by Staff Reporter | Dec 7, 2025 | Education, Must Read, News
By Staff Reporter |
The Tempe Police Department announced last week that they had issued another 249 arrests in one night at Tempe Tavern for underage drinking, fake IDs, and giving false information.
The mass arrests were part of another police sting on the bar, a popular joint for younger adults — especially Arizona State University (ASU) students.
The bar underwent a similar sting back in April, with a similar outcome: about 170 arrests were made. Of those, 165 received citations and were released.
In May, Tempe Tavern issued a statement on the first sting as well as another incident that occurred in the aftermath, in which a Tempe Tavern employee posted a T-shirt likening the police sting to 9/11.
The T-shirt, designed by an ASU student, read “OUR 9-11” on the front and “#TavernStrong” on the back. A since-deleted post sharing the shirt by a Tempe Tavern employee read: “They hit the second tower!” and advised they would be selling the shirts.
“Earlier this week, someone unaffiliated with Tempe Tavern created a shirt that referenced both Tempe Tavern and 9/11. According to what we know, the shirt was designed by an ASU student and circulated in an online student chat. It eventually reached a younger staff member — who did not appreciate the significance of that tragic day — and was shared on Tempe Tavern’s social media account,” said the bar. “Management removed the post as soon as it was brought to our attention. 9/11 is nothing to joke about; the reference was reprehensible. The shirt is tasteless and disgusting.”
Further on in their statement, the bar explained that they scan all IDs for entry into their establishment, but that the current era of fake IDs do scan successfully and appear authentic. The bar advised they provided ID-scan logs and security footage for all bar patrons to back up their claim.
“Tempe Tavern complies with the law, which is why neither the bar nor its employees received citations from the liquor board or the Tempe Police Department,” said the bar.
However, given that there have now been multiple incidents where so many underage drinkers were caught at the establishment, TPD launched an investigation into the bar.
246 of the 249 arrested were given citations and later released. Three went to the city jail.
TPD says they rely on teams with dozens of officers representing the local, state, and federal levels to ensure only those of age are drinking in these establishments. Homeland Security Investigations and Department of Liquor Licenses and Control were present.
TPD called the latest arrest totals “shocking” and indicative of a need for greater crackdowns. Community members were lodging complaints about the bar, hence the second sting operation.
“These are shocking numbers. We don’t celebrate them. Underage drinking puts people at risk — and that’s why we take it seriously,” said TPD.
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by Staff Reporter | Dec 6, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
A North Valley elementary school increased the number of Pride posters in its hallways after parents complained about a lesson in which students were taught to play a song about dancing at a gay bar.
As the Arizona Daily Independent (ADI) reported, parents learned after the fact about a recent lesson in a music class at Desert Trails Elementary in which students were directed to play boomwhackers to “Pink Pony Club,” a charting pop song about transitioning to an LGBTQ+ lifestyle and dancing at a gay bar.
The song is by lesbian starlet Chappell Roan, who gained popularity in 2024 from another hit single about her sexuality, “Good Luck, Babe!” Roan, who dresses in the style of drag queens, is widely viewed as an LGBTQ+ icon and advocate.
According to reports and social media chatter, parents were not offered an opt-out or even made aware of the lesson beforehand. According to the ADI, the Paradise Valley Unified School District cleared the teacher to resume classes this week on the promise that he would abide by parental notification requirements in the future.
The educator who implemented the lesson was hired earlier this summer: Jerry Michael Nanney, who goes by Michael Nanney.
Nanney claimed to the school and parents that he didn’t know the context of the song.
“Pink Pony Club” discusses a woman’s desire to leave behind her religious upbringing in the South and join the progressive community out West. The lyrics of the song define identity through sexuality.
In the song, Roan narrates the horror of the woman’s mother “scream[ing]” as “she sees her baby girl” dancing at a club. The woman in the song explains to her horrified mother that she’s “just having fun.”
“And I heard that there’s a special place / Where boys and girls can be queens every single day,” states the song lyrics. “I’m up and jaws are on the floor / Lovers in the bathroom and a line outside the door / Blacklights and mirrored disco ball / Every night’s another reason why I left it all / I thank my wicked dreams.”
As noted elsewhere in other reports and online, “pink pony” has multiple meanings. The term can refer to sex, as well as male genitalia.
The artist, Roan, disclosed the pink and some of the narration for the fictitious club were inspired by a hometown strip club, and the atmosphere and content within the song were inspired by her first visit to a gay bar in California.
All of this information, along with the music video for the song in which Roan, drag queens, and gay men dance suggestively, is available and easily accessible online.
Sleuthing parents and community members with Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity uncovered social media activity by Nanney that undermined his claim that he didn’t know the meaning of the song. Online, Nanney had shared posts by accounts dedicated to drag queen news and culture.
Reports uncovered, further, that Nanney leads the choir for an LGBTQ+-friendly church in Sun City.
These discoveries make Nanney’s claim of no knowledge of the song unlikely.
Nanney also reported obtaining the song as a choice from a list made by other educators who, the district would later confirm, were not within PVUSD.
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by Staff Reporter | Dec 5, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
An art exhibit at Northern Arizona University (NAU) allegedly displayed a poster mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
The poster depicts the Turning Point founder and former CEO in a black and white screenprint, surrounded by blood red. A Nazi symbol follows the directory of the fatal bullet that went through Kirk’s neck. Beneath, the artist included the phrase, “Cowabummer,” a slang term used to express sarcastic empathy.
The artist signed only their initials: “A.S.”
The original poster of the print, Libs of TikTok, didn’t indicate where the print was displayed on campus, or when, but that a follower had sent it.
There were several recent art exhibits at NAU.
From mid-September until Thanksgiving Day, the Clara M. Lovett Art Museum featured the exhibit “Prints. People. Power.” The exhibit featured prints from three artist collectives, only one of which remains active: Arizona Print Group.
Additionally, NAU’s Beasley Gallery is featuring Resonance: BFA Capstone Exhibition to showcase graduating BFA candidates from NAU’s School of Art + Design. The exhibition launched Nov. 21 and will last until Dec. 12.
Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University, nearly a month to the day before his 32nd birthday. The man charged with Kirk’s assassination, Tyler James Robinson, was politically aligned with progressives, especially on issues pertaining to LGBTQ+ culture and ideologies.
Robinson was in a homosexual relationship with another man, Lance Twiggs, who identified as a woman and was in the process of transitioning genders.
Robinson is scheduled for in-person oral arguments on Jan. 16 and 30. His legal team asked the judge to limit media coverage in the courtroom due to concerns for a right to fair trial; the judge did impose restrictions on filming and photography to prevent further public exposure to the image of Robinson wearing shackles.
Rep. Eli Crane said if the print were indeed featured in an NAU art gallery, then NAU was “another shameful example of what’s wrong with higher education in America.”
As with many other college campuses across the country, NAU students have been captured on film targeting TPUSA tables with vandalization, theft, and threats on violence.
One student vandalized a table and stole a sign. Another handed the table workers a note with a death threat depicting Kirk’s assassination.
“A good Nazi is a dead one,” said the note. “Free speech!”
As far as public reporting goes, NAU has yet to address these incidents.
As of last month, TPUSA reported receiving around 350,000 new student registrations and over 135,000 new chapter requests.
Efforts to establish chapters on campuses have been met with resistance at high schools and postsecondary institutions, in large part due to TPUSA’s Professor Watchlist. The list documents professors accused of discriminating against conservative students.
Only one NAU professor is on the TPUSA Professor Watchlist: Heather Martel, an associate professor of history and associate faculty in the women’s and gender studies program.
Martel made the watchlist after telling a student in her history class that he wasn’t allowed to read the Bible before class in 2017.
Kirk was last on NAU’s campus in October 2024 as part of his “You’re Being Brainwashed Tour.” This latest tour, which was his last, was titled “The Great American Comeback Tour.”
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by Staff Reporter | Dec 3, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The terroristic attacks and threats by Afghan nationals in recent weeks have renewed concerns about the vetting of those resettled in Arizona.
On the day before Thanksgiving last week, an Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.; one of the two died, and the other remains in critical condition.
The shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, remains in custody. He entered the country in late 2021 with his wife and five children under Biden’s resettlement program, Operation Allies Welcome, following the botched Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021.
Volunteers who worked with Lakanwal’s family claimed in interviews with NPR that Lakanwal didn’t show signs of radicalization prior to the terrorist attack. Rather, they claimed Lakanwal showed signs of mental instability and struggles to adjust to life in the U.S.
These volunteers also revealed that Lakanwal would drive away from his Washington state residence for long stretches in the weeks leading up to his attack, traveling to other states without explanation given to those around him — including Arizona.
Similarly, sources told ABC News that Lakanwal’s mental health was in decline leading up to the attack. Lakanwal was allegedly stressed by family finances, since his work permit expired and he was unable to find steady work.
However, sources advised ABC News that Lakanwal was granted asylum in April of this year, which grants automatic work authorization, after applying last year.
Approval of Lakanwal’s asylum petition occurred on the basis of the previous administration’s vetting procedures, which have been in question from the start of the resettlement program.
Another Afghan citizen — Mohammad Dawood Alokozay residing in Fort Worth, Texas — was charged on Tuesday for terroristic threats. Alokozay threatened to commit a suicide bombing as part of a jihad against Americans.
Like Lakanwal, Alokazay passed allegedly thorough vetting procedures under the previous administration.
According to the archived Operation Allies Welcome webpage, the Department of Homeland Security deployed 400 personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, and Secret Service to multiple locations abroad to conduct processing, screening, and vetting alongside other federal agencies.
Screening and vetting consisted of biometric and biographic screenings.
About 200,000 Afghans were granted asylum under the initial resettlement program, Operation Allies Welcome, and its successor, Operation Enduring Welcome. A little under 4,000 Afghan refugees have been brought into Arizona as part of the resettlement program since 2022, per the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program.
The Trump administration is reexamining these Afghan asylees following this latest terrorist attack.
Back in 2021, congressional leaders questioned the thoroughness of these procedures.
This resettlement program had red flags from the start.
Officials identified numerous incidents concerning Afghan men arriving at intake centers and claiming female children as their wives. These child brides reported being raped by these men and forced to marry them.
Congressman Andy Biggs asked about these incidents and others in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security. Biggs also addressed the claims of refugee status given to Afghan men with criminal records or past terrorist organization associations.
In January, less than a week after taking office, Vice President J.D. Vance told CBS News that the Biden administration hadn’t properly vetted those awarded refugee status.
“Now that we know we have vetting problems with a lot of these refugee programs, we absolutely cannot unleash thousands of unvetted people into our country,” said Vance.
Last October, two Afghan nationals were arrested for planning an Election Day terrorist attack inspired by ISIS. Abdullah Haji Zada and Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi; the latter individual was brought into the country days after the Biden administration withdrew from Afghanistan.
These individuals were also alleged to have been properly vetted.
President Trump paused migration from third-world countries following the terrorist attack. In the Sunday press gaggle aboard Air Force One, Trump said Americans don’t need or want these foreigners.
“We don’t want those people. Does that make sense?” said Trump. “You know why we don’t want them? Because many have been no good and they shouldn’t be in our country.”
The federal government spent over $14 billion on the Afghan resettlement program.
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by Staff Reporter | Dec 2, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Congressman Abe Hamadeh warned that Senator Mark Kelly’s advice to military members to refuse “unlawful” orders amounted to blackmail.
Hamadeh added in a statement on X that Kelly had jeopardized military readiness with this vague, alleged threat.
“By suggesting there ‘could’ be severe consequences for carrying out undefined ‘unlawful’ orders, the ‘Seditious Six’ are emotionally blackmailing our active-duty personnel,” said Hamadeh. “They want them to hesitate before protecting the American people. Reprehensible.”
Last month, Kelly and five other Democratic members of Congress with military and intelligence community backgrounds issued a call to action to the military to stand down on “illegal” orders from President Donald Trump.
This group — dubbed the “Seditious Six” by Hamadeh and other Republicans — indicated that some orders from Trump and his administration violated the laws or the Constitution and were therefore illegal.
“We want to speak directly to members of the military and the intelligence community who take risks each day to keep Americans safe. We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now. Americans trust their military. But that trust is at risk,” said the elected officials. “This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home. Our laws are clear: you can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders.”
The others in the “Seditious Six” are Senators Elissa Slotkin (MI) and Representatives Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan (PA), Maggie Goodlander (NH), and Jason Crow (CO). Slotkin posted the video.
Hamadeh claimed Kelly and the other elected officials were intentionally ambiguous about which orders from Trump were allegedly illegal.
“The reason Democrats refuse to name what they consider to be illegal orders by President Trump is that they want our military and intelligence community to question every order they receive from this administration,” said Hamadeh. “They want to make our active-duty personnel hesitate to execute the agenda voted for by the American people, paralyzing these men and women with the threat of future punishment.”
After the release of the video, Slotkin admitted she couldn’t name any military orders by Trump which were illegal.
“To my knowledge, I’m not aware of things that are illegal but certainly there are some legal gymnastics going on with these Caribbean strikes and everything going on with Venezuela,” said Slotkin in an interview with ABC’s “This Week” segment.
Slotkin clarified later in the interview that the video was primarily meant for addressing the use of the military within American cities.
“So, it was basically a warning to say, like, if you’re asked to do something particularly against American citizens, you have the ability to go to your JAG officer and push back,” said Slotkin.
President Trump said Kelly and the Democratic members within the video had committed “seditious behavior.” He called for the six to be arrested and put on trial, and reposted another user’s commentary (since deleted) that called for hangings.
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