Category: Politics
Church worker pretended to be ICE agent to extort $500 from massage therapist, police say
The safety director at Gateway Community Church of Webster, Texas, is looking for a new job after his arrest for allegedly pretending to be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Donald Doolittle, 58, pulled out an ICE identification card after getting into an argument over payment with a Houston massage therapist and threatened to have her taken away, according to an affidavit.
Mayans paid him the money, and he allegedly sent her a text saying that she would not hear from ICE agents.
The masseuse, identified as Rita Dumont Mayans, said she showed him a temporary visa.
“He demanded she Zelle him $500, or he would take her away and she would never see her family or children again,” a magistrate said at his court hearing.
Mayans paid him the money, and he allegedly sent her a text saying that she would not hear from ICE agents. He also allegedly told her to delete the texts.
Police were notified about the incident the next day when Mayans spoke to officers at a luncheon.
When he was interviewed by police, he denied being at the business or getting a massage, but security video contradicted his statements.
Doolittle was charged with impersonating a public servant.
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The church said Doolittle was fired from his position. The affidavit said that he had worked there for 10 years.
“Upon learning of these allegations on Saturday night, we took immediate steps to ensure the safety and well-being of our congregation and community,” reads a statement from the church.
Bond was set for Doolittle at $10,000.
Critics of ICE agents wearing masks have warned that others could impersonate them in order to harm innocents. The Trump administration has argued the coverings are necessary to protect agents from threats, especially from the far left.
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Eric Swalwell sues Trump administration over alleged privacy violations
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California is suing a Trump administration official for allegedly violating privacy rights in order to seek prosecution of the president’s political enemies.
Swalwell, who is running for the governorship of California, filed a 19-page federal civil lawsuit against Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.
Swalwell alleged in his lawsuit that the charges against him were filed ‘at a critical juncture in his career.’
The housing official referred Swalwell to the Department of Justice for alleged mortgage and tax fraud.
“Pulte’s brazen practice of obtaining confidential mortgage records from Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac and then using them as a basis for referring individual homeowners to DOJ for prosecution is unprecedented and unlawful,” the lawsuit alleged.
Swalwell also posted a statement on social media.
“Today I have filed a civil lawsuit against FHA director Bill Pulte for violating the Privacy Act and First Amendment,” he wrote.
“Director Pulte has combed through private records of political opponents. To silence them,” Swalwell added. “There’s a reason the First Amendment — the freedom of speech — comes before all others.”
Pulte was instrumental in the charges that were brought up against New York Attorney General Letitia James. Those charges were dismissed by a federal judge on Monday, but the Trump administration vowed to appeal.
Swalwell alleged in his lawsuit that the charges against him were filed “at a critical juncture in his career: the very moment when he had planned to announce his campaign for Governor of California.”
Pulte also helped bring criminal referrals against Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff (Calif.), as well as Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook.
CBS News said the Federal Housing Finance Agency did not respond to a request for a comment.
Swalwell added a quote from novelist George Orwell: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
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The New Yorker’s attempt to evoke pity for illegal alien is obliterated by devastating community note
Another attempt to garner sympathy for the plight of a deported illegal immigrant was undone by devastating information provided in a community note on X.
The New Yorker report documented the deportation of Jamaican national Orville Etoria to a prison facility in Eswatini, a southern African nation. It quoted Etoria as comparing his deportation to the transportation of slaves.
‘If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, you could end up in CECOT, Eswatini, South Sudan, or another third country.’
“It helped me imagine how the slaves might have felt, going to another land in shackles and chains,” Etoria said.
The community note provided pivotal context about the crimes committed by Etoria.
“Orville Etoria has multiple serious felonies including armed robbery and murder. He held a U.S. lawful permanent resident status, which can and was revoked following his criminal convictions.”
While he had previously been a green card holder, the residency status was revoked after the murder and armed robbery convictions, in addition to criminal possession of a weapon and forcible theft with a deadly weapon, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Etoria had served 25 years in prison and upon his release in 2021, officials allowed him to stay in the U.S. as long as he fulfilled annual check-ins. He was deported in July 2025 after President Donald Trump issued new restrictive immigration policies.
“If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, you could end up in CECOT, Eswatini, South Sudan, or another third country,” said a DHS spokesperson about the case to Newsweek.
RELATED: NYTimes is getting hammered online for sympathetic article about criminal illegal alien
Etoria’s aunt had previously told the New York Times that he should have been deported to Jamaica, where he has a valid passport. In September, Etoria was repatriated to Jamaica, according to the foreign affairs minister of that country.
“Every single day President Trump and Secretary Noem fight for justice for American victims of illegal alien crime and nearly every single day the media ignores these victims and their families,” said DHS.
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Sen. Elissa Slotkin says FBI is investigating 6 Democrats Trump called ‘traitors’ for ‘seditious’ video
The Federal Bureau of Investigation requested interviews with six Democrats over their video calling on military members to disobey allegedly unlawful orders from the Trump administration, according to four members of Congress.
Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan said on social media Tuesday that she had been notified by the FBI about the investigation, and a statement from lawmakers supported the claim.
‘To suggest and encourage that active-duty service members defy the chain of command is a very dangerous thing for sitting members of Congress to do.’
“Last night, the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division appeared to open an inquiry into me in response to a video President Trump did not like. The President directing the FBI to target us is exactly why we made this video in the first place,” Slotkin wrote on social media.
President Donald Trump accused the Democrat “traitors” of “seditious behavior” and at one point suggested they should be jailed and perhaps even hanged. The White House later walked that comment back, but the president continued to demand the Democrats face prosecution over the video.
“He believes in weaponizing the federal government against his perceived enemies and does not believe laws apply to him or his Cabinet. He uses legal harassment as an intimidation tactic to scare people out of speaking up,” Slotkin continued.
The statement from Democrats said the FBI contacted the House and Senate sergeants at arms and requested interviews.
“President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass Members of Congress,” they wrote in the joint statement.
In an email to Blaze News, the FBI declined to comment.
“This isn’t just about a video,” Slotkin continued. “This is not the America I know, and I’m not going to let this next step from the FBI stop me from speaking up for my country and our Constitution.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the president did not want the members to be executed.
“To suggest and encourage that active-duty service members defy the chain of command is a very dangerous thing for sitting members of Congress to do,” she added. “And they should be held accountable. And that’s what the president wants to see.”
RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene says she has received violent threats — and blames Trump
On Monday, the Department of War released a statement indicating that investigators were reviewing misconduct allegations against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and that he might face “court-martial proceedings or administrative measures” as a result.
Kelly responded on social media.
“If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,” he replied.
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