Day: December 21, 2025
ICE lodges detainer for illegal immigrant charged in brutal killing of New York taxi driver
An immigration detainer was issued for a suspect in a gruesome cab driver killing, as the Trump administration continues with border security crackdown efforts.
Multiple players ejected after brawl breaks out during Eagles-Commanders game
The Eagles defeated the Commanders 29-18 to win back-to-back NFC East titles after Saquon Barkley’s late score triggered a fourth-quarter fight that resulted in three player ejections.
Democrats melt down as Kennedy Center board votes unanimously to rename building to honor Trump
Democrats are up in arms after Trump’s White House announced that the Kennedy Center will be renamed in honor of President Donald Trump for his restoration efforts.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will be renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
‘The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur.’
“I have just been informed that the highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of the world, have just voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center, because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building,” Leavitt said. “Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation. Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future!”
Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images
“The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur,” Leavitt added.
“The Trump Kennedy Center shows a bipartisan commitment to the Arts,” Richard Grenell said on X.
Maria Shriver, John F. Kennedy’s niece, posted a lengthy statement complaining about the move.
“It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy. It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not. Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial. The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on,” Shriver wrote in part on Thursday.
President Trump praised the “very distinguished” Kennedy Center board for the “unanimous” vote to change the name of the center.
However, several Democratic congressmen who are also ex officio members of the Kennedy Center board issued a statement complaining that they were silenced during the vote for this change.
In part, their statement read, “This whole process displays the corruption that permeates the entire Trump administration, and as ex-officio members of the Kennedy Center Board, we will be unwavering in our commitment to holding this administration accountable.”
The Democrats, however, failed to mention that as ex officio members of the board, they do not have a vote, meaning their input was never needed and does not affect the unanimity of the vote.
On Friday afternoon, videos were posted of the addition of Donald Trump’s name on the facade of the building. It now reads: “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
The Trump-Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
WATCH: Florida man says he ‘teleported’ into stolen BMW, blames ‘X-Men,’ thanks cop for rescuing him from ‘aliens’
A Florida man was arrested after getting into a car crash with a vehicle that was reported stolen earlier this month. However, the case took a strange twist when the suspect said he was “teleported” into the stolen BMW by the “X-Men” — but he was now safe from the “aliens,” according to police bodycam video.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that a car owner informed police that his BMW convertible had been stolen while he was walking his dog at Bicentennial Park in Ormond Beach.
‘You saved me from the aliens!’
The man admitted to law enforcement that he had left his BMW unlocked and that the car keys were in a “closed cup holder.”
Police bodycam video — recorded Dec. 8 — shows a witness telling a deputy that a man in his 30s with blond shoulder-length hair was in a BMW at the park.
“He kept asking for a light,” the witness told the deputy. “I thought, ‘How does he have a BMW if he doesn’t even have a lighter for a cigarette?'”
A few minutes later, the BMW crashed at Old Dixie Highway and Plantation Oaks Boulevard, the sheriff’s office stated.
Bodycam footage shows the car crash site, with one witness claiming that the BMW was traveling at 130 miles per hour. The wrecked BMW is seen half off the road with the front of the vehicle severely mangled after it seemingly crashed into the trees near the highway in a one-car accident.
A deputy confronted the alleged driver of the stolen BMW — 36-year-old Calvin Curtis Johnson.
Johnson — who is seen with blood on his face — is heard telling the deputy, “I don’t know how I got in the car. I teleported or something.”
When the deputy asks where he got the car from, Johnson shrugs and responds, “I don’t know,” and once again suggests that he “teleported” into the vehicle.
The suspect then appears to blame the situation on the “X-Men.”
According to the bodycam video, the deputy asks the suspect if he had just been to Bicentennial Park, to which Johnson replies, “They told me — the X-Men — to do it.”
A distraught Johnson is heard on video stammering, “I don’t do that stuff. Someone told me to get in there. Someone’s in my head. Thank you for saving me. I don’t know how I got in there.”
Then an excited Johnson exuberantly proclaimed to the deputy, “You saved me from the aliens!”
The police bodycam footage also shows the officer dousing flames from a small fire from the car crash.
Johnson was arrested, taken to the Halifax Health Medical Center for treatment, and booked into the Volusia County Jail. Johnson was hit with charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle and driving with a canceled, suspended, or revoked license, according to jail records.
According to Volusia County jail records, Johnson has a lengthy rap sheet with arrests for assault with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer without violence, loitering or prowling, uttering a forged check, trespassing, several charges for failing to appear in court, and operating a vehicle while a driver’s license was suspended, canceled, or revoked.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that Johnson is homeless.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up!
Philippine tourism on two wheels: Can passion meet policy?
The Philippine Motorcycle Tourism program has generated billions in tourism receipts on paper. But as local tourism surges and the country courts foreign riders, the question shifts from enthusiasm to accountability: who fixes the systems when growth exposes their cracks?
Remains of ex-DPWH Sec. Cabral brought to Manila
The remains of former Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral arrived in Metro Manila before dawn on Sunday.
Several elephants killed in train collision as impact causes multiple coaches to derail
High-speed passenger train strikes elephant herd in northeastern India, killing seven wild animals while all 650 passengers escape unharmed from incident.
Former Australian minister says ‘radical Islam pulled the trigger’ in nation’s worst terror attack
Josh Frydenberg slams Anthony Albanese’s government over rising antisemitic violence in Australia, warning years of inaction enabled extremism to flourish.
MIKE DAVIS: Why Trump’s blue slip blues aren’t Grassley’s fault
Senate Republicans clashed over Trump’s criminal attorney picks as the blue slip rule blocks nominees. Grassley defended the process while critics demand action.
Ancient plague mystery cracked after DNA found in 4,000-year-old animal remains
Scientists discover Bronze Age plague DNA in 4,000-year-old sheep remains, shedding light on how ancient diseases spread between animals and humans across Eurasia.
