Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump were friends before Mr. Trump entered politics.  First lady Melania Trump and Akie Abe were also friends, and the two couples spent a great deal of time together before and during President Trump’s term in office.

Following the assassination attempt, President Trump released the following statement via Truth Social:  “Absolutely devastating news that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, a truly great man and leader, has been shot, and is in very serious condition. He was a true friend of mine and, much more importantly, America. This is a tremendous blow to the wonderful people of Japan, who loved and admired him so much. We are all praying for Shinzo and his beautiful family!”

UPDATE: Suspect Captured. The suspect in the Highland Park, Illinois, mass shooting has been identified as 22-year-old Robert “Bobby” E Crimo III.  An active manhunt is underway for his capture.  Crimo is reportedly driving a silver 2010 Honda Fit (pictured below).

Update – A person of interest has been identified in Monday’s deadly mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade outside Chicago, authorities said.

Officials said he was 22-year-old Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III and is believed to be driving a 2010 silver Honda Fit.

The gunman opened fire with a “high-powered rifle” while standing on a roof just minutes after the parade began in the tony suburb of Highland Park, where six people were left dead and 24 others injured.

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During a July 4th celebration in Highland Park, a suburb north of Chicago, a gunman has opened fire shooting at least 16 people and reported killing 6 people.  A press conference is pending.  The shooting took place during a parade to celebrate the Fourth of July.  {Press Conference Livestream}  The shooter is NOT in custody.

Suspect description: White Male, 18 to 20 years of age, long black hair, small build, white or light blue t-shirt.   A manhunt is underway to capture the suspect. According to local officials the shooter was positioned on a rooftop when he opened fire.

Illinois (via NBC) – […] Sixteen people were shot and at least five people were killed Monday morning in a shooting at Highland Park’s Independence Day parade, officials confirmed, urging residents to continue to “shelter in place” as the gunman remains at large.

The shooting happened just after 10 a.m. in downtown Highland Park, according to reports. A large police presence from the state and neighboring suburban Chicago departments was seen along the parade route.

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Some very good reporting here from local journalists with KVUE and the Austin-American Statesman. Local journalists were able to view CCTV video from inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, showing heavily armed police were in the building with at least one ballistic shield only 19 minutes after the school shooter entered the building.

In a very disturbing update to the story.  KVUE has outlined a new timeline with the details from the CCTV system, showing the police had all the resources they needed to deal with the shooter, yet they stood down for an additional 58 minutes and waited.  The local media broadcast is below.  Senior KVUE Reporter Tony Plohetski discusses the details of surveillance footage taken at Robb Elementary. WATCH:

UVALDE, Texas — On Monday, KVUE and its news partners at the Austin American-Statesman exclusively obtained surveillance footage from inside Robb Elementary School on the day of the May 24 shooting.

The footage shows that multiple officers were inside the building with rifles and at least one ballistic shield, 19 minutes after the gunman arrived. They didn’t enter the classroom the shooter was inside for nearly another hour. (read more)

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Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have announced their agreement for new laws which will restrict gun ownership.  The measures include a new federal firearm registry (known colloquially as “enhanced background checks”), and new laws for the federal government to define the standard of mental health that will allow gun ownership (known colloquially as “red flag laws”).

If approved, the structure looks somewhat similar to current discussion.  Continued or new firearm ownership will be permitted if the cross functional DHS/FBI social media and cognitive stability panel (the moderators inside Govt, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Microsoft) approve the mental outlook of the firearm applicant.

The NSA database containing all privacy information on individuals will likely be accessed by a much larger audience of stakeholders (teachers, employers, social workers, bureaucrats) who will conduct ongoing stability reviews for firearm owners and flag any concerning content.

According to ABC – […]  The 20 lawmakers — double the initial bipartisan group who restarted negotiations late last month — are Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Chris Coons of Delaware, John Cornyn of Texas, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Angus King of Maine, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of Utah, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

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If you know the way Washington DC thinks, specifically thinks about their own scale of importance amid a world filled with lesser people who do not understand the value of their elite place in the construction of government, then you could easily predict what is happening right now.

A previous senate bill that would have afforded security details to Supreme Court Justices, is now stalled in the House of Representatives as Nancy Pelosi and top Democrat politicians add an additional set of people who should gain the full benefit of taxpayer funded security details.

Democrats in the House are using the opportunity provided by bipartisan agreement to enhance the personal security services for the Judicial Branch, in order to assign the same privileges to staff, aides and people who work within the administration of government. DC is nothing if not predictable in their elitist view of their self-importance.

At the same time as Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats, along with some insufferable republicans who pretend not to know how these issues are always manipulated to the benefit of the administrative state, are urgently constructing limits and restrictions to disarm lawful Americans; they are simultaneously building their own system of personal protective services to insure they never have to face the same physical risks they initiate upon everyone else.

WASHINGTON DC – […] House Democratic leadership didn’t agree to the vote because they want a broader bill that would include enhanced security, which could include extending protection to clerks and other staff.

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Everything about this story is suspicious.  A California man travels all the way to Maryland only to be intercepted by unnamed police at 1:50am, and then admits he was intent on killing Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh because he was angry about the possibility of SCOTUS overturning Roe -v- Wade.  Uh huh.

The first indicator something is sketchy is the WaPo with the breaking news. The second indicator is Peter Strzoks BFF journalist Devlin Barrett with the story.  Assuming the U.S. Marshals office still holds some credibility, the Occam’ Razor of the sourcing would indicate it’s the FBI delivering the information to the Washington Post.

WASHINGTON – A California man carrying at least one weapon near Brett M. Kavanaugh’s Maryland home has been taken into custody by police after telling officers he wanted to kill the Supreme Court justice, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The man, described as being in his mid-20s, was found to be carrying at least one weapon and burglary tools, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Police were apparently notified that the person might pose a threat to the justice, but it was not immediately clear who provided the initial tip, these people said. The man apparently did not make it onto Kavanaugh’s property in Montgomery County but was stopped on a nearby street, these people said.

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The CCTV video of this attack is almost too much to watch.  {Direct Rumble Link)

A 17-year-old repeat offender pleaded guilty to two felony charges of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and one felony count of hit-and-run.  However, in a stunning sentence, Los Angeles DA George Gascon make the unilateral decision to send the guy to 5 to 7 months in a diversionary probation camp. [Fox News Link] WATCH:

The young mom named as Rachel is furious at the wrist slap. Incredibly the young lady and her baby were not seriously injured.  “I thought those were the last moments of our lives; we were dead,” the mother, who asked to be identified only as Rachel, wrote in a victim’s impact statement. “That feeling, along with the memory of a car accelerating directly into us, will haunt me forever.”

[…] “As the car approached me and my child, I stopped walking and moved the stroller and myself up against a building on the right side of the road to ensure that we gave the reckless driver plenty of room to pass,” Rachel said. “As the car got dangerously close to us, [the juvenile suspect] turned the wheels in our direction and accelerated as he aimed to kill us.”

Rachel blasted Gascon for what she feels is an extremely light sentence.

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North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson had a few things to say about protecting our schoolchildren and preserving our second amendment rights.   During a well-received NRA speech, Robinson was swinging big truth timber. {Direct Rumble Link}  ENJOY:

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You may have caught part of a press briefing by Florida’s Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd where he is very deliberate about the Guardian Program in Florida.  However, the entire press conference he delivered about school security is well worth the watch.

Before the Parkland High School shooting, Sheriff Judd maintained a school security program called “Sentinel” in Polk County.  After the Parkland event and subsequent investigation, Judd’s Sentinel program was rolled out state-wide with expanded training and became the “Guardian Program” for all schools.   There are armed guardians at every school in the state.  Here’s the press briefing, it’s worth the watch (particularly the first 15 minutes).  WATCH:

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