by Ethan Faverino | Nov 3, 2025 | Education, News
By Ethan Faverino |
A group of students at Arizona State University hosted a public awareness event on Thursday, October 23, at the Memorial Union to highlight Antifa’s activities on campus and encourage students to confidentially report any known associates for submission to the Federal Terror Watchlist.
The event, hosted by College Republicans United (CRU), featured verified public records and official documents detailing students previously convicted of Antifa-related crimes, including multiple individuals who were active members or leaders of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) at ASU at the time of their arrests.
“Like the Trump administration, we believe that if you see something, say something,” Kevin Decuyper told The State Press. According to the outlet, Decuyper co-founded CRU at ASU in 2018 as a student and is now the chairman of the College Republicans United national organization.
Former law enforcement officer and current Congressional candidate for Arizona’s 1st District, Paul Reevs also told The State Press, “What these students are doing, standing up and simply asking people to help them identify violent people, is courageous. We need that kind of leadership, and I want to support them when they do that.” He attended the event and spoke to students to raise awareness about Antifa-related criminal activity on and around campus.
In a release promoting the event, CRU cited Gabriel Nadales, a former Antifa member and National Director of Our America who spoke at the group’s ASU chapter in 2019 about the connection between ANTIFA and the YDSA.
According to The State Press, YDSA co-chair Isaac Burdge denied any organizational ties to Antifa, stating the group opposes fascism but does not engage in violence.
Despite Burdge’s claims that YDSA is not violent, there have been many documented cases of violence, including Benjamin Cooper, YDSA’s agitprop director at ASU, who has had multiple arrests for assaulting police.
Correction: A previous version of this story said that Gabriel Nadales was a featured speaker at the October 23rd event. Nadales did not speak at the event, but spoke to the group in 2019. The story has been udpated to reflect this.
Correction: A previous version of this story failed to cite reporting from The State Press. The story has been updated.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Nov 3, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
Republican lawmakers, backed by President Donald Trump and prominent allies including Elon Musk, are escalating efforts to impeach Chief Judge James Boasberg, citing a pattern of rulings they allege usurp executive authority, exhibit political bias, and endanger national security.
The campaign gained fresh momentum on October 30, 2025, when Representative Eli Crane (AZ-02) weighed in on Senator Mike Lee’s tweet, “Should Judge Boasberg be removed from office?”
Crane fired back, “Here’s the real question, @basedmikelee: Why hasn’t it happened already?”
Boasberg, elevated to Chief Judge in March 2023 after his 2011 appointment to the bench by President Barack Obama, has become a focal point in GOP frustration during Trump’s second term, as he keeps getting assigned Trump cases.
Republican lawmakers label him an “activist judge” whose decisions repeatedly obstruct administration priorities on immigration, national security, and government efficiency.
In March 2025, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), along with 22 cosponsors, including Arizona Representatives Eli Crane (AZ-02), Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), and Paul Gosar (AZ-09), introduced H.Res.229, impeaching Boasberg for “high crimes and misdemeanors” under a single article titled “Abuse of Power.”
The resolution accuses the judge of violating his oath by substituting his judgment for the President’s under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and interfering with executive orders.
Specific charges include:
- Issuing a March 2025 temporary restraining order halting the deportation of hundreds of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members—designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization—without due process.
- Ordering mid-flight aircraft carrying deportees to El Salvador to turn around, despite a subsequent Supreme Court ruling permitting the Act’s use with mandated judicial review.
- Initiating contempt proceedings against administration officials for “willful disregard” of his order, actions Republicans called a “constitutional crisis” that jeopardizes public safety.
Newly disclosed FBI documents, released in October 2025, revealed that Boasberg approved covert subpoenas for phone records of nine Republican senators during the Justice Department’s January 6 investigation. The orders barred carriers like AT&T from notifying targets, citing “reasonable grounds” they might tamper with evidence. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), among those targeted, denounced the move as a “weaponized legal system.”
Affected senators also include Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
On October 30, Cruz urged the House to impeach Boasberg and seek federal sanctions, stating, “If a judge signs an order reaching a factual conclusion for which there is zero evidence whatsoever, that judge is abusing his power.”
Lawmakers allege the broader probe—conducted under former special counsel Jack Smith—targeted up to 156 Republican lawmakers, conservatives, and organizations at significant taxpayer expense.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Nov 2, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
A new national poll reveals a broad, cross-partisan consensus among Americans for accountability-driven reforms to address rising crime, homelessness, and judicial leniency.
With violent crime perceived as increasing by 75% of respondents, majorities support stricter sentencing, enhanced monitoring technologies, federal oversight of repeat offender states, and responsibility requirements in public assistance programs. The Cicero Institute National Crime Poll surveyed a representative sample of 2,102 U.S. voters, showing a unified public mandate that compassion must be paired with consequences to restore safety and order in communities nationwide.
“Americans are crying out for accountability,” said Stefani E. Buhajla, Senior Director of Communications at the Cicero Institute. “Across the nation, families are watching their neighborhoods decline under the weight of unchecked crime, drug abuse, and untreated mental illness. Homelessness has exploded into public view, violent criminals cycle endlessly through the courts, and too many judges seem more interested in appeasing activists than protecting the people they serve. The result is predictable: citizens feel less safe, less secure, and less confident in the institutions charged with delivering justice.”
Crime and Public Safety
- 63% support increasing criminal penalties for drug trafficking around homelessness charity facilities, recognizing the exploitation of vulnerable individuals battling addictions.
- 75% support providing law enforcement with better technology to track transient sex offenders.
- 75% support electronic monitoring of transient sex offenders’ whereabouts, with 68% more likely to support if informed that over half of transients are registered sex offenders.
Violent Crime and Mental Health
- 75% believe violent crime is increasing or staying the same.
- 61% support court-ordered treatment and stabilization for repeat criminals with mental illness.
- 64% support making it easier to commit individuals with violent tendencies to mental health facilities.
- In cases of aggravated murder by mentally ill offenders, 82% back life in prison, the death penalty, or both (46% life in prison, 18% death penalty, 18% both).
- 60% favor an automatic federal investigation into states with histories of releasing repeat violent criminals.
- 63% support removing judges with patterns of leniency toward repeat violent criminals.
Homelessness
- 64% say homeless individuals should be required to participate in addiction, mental health treatment, and job training as a condition of taxpayer-funded housing.
- 64% oppose allowing homeless individuals to camp on public property.
- 75% view moving homeless individuals to shelters as more compassionate than unrestricted camping.
- 70% support temporary structured camping areas with water, sanitation, and police services—located away from residential and business zones—when shelters are unavailable.
Juvenile Justice
- 73% support shorter probation terms for low-risk juvenile offenders who complete education or job training.
- 66% support reduced probation for those pursuing mental health counseling or drug treatment programs.
“What we see here is not a thirst for cruelty, but a yearning for justice,” added Buhajla. “Americans want accountability because they know compassion without order collapses into chaos. They understand that responsibility and opportunity must go hand in hand. And they are calling on leaders to have the courage to enforce laws, protect communities, and demand more from the very institutions that too often excuse failure.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Oct 31, 2025 | Education, News
By Ethan Faverino |
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne issued a statement opposing the State Board of Education’s decision to postpone the rulemaking to strip Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language from Arizona’s teaching standards.
The issue will now be taken up at the Board’s December meeting—a delay Horne warns risks $866 million in federal education funding and violates clear federal civil rights directives.
“I respectfully but strongly disagree with the vote to postpone opening the rule-making process,” declared Horne. “The President issued an Executive Order requiring DEI language to be removed from programs funded by federal dollars. It made it abundantly clear that federal education funding is at risk if DEI language remains in education programs. Failure to comply with federal guidance may result in the loss of an estimated $866 million to Arizona schools. That is a major funding cut to our schools, and we need to begin dealing with this as soon as possible.”
Horne pointed to a letter from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), signed by Acting Assistant Secretary Craig Trainor, which reaffirms that discrimination based on race, color, or national origin is illegal under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause, and controlling Supreme Court precedent.
The guidance explicitly condemns race-based preferences in admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, discipline, housing, and graduation ceremonies, and warns that DEI programs often “preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not.”
The OCR letter also cites the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), which states that the use of racial preferences in school testing and admissions is unlawful. Their message is simple: “If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law.”
“Not only is the $866 million at risk, but there is a philosophical issue at stake, too,” continued Horne. “All people should be judged based on their character and ability, not their race or ethnicity. DEI language and programs promote the exact opposite, and they have no place in the classroom. The teaching standards, unfortunately, include DEI references, and they need to be removed.”
The teaching standards at issue direct educators to teach “equitably,” with “responsiveness to the cultural backgrounds and differing perspectives learners bring to the learning environment,” and to address the “social, emotional, and cultural needs of students.”
“These terms do not belong in teaching standards,” Horne concluded. “The standards are meant to direct educators on the most effective ways to teach students’ core academics. Every instructional minute is precious, and DEI efforts distract from that essential mission.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Oct 28, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) led a bicameral coalition of lawmakers in submitting a formal comment letter to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) in strong support of a petition by the America First Legal Foundation.
The petition calls for amending federal regulations and the National Mail Voter Registration Form to mandate documentary proof of U.S. citizenship (DPOC) for registering to vote in Federal Elections.
The current federal form relies exclusively on self-attestation, allowing applicants to check a box affirming citizenship under penalty of perjury, creating what lawmakers describe as an “honor system” with no meaningful safeguards against ineligible registrations.
The proposed reform would require verifiable proof of citizenship at the point of registration, aligning voter enrollment with common identification requirements.
“Requiring documentary proof of citizenship is a simple, common-sense reform,” wrote the lawmakers in the formal comment letter. “Just as Americans are asked to show identification for far less consequential activities—boarding an airplane, opening a bank account, or even attending certain events—it is entirely reasonable to require proof of citizenship to participate in our elections. This step would not burden eligible voters but would provide an essential check to ensure that only citizens are added to the voter rolls.”
The lawmakers cited recent incidents as evidence of systemic vulnerabilities:
- In Iowa, officials identified 277 noncitizens on voter rolls, with at least 35 confirmed to have cast ballots in the 2024 election.
- All 15 counties in Arizona are actively working to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls.
- In Texas, election integrity units have documented multiple cases of noncitizen voting and registration fraud, including a conviction in Starr County for illegal voting, prosecutions in Hidalgo County for falsifying applications with fictitious addresses, and instances in Tarrant County where noncitizens registered using the federal form without proof of citizenship.
Under the National Voter Registration Act (52 U.S.C. § 20508(a)(1)–(2)), the EAC has both the authority and duty to develop the National Mail Voter Registration Form and prescribe necessary regulations to protect the integrity of the electoral process and maintain accurate voter rolls.
“I’m proud to support this effort to strengthen our election system. In our constitutional republic, only American citizens should be able to vote, and requiring proof of citizenship at registration is a commonsense safeguard,” said Representative Crane. “Considering we already show ID to drive, fly, or open a bank account, this is not a novel concept. It’s simply a necessary step to ensure the integrity of our elections.”
Along with Senator Cruz and Representative Crane were cosigners:
Senators: Jim Banks (R-IN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ted Budd (R-NC), John Cornyn (R-TX), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Bernie Moreno (R-OH).
Representatives: Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Pat Fallon (R-TX), Andy Harris (R-MD), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Mary Miller (R-IL), Barry Moore (R-AL), Riley Moore (R-WV), Derek Schmidt (R-KS), and Greg Steube (R-FL).
The lawmakers concluded with, “Requiring documentary proof of citizenship will strengthen the integrity of our elections, safeguard the voices of American citizens, and ensure that every lawful vote is protected from being diluted by unlawful ballots.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
