Salem News Channel

With Tyler O'Neil, Senior Editor at The Daily Signal.

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The governor of Louisiana says there’s an “active shooter scene” Thursday at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge. Gov. Jeff Landry says he and his wife are grateful for a quick response by police. Attorney General Liz Murrill says the shooting occurred in the mall’s food court. No other details were disclosed. Landry is telling the public to avoid the area. Stay with SNC for details on this developing story.

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Where are the Feminists?

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What Will the Virginia Supreme Court Say?

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Authorities are seeking a 17-year-old on charges of attempted murder after a weekend shooting near the University of Iowa campus. Five people were treated for gunshot wounds, including three students. One woman remains in critical condition with a head injury. Police say the suspect allegedly fired six times into a crowded area after a fight early Sunday that may have involved up to 40 people. Authorities say the minor is to be charged as an adult under Iowa law on charges including five counts of attempted murder. Officials say the victims were not targets of the shooting. The investigation is ongoing, and more charges are expected.

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Authorities say a former North Carolina law enforcement officer planned to kill Black people in a mass shooting at a major New Orleans festival but was arrested at a Florida hotel with a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Authorities in several states did not name the event, but the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, commonly known as Jazz Fest, runs from Thursday through May 3. The gathering attracted about 460,000 people last year, organizers said. Christopher Gillum of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was wanted for “terroristic threats,” the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office in Florida posted online Thursday. Federal authorities told the sheriffs office that Gillum was in the Florida Panhandle “heading to do a mass shooting at a large festival in Louisiana.” The sheriffs office did not name the federal agency, and the FBI office in New Orleans did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Okaloosa sheriff’s office said Gillum was arrested without incident Wednesday night at a hotel in Destin, and posted a photo of him being led away in handcuffs. Deputies recovered a handgun and about 200 rounds of ammunition from the hotel room, the statement said. Gillum was arrested as a fugitive from justice and will be extradited to Louisiana to face charges there, the sheriff’s office said. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer. The Associated Press left a message at phone numbers listed for him. Gillum’s family reported him missing on Tuesday and he had a history of self-harm, according to Lt. Clint Lyons of the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina. Gillum’s family told law enforcement he had a gun and “expressed recent threats to harm ‘Black people,’” according to a bulletin from police in Burlington, North Carolina. Lyons said Gillum crossed state lines before his agency could prepare the paperwork to involuntarily commit him to psychiatric treatment. Lyons said that there were no criminal grounds to detain Gillum despite his comments about Black people “because there was no victim.” “But we felt that there was definitely something there that needed to be shared, so that’s what we did,” Lyons said. Gillum was located and stopped by law enforcement in Oklaloosa County on Wednesday, according to Lyons and the Burlington police bulletin. However, Gillum “did not present any grounds for involuntary commitment or criminal charges” and was allowed to continue on his way, the bulletin stated. Gillum told officers that he was “enroute to New Orleans,” the report added. Okaloosa deputies were initially asked to make a “welfare check” on Gillum Wednesday morning and were “not aware” of any threats he had made, sheriff spokesperson Michele Nicholson said. Later that day, after the sheriff's office learned Gillum was being investigated, deputies surveilled him until a signed warrant arrived from Louisiana, she added. Gillum had been hired as a detention officer by the sheriff’s office in Orange County, North Carolina, in October 2023 but he left in July 2024, department spokesperson Alicia L. Stemper said. “We hired him again as a deputy on Jan. 13, 2025,” she said in an email. “He resigned his position on Sept. 21, 2025, and we terminated him accordingly.” Gillum also served as a sworn police officer for Chapel Hill from 2004 until his resignation in 2019, town communications manager Alex Carrasquillo said. “He returned as a non-sworn employee in 2024 before leaving for another job by the end of that year,” Carrasquillo said in an email. Louisiana State Police spokesperson Trooper Danny Berrincha said the agency is still investigating the episode with the FBI. “At this time, there are no known direct threats to any festivals in Louisiana,” he added. In a statement, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival said it works closely with law enforcement and applauded their efforts, saying ”we look forward to another safe and joyful Jazz Fest.”

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Wildfires tearing through the South this week have forced hundreds of residents in Georgia to flee in minutes. Many have no idea what happened to the homes and animals they left behind. The fires that sparked up during an extreme drought in Georgia and Florida have blanketed cities hundreds of miles away. Air quality warnings remain in effect Thursday across the Southeast. The two biggest fires in southern Georgia have spread rapidly over the past two days and destroyed more than 50 homes in rural areas. It’s not known yet how the wildfires started, but the bottom half of Georgia and northern Florida are both extremely dry.

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More than two dozen members and associates of the Mexican Mafia were arrested Thursday during an early morning crackdown across Southern California, federal authorities said. The FBI and other federal and local agencies executed search and arrest warrants at about 30 locations mostly in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A total of 43 people, including those already in custody, have been indicted on charges that include murder, kidnapping, extortion, running an illegal gambling operation and drug trafficking, prosecutors said. Officers seized 120 pounds (54 kilos) of methamphetamine, more than eight pounds (four kilos) of fentanyl, along with 25 firearms and more than $30,000 in cash, officials said. “The stuff that we’re taking off the streets is very, very dangerous. These guys have no regard for human life. They’re about making money,” First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said during a news conference. The Mexican Mafia was started in the 1950s at a juvenile jail and grew to an international criminal organization that controls smuggling, drug sales and extortion from inside California’s penal system. The indictment alleges one leader who was incarcerated used contraband cellphones to oversee the Mexican Mafia's criminal activities from his state prison cell from June 2024 to April 2026. He directed street gang members to kidnap and assault people, according to court documents. The gang also allegedly sold drugs including fentanyl, meth, heroin and cocaine. “It ran illegal gambling businesses within commercial strip malls and private residences,” the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. “The gang collected extortionate taxes and provided security, including the use of violence, to protect the illegal gambling businesses.” The gang is also suspected of a murder at a “gang-controlled” motel in Anaheim, according to the indictment. The defendants will begin making their initial appearances Thursday afternoon in federal court in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

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Iran Doesn't Even Know Who Is In Charge of Their Regime

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Do you remember the first time you truly prayed? In this episode of The Greg Laurie Show, Pastor Greg Laurie opens up about the powerful, often overlooked practice of prayer—and why it can transform your relationship with God and your everyday life. Drawing from his own journey as a new believer and his interactions with spiritual giants like Billy Graham, Pastor Greg Laurie shares candid stories, biblical insights, and down-to-earth wisdom to help you move beyond rote words and genuinely connect with your Heavenly Father. Centering the conversation around the Lord’s Prayer, Pastor Greg Laurie unpacks its role as both a prayer for all occasions and a practical template for your daily communication with God.

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U.S. Senate Republicans voted on Thursday to advance a $70 billion plan to fund the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agencies for the next three years, ignoring demands from Democrats for guardrails on immigration enforcement agents and their operations. Lawmakers voted 50-48 in the predawn hours to adopt the non-binding budget resolution and send it to the U.S. House of Representatives, taking a crucial step forward in their effort to end a partial shutdown that has gripped the Department of Homeland Security since mid-February. Two Republicans - Senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski - opposed the measure. If adopted by the House, the resolution will allow congressional committees to begin filling in the details on how the $70 billion would be spent in separate legislation that President Donald Trump would have to sign into law. The new funding would be expected to run through Trump's presidency, which ends in January 2029. With Democrats adamantly opposed to the funding initiative, Republicans plan to employ a rarely used procedure known as budget reconciliation in the separate legislation, which allows some budget-related bills to bypass Democratic opposition in the Senate. Such measures require only a simple majority for passage in the 100-member chamber, instead of the usual supermajority of 60 votes or more. Republicans hold a 53-47 seat majority. Funding for most of DHS ran out more than nine weeks ago, as Democrats pressed Republicans and the White House to accept new constraints on ICE and Border Patrol, which operate under the direction of DHS. After two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, Democrats insisted that ICE and Border Patrol be subject to the same operational rules as police forces across the United States, including a requirement that judicial warrants be obtained before agents can enter private homes. But weeks of negotiations ended in a stalemate. The Senate has since passed legislation to fund DHS operations other than ICE and Border Patrol. But the measure has stalled in the House, where hardline Republicans have demanded funding for those two entities as well. Last year, Republicans passed legislation providing around $130 billion in funding for these two agencies, separate from their annual appropriations and the $70 billion now being advanced in Congress. The Senate action followed a nearly six-hour "vote-a-rama" session that began late on Wednesday, with votes on a series of proposed amendments. Eight months before the November midterm elections, which will determine which party controls Congress in the final years of Donald Trump's presidency, Democrats sought to use the session to portray Republicans as out of step with American families and the challenges they face from soaring gasoline prices and healthcare costs. Republicans accused Democrats of wanting to "defund" crucial immigration and border security operations. Democrats offered a dozen amendments intended to lower out-of-pocket healthcare costs, restore food assistance for lower-income Americans, prevent the cancellation of health insurance coverage, increase funding for school meals and childcare, protect consumers from rising prices driven by tariffs and the war in Iran, and lower electricity costs for working people. All failed but drew support from some Republicans, including Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, who face challenging re-election bids in November. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that more than half of Americans are less likely to support candidates who back Trump's approach to deporting immigrants, while a similar majority say their household finances have taken a hit from soaring gasoline prices. Healthcare tops the list of household costs that voters think Congress should focus on most, polling data shows. The Senate voted 98-0 to adopt a Republican amendment from Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham that would establish a deficit-neutral fund supporting ICE operations to apprehend, detain and expedite the deportation of adults convicted of rape, murder or sexual abuse of a minor after entering the United States illegally. Lawmakers rejected other Republican amendments calling for legislation to require proof of citizenship in voting and other election restrictions, a ban on Medicaid funding for transgender surgery on minors, and cuts in foreign aid, science and education programs to pay for the ICE and Border Patrol funding.

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The U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday it would immediately loosen restrictions on some marijuana products and move quickly to reclassify the drug as less dangerous, in one of the biggest changes to U.S. drug policy in decades. The move does not legalize marijuana across the United States, but it is likely to reshape the $47 billion industry, which has faced continued barriers at the federal level, even as all but two U.S. states have legalized it in some form for medical use and nearly half have legalized it for recreational use as well. State-regulated medical marijuana products now would be moved from a group of drugs classified as highly addictive, such as heroin, to a less restrictive category for products that have a low to moderate potential for abuse, including common painkillers, ketamine and testosterone. Marijuana products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also would be moved to that category. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the U.S. government would also fast-track a broader effort that would reclassify all uses of the psychoactive plant as less dangerous. The measures are likely to lower barriers for research, ease tax burdens and make it easier for firms to ?secure funding. “This rescheduling action allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information," Blanche said in a statement. The move follows a December executive order from President Donald Trump directing the Justice Department to loosen marijuana restrictions. The measure is expected to boost the growing cannabis industry in the United States, benefiting companies like Canopy Growth, Tilray Brands, Trulieve Cannabis. U.S.-listed shares of cannabis companies jumped between 6% and 13% following the decision. “Today marks a pivotal moment for the United States. With President Trump’s action to reschedule cannabis, federal policy is finally aligning with science, medicine, and most importantly, patient needs," Irwin Simon, the chairman and CEO of Tilray, said in a statement. Marijuana's status as a Schedule I drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, has been widely criticized as anachronistic, particularly as it makes inroads at the state level. Some 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized it for recreational purposes, while 40 have fully legalized it for medical purposes and another eight allow some medical uses, according to the Congressional Research Service. Only two states - Idaho and Kansas - do not allow any legal use. Legal sales are expected to top $47 billion in 2026, according to market researcher BDSA. Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States and the world. Nearly one in five U.S. residents use it in a year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Millions of Americans have been arrested for possession of the drug, even while growing businesses listed on stock exchanges sell cannabis-related products. The Biden administration embarked on a similar move in 2024 but it was not finalized when Trump returned to office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration scrapped the effort. The Justice Department said it will begin proceedings on June 29 to gather evidence and expert opinion on reclassifying the drug.

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President Donald Trump has issued a new warning about the Strait of Hormuz. In a statement posted on his social media site, the president ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats that are choking the Strait of Hormuz. He said “there is to be no hesitation.” The president also said the military is intensifying its mine clearing efforts in the critical waterway. He also repeated that the strait will remain under U.S. control until “Iran is able to make a deal.”

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The U.S. military has seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil. The move on Thursday ratcheted up a standoff with Iran a day after its paramilitary Revolutionary Guards took control of two vessels in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The Defense Department released video footage of U.S. forces on the deck of the oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized in the Indian Ocean. It said U.S. forces would continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt “illicit networks and interdict vessels” that provide support to Iran.

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FY2026 Budget Resolution immigration funding for ICE and CBP through the end of the Trump term, while the DOJ issued its April 23, 2026 Schedule III rescheduling order for FDA-approved and state-licensed medical marijuana, secured a 9th Circuit injunction blocking California’s ICE unmasking law, won a ruling striking down Virginia’s congressional redistricting referendum as unconstitutional, and indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on federal fraud charges.

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Mike chats with Mollie Hemingway—Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist and bestselling author—for the inside story on her powerful new book, Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution.

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President Donald Trump is escalating rhetoric over the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, ordering the U.S. military in a social media post to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats he says are laying mines in the critical waterway. Trump also said U.S. Navy mine-clearing operations are already underway and should be expanded at what he called a “tripled up” level. The remarks come as tensions surge in the Strait of Hormuz, where both Iran and the United States have targeted shipping in recent days, disrupting a route that carries roughly 20 percent of the world’s traded oil. Meanwhile, the U.S. military says it has seized another tanker linked to Iranian oil smuggling as the standoff continues to intensify.

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With Chuck Flint, Executive Director of the Coalition for Affordability and Prosperity|| @ChuckAFlint | AffordabilityProsperity.org

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Faith & Freedom 250 - Episode 30: Why Christian Schools Matter More Than Ever Courtesy of The Herzog Foundation.

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A federal appeals court has blocked a California law that required federal immigration agents to wear identification while operating in the state. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction, siding with arguments from the Trump administration that the law improperly interferes with federal authority and could endanger officers. The state had argued the measure was aimed at improving transparency and public safety during immigration enforcement operations. The ruling halts the law while the legal challenge continues, marking a setback for California’s efforts to impose identification requirements on federal agents.

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