
Since its closure in 1963, Alcatraz Prison has become the stuff of legend. The seemingly inescapable federal penitentiary on a California island surrounded by frigid and powerful currents gained notoriety for housing some of history’s most famous prisoners, from Al “Scarface” Capone to George “Machine Gun” Kelly.
But now, decades since the island was purchased by the National Park Service and turned into a popular tourist destination, Donald Trump wants to convert it back into a prison. “REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” the President posted on Truth Social on Sunday evening, announcing that he has directed the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security to “reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt” prison on Alcatraz Island to “house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
The move comes as Trump has pursued more aggressively punitive policies in his second term, including signing orders that encourage the use of extreme sentences and the death penalty, that target incarcerated trans women, and that expand police powers. Trump has also been criticized for eschewing the rule of law in carrying out a
mass deportation campaign, detaining and deporting both undocumented immigrants as well as people legally in the U.S. without due process.
At an April meeting between Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukela, Trump said he’d be “all for” deporting Americans to El Salvador next. In January, Trump ordered the opening of a detention center in Guantanamo Bay, where the U.S. has long leased a site from Cuba, to which his Administration would send the “worst criminal aliens.”
May 6: Breitbart By Alana Mastrangelo
House Intel Report: FBI ‘Butchered’ 2017 Congressional Baseball Shooting Investigation, ‘Used False Statements’ To Uphold A Narrative
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “butchered” its investigation into the 2017 congressional baseball shooting — which injured six, as well as severely wounded Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) — and downplayed the anti-Republican motives of gunman James T. Hodgkinson, a new House Intelligence report revealed.
A scathing report released Tuesday by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence concluded that the FBI knowingly “butchered” its probe into the 2017 Congressional baseball shooting in order to bolster another narrative.
“The FBI used false statements, manipulation of known facts, and biased and butchered analysis to support a narrative that Hodgkinson committed suicide by cop without any nexus to domestic terrorism,” the report stated. “Then, based upon no new information or evidence gathering, the FBI changed its previous decision that this case was a purely criminal matter involving suicide by cop,” the blistering House report continued.
After that, the FBI “spent the next four years privately guarding the basis for its determinations by impeding Congressional oversight,” the Committee said. The report explained that after Hodgkinson’s June 14, 2017 attack on Republican lawmakers in Alexandria, Virginia, the FBI hastily concluded the gunman opened fire on members of Congress because he wanted to commit “suicide by cop.”
“The Committee finds the FBI’s conclusion to be inconsistent with the facts and evidence,” the report said, pointing out that in order “to commit suicide by cop, the perpetrator needs to demonstrate hostile intent in the presence of police.” But in Hodgkinson’s case, “there were no observable police officers present,” given that authorities were dressed in plain clothes, the House Intelligence report revealed.
Capitol Police officers dressed in plain clothes engaged Hodgkinson after he opened fire on Republican lawmakers, “but the uniformed officers of the Alexandria Police Department” arrived about three minutes later, the Committee noted.
“Since there were no uniformed police officers present at the time of the attack and Hodgkinson had no reason to believe there were police present, the suicide by cop determination does not make sense,” the report determined. Furthermore, Hodgkinson took “several actions” that suggested “he hoped to survive the firefight,” the Committee continued, citing the shooter searching for directions from Alexandria to his home in Belleville, Illinois, as well as texting his wife that he would be coming back. “The FBI investigation failed even to conduct substantive interviews of all the shooting victims and other eyewitnesses,” the Committee stated.
May 6: Breitbart By Amy Furr
Police Arrest 30 During Fiery Anti-Israel Protest at University of Washington
At least 30 anti-Israel protesters were arrested Monday after occupying an engineering building at the University of Washington in Seattle. The protesters, who are also being identified as Antifa, holed up in the building for several hours to demand the school divest from Boeing, Fox News reported Tuesday.
Some of the protesters set dumpster fires and blocked streets nearby. Video footage shows the black-clad group standing behind what appears to be a bike rack while holding up trash can shields.
Campus police and local officers eventually contained the situation and arrested about 30 protesters who had locked themselves into the building. Their charges included trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct, and conspiracy.
May 6: Fox News By Cameron Arcand
ICE Makes Major Arrest Of Internationally Wanted ‘Suspected Terrorist’
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made a high-profile arrest on Monday in Maryland. DHS told Fox News Digital that Joel Armando Mejia-Benitez, 38, is a “validated MS-13 gang member” from El Salvador who had no visas “approved or pending” at the moment of his arrest.
“ICE Baltimore arrested Joel Armando Mejia-Benitez an MS-13 gang member with an Interpol Red Notice. He first entered the country illegally in 2005 and was deported. He then reentered our country at an unknown date before he was arrested by HIS Baltimore in 2014. He was issued a notice to appear and released back into Silver Spring, MD,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement.
May 7: Red State By Bronchie
Shocking Revelation About Deported ‘Maryland Dad’ Abrego-Garcia
The case of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia just keeps getting worse for Democrats, who have made the deported El Salvadorian illegal immigrant the face of their anti-Trump movement. Claims about due process have overwhelmed the news cycle for a month, with numerous court decisions handed down by judges angry that Abrego-Garcia can’t be magically brought back from the country he’s a citizen of.
This latest revelation revolves around something that happened in Tennessee, though. As Redstate reported, Abrego-Garcia was pulled over in the state on suspicion of human trafficking in 2022. Highway patrol officers found eight other people in the car, which was registered to a convicted human smuggler. They also found $1,400 in cash, which was suspected to be payment for the run. The then-Biden-led ICE never showed up to detain Abrego-Garcia on what would have presumably been federal charges, and he was released.
Now, the convicted human smuggler has not only been revealed, but he’s cooperating with the Trump administration’s Department of Justice. As part of a “limited immunity” deal, Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes has confirmed that he did hire Abrego-Garcia to traffic illegal immigrants.
According to the Tennessee Star, Hernandez Reyes was charging $350 a person to transport illegal immigrants to various parts of the United States. Abrego-Garcia was then paid a cut of that to be the driver. The two men allegedly met in 2015 and had been working together for many years.
In other words, Abrego-Garcia was never just a “Maryland Dad,” as Democrats and their press allies repeatedly claimed to try to sanitize his background. He was allegedly a literal human trafficker, not only helping facilitate the violation of U.S. law but then profiting off it.
May 8: CaliRed News By Mike Hernandez
Chicago Cardinal Elected Pope of Catholic Church: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost Takes Name Pope Leo XIV
Chicago Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69-year-old Augustinian, the first ever American pope in the history of the Catholic Church was elected by the 133 voting cardinals today (May 8) in the Sistine Chapel at approximately 6:08 p.m. (Rome time) and chose the name Pope Leo XIV.
The first American pope becomes the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church which has an estimated flock of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide according to the 2025 Pontifical Yearbook released by Vatican News.
Prevost was born on Sept. 14, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois. He is also a citizen of Peru, where he lived for years as a missionary and later as an archbishop. Prevost’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University in 1977, a Master of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. His doctoral thesis was on “The role of the local prior in the Order of Saint Augustine.”
After his ordination as priest in 1982, he joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and served as a chancellor from 1985-1986. He spent 1987 to 1988 in the United States as pastor for vocation and director of missions (Augustinian) in Chicago before returning to Peru where he spent the next 10 years heading up an Augustinian seminary in Trujillo and teaching canon law. Prevost was elevated to the rank of cardinal on Sept. 30, 2023 by Pope Francis.
https://substack.com/home/post-/p-163180390
May 9: Breitbart By Joel Pollack
Newsom’s War on Oil Refineries Could Push Gas past $6 Per Gallon Or $9 In California
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s hostility to the oil industry could lead to the closure of local refineries — which, in turn, could push gas prices past $6 per gallon, or even $9 per gallon, a local analyst has warned. Local ABC affiliate KABC-7 reported: The Phillips 66 Refinery in Los Angeles could close by the end of this year, which would send prices skyrocketing above $6, according to USC Professor Michael Mische. Mische added that if the Valero Refinery in the Bay Area closes by the end of next year, that could send gas prices soaring close to $9 a gallon.
CalMatters.org had warned in April of the closure of the two refineries. Valero is the latest to announce a shutdown, declaring its “current intent to idle, restructure, or cease refining operations” at its Benicia refinery by the end of April 2026. The announcement followed last year’s decision by Phillips 66 to close its Southern California refinery, two days after Newsom signed a bill requiring refiners to maintain minimum gasoline supplies. California is a petroleum fuel island, lacking pipelines that could bring in supplies from other states. In fact, motorists in Nevada and Arizona depend on California for their fuel. If refineries continue to close, California could be forced to bring in fuel from other nations via tanker or acquire the in-state refineries by purchase or seizure and operate them itself during the transition [to electric vehicles].
Newsom has demonized the oil industry for years, and has sought to ban the sale of gas-powered cars in the state. He has accused the industry of price gouging during past price increases. In response, the industry has pointed out that California — once a pioneer in fossil fuels — is a very expensive and difficult place in which to operate, thanks to strict emissions standards, the costs of its “cap-and-trade” system, and an attempt to phase out fracking.
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Michael Hernandez, is co-founder of the Citizens Journal–Ventura County’s online news service and writes for citizensjournal.net. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor, writer of “CaliRed News” on Substack.com and edits the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes” (Fridays), “Beyond Shasta County: Battle for California!” (Mondays) and other columns. Mr. Hernandez mentors citizen journalists/podcasters and
