Courts & the law

"The military is still preparing to shoot a paralyzed man to death at the base where his crime took place," the WSWS wrote, folding the reversal into a broader expansion of state killing and comparing Hegseth to Himmler.

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The WSWS called the search "a lawless act of political persecution" and treated the Nov. 3 election itself as a target of a drive toward presidential dictatorship. Its rally report placed the raid beside Trump's Youngstown attacks on Somali immigrants on the same day.

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also cited World Socialist Web Site

"A new stage in the descent of the American state into fascistic barbarism" is how the WSWS framed the plan. It compared Hegseth to Heinrich Himmler and read the livestream as a message to soldiers who might refuse orders.

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The WSWS used Pike to frame Texas's execution of Jamaal Howard on Wednesday with pentobarbital, "the same drug Tennessee injected into Pike twice and that failed to kill her." It centered Howard's schizophrenia and claimed intellectual disability and called the execution a state killing.

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The WSWS wrote that the charge was added "to give the prosecution a semblance of credibility," and called the case a show trial. It centered Flores's injuries in detention and Trump's line at the UN, "To the victor belong the spoils."

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"Tennessee’s barbaric attempt to execute her" is the WSWS's phrase, folded into an attack on the Supreme Court's shadow-docket order that let the Pike execution proceed.

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The shackling, the WSWS wrote, "is an act of sheer sadism by the state." A second WSWS piece tied Pike to the Army firing-squad order for Nidal Hasan, writing that Tennessee's establishment is "debating not whether to kill, but how to kill more reliably."

World Socialist Web Site Oct 7 that day's brief ›

also cited World Socialist Web Site

"gruesome failed attempt to execute her" is the WSWS's phrase in its older piece. It foregrounded the sexual abuse Pike suffered as a child and noted that none of it reached the jury.

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"a vehicle for political repression based on a thinly veiled excuse," Jacobin called the use of immigration law against Omar. It argued the target list will widen past one congresswoman. The Intercept gave its episode to Rep. Delia Ramirez's bill to abolish DHS, quoting her that the department "cannot be reformed."

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also cited The Intercept

The Intercept argued that press framing of the plan as an aberration "overlooks a forgotten American cultural history" of filmed and staged executions.

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Truthout described a defense secretary "who often speaks of violence as a virtue," and it inserted that "Studies have repeatedly found no evidence that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to crime." The Intercept attacked the press framing that streaming would be an aberration, writing that it "overlooks a forgotten American cultural history in which filmed executions turned government killings into spectacle." Both pieces treated the cancellation as a retreat from a cruelty the administration had embraced.

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also cited The Intercept

"In the mode of historic fascist regimes," the Intercept began, describing a raid aimed at stripping her citizenship. Two of the four pieces used the search to promote Rep. Delia Ramirez's bill to abolish the Department of Homeland Security, quoting her line that "DHS is not rogue." Truthdig closed by urging readers to donate to Omar's campaign.

The Intercept Oct 14 that day's brief ›

also cited The InterceptTruthdigTruthout

"The brutality is the point," Truthout quoted from its board president's essay, tying the livestream to Christa Pike's failed execution. It rejected Trump's deterrence claim, writing that "there is no evidence supporting the idea that the death penalty can act as a deterrent."

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"The US government is doing snuff films," Hasan Piker told his stream, comparing the plan to ISIS videos and noting that Saudi Arabia had stopped public executions. He directed most of his anger at the audience he said the stream is built for, playing clips of influencers planning watch parties.

YouTube: HasanAbi Oct 11 that day's brief ›

"The murder, not only state-sanctioned but state-celebrated, is the very point," Truthout wrote. It set the livestream beside Christa Pike's failed execution and argued against capital punishment as a whole, including Democrats' support for it.

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Truthout set the charges beside the administration, which it said "has also been accused of employing torture techniques," citing CECOT, Alligator Alcatraz and Guantánamo. It noted the narco-terrorism statute has produced four trial convictions since 2006.

Truthout Oct 9 that day's brief ›

"raised eyebrows among many veteran former prosecutors," CBS wrote of the search's timing, setting it against DOJ guidance on overt steps near an election. All three liberal pieces centered the lawyers' letter, and the Guardian traced the probe to "promoting unsubstantiated rumors" about her ex-husband.

CBS News Oct 18 that day's brief ›

also cited MSNBCThe Guardian

NPR used the reversal to open a polling story on the death penalty, setting the 80% figure beside Gallup's 52% support for capital punishment. NBC carried Sen. Dan Sullivan's warning in the Alaska debate that a livestream would create more terrorists, and a MeidasTouch commentator said the plan meant "you're giving Hasan exactly what he wanted."

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also cited NBC NewsYouTube: MeidasTouch

NPR's headline held that "a line may already have been crossed," and its piece tied Hegseth's plan to his church, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, through religion scholars. NBC reported that Trump was not aware Hasan is paralyzed and that this factored into the decision, and CBS added that the last public U.S. execution was in 1936. The National Catholic Reporter centered the bishops who called the plan a promotion of a culture of death.

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also cited NBC NewsNBC NewsCBS NewsNational Catholic ReporterYouTube: Pod Save America

"It appears to run contrary to the DOJ's own internal guidelines," CBS wrote of the timing, explaining the department's unwritten 60-day rule. NBC also noted the search came "within the window of time when the Justice Department has typically avoided overt actions in criminal cases that could affect an election." All four liberal outlets reported procedure: the gutted Public Integrity Section, the magistrate's Speech or Debate protocols, and Omar's denial.

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also cited NBC NewsMSNBCThe Guardian

USA Today led with Omar's "defiant video" and gave U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro space to say a judge "would not have signed that warrant unless there was probable cause." MeidasTouch's Michael Popok questioned who swore the affidavit, citing a Justice Department official's failed polygraph.

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also cited YouTube: MeidasTouch

NPR traced the plan to Hegseth's "particular brand of Christian nationalism," with a religious-studies scholar linking it to his church's theology. NCR carried the Vatican's pro-life chief asking tech platforms to refuse the stream. On Pod Save America, the hosts called it "Obviously, it's morally despicable" and recalled why public hangings ended.

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also cited National Catholic ReporterYouTube: Pod Save America

The Guardian's Robert Tait wrote that the plan resembles "a grotesque Iran-imitation game," drawing on a hanging he witnessed in Iran in 2005. Across 11 receipts the camp ran three lines: Catholic moral objection, with NCR calling it "a remarkable leap backwards into medieval barbarity"; institutional surprise, with CNN reporting the announcement "caught people across the Pentagon and the Army off guard"; and global standing, with MSNBC writing it would "further solidify the U.S. as a global outlier on capital punishment."

The Guardian Oct 11 that day's brief ›

also cited National Catholic ReporterCNNMSNBCMSNBCNBC News

MSNBC put the failure on the Supreme Court: "The botch was made possible, in part, by the GOP-appointed majority" and its unexplained order. USA Today folded the discharge into the Pope's statement, writing that the case was "raising concerns about the practice."

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also cited USA Today

"a cascade of criticism quickly followed from human rights groups and many others," the BBC wrote, and it placed the plan beside Amnesty's count of only two countries, Iran and Afghanistan, carrying out public executions last year. The Hill organized the reversal into five takeaways that ended on Trump's wider push for the death penalty. Bloomberg and PBS reported it as an overruling of Hegseth after bipartisan backlash.

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also cited The HillBloombergPBS NewsHourPBS NewsHour

"The nature of the criminal investigation remains unclear," the BBC wrote in an explainer that laid out the age question, the New York Post's claims about her father's military career, and Omar's denials side by side. PBS ran the AP's account of the subpoenas, and The Hill reported CNN analyst Elie Honig's view that a Biden-era financial probe undercuts her selective-prosecution argument.

BBC News Oct 16 that day's brief ›

also cited PBS NewsHourThe Hill

The AP explainer on PBS posed the question "Is this political retribution?" and noted that "Justice Department protocol has long been to avoid legal action against politicians in the final weeks before their election." It laid out Trump's years of attacks on Omar alongside the immigration theory officials have floated.

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also cited PBS NewsHour

The AP piece on PBS opened by declaring "This is not an article about politics," then advised parents on shielding children from clips of the shooting. It laid out YouTube's rules on violent content and noted unanswered questions about delays and age limits.

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"a startling escalation in a criminal investigation," PBS's AP copy wrote, then laid out Vance's and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's earlier public accusations. The BBC put a crew outside the house and balanced Democratic condemnation with Rep. Tom Emmer's "ACCOUNTABILITY IS COMING!" A PBS interview reported that prosecutors first applied for the warrant more than a week earlier and went back and forth with a judge.

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also cited PBS NewsHourPBS NewsHourPBS NewsHourBBC NewsBBC News

The BBC told the story through the 1936 hanging of Rainey Bethea in Kentucky, writing: "That moment marked the last high-profile public hanging in the US." It quoted scholars on both sides of whether there is public demand for this, and reported Trump's and Vance's diverging statements.

BBC News Oct 11 that day's brief ›

"Her case is now in uncharted territory," the BBC wrote, recounting her recovery, her lawyers' push for commutation and the crime in a single paragraph.

BBC News Oct 11 that day's brief ›

"Legal path seems narrow to challenge livestream" is the PBS headline on its legal explainer. The BBC gave survivor Alonzo Lunsford, shot seven times, the space to support the firing squad while calling the stream "not something you should view for entertainment purposes."

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also cited PBS NewsHourBBC NewsBBC News

The Examiner relayed the Wall Street Journal's report that the probe is "aimed at seeking to build a basis to strip the congresswoman of her U.S. citizenship and deport her." It recapped Vice President Vance's earlier claim about a sham marriage without assessing it.

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The Bulwark's segment weighed the legal questions, national security risks and "concerns about turning a convicted terrorist into a martyr." It paired the story with a military-justice case on political speech in uniform.

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The Bulwark folded the search into "the growing weaponization of federal law enforcement just weeks before the midterm elections." The Dispatch listed it as a headline item without analysis.

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also cited The Dispatch

The Examiner backed the execution while arguing against the broadcast, telling the government not to "make it must-see-TV."

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"I grew up eight miles from Fort Hood’s gates," Army veteran Micah Ables wrote in The Dispatch, arguing from his hometown that spectacle adds nothing to the sentence. Two Dispatch podcasts took up the livestream, one with what Sarah Isgur called "a pretty grim historical review on the death penalty."

The Dispatch Oct 13 that day's brief ›

also cited The DispatchThe Dispatch

The Bulwark promoted a segment on "Hegseth" and his "planned execution spectacle," grouping it with the Guilfoyle and Trump-ad stories as one week of administration excess. The Washington Examiner stuck to the shifting position, noting "several different statements he has made on the controversy in the past two days."

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also cited Washington Examiner

"Voyeurs of a snuff film" is Bill Kristol's phrase for what the stream makes of citizens. JVL called it "bloodlust rooted in base ethnic hatred" and singled out "the strategic silence from professional pro-lifers." The Dispatch and the Examiner covered it more briefly.

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also cited The BulwarkThe BulwarkThe DispatchWashington Examiner

"Botched," Jonah Goldberg wrote, "seems inadequate for the taking of a life," in a column blaming abolitionist pressure for degrading lethal-injection supplies. On the Dispatch podcast, a panelist called the core problem "this attempt to sanitize and medicalize something like an execution," and another said he now opposes the death penalty, a split inside the same outlet.

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also cited The DispatchYouTube: The Dispatch

"It's weird and dehumanizing to gather in a crowd to watch someone else be killed," Reason wrote, tracing American hostility to public executions back to the colonial "bloody code."

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Charles Fain Lehman argued "there is no question that Hasan deserves to be executed" and opposed the stream for that reason. Reason's roundup compiled Republican objections, including Speaker Mike Johnson's warning about recruitment of future terrorists.

The Free Press Oct 14 that day's brief ›

also cited Reason Magazine

"The administration of justice should not be perverted into sport or entertainment," Liz Wolfe wrote. She opposed the plan on limited-government grounds and said it might turn the public against the death penalty.

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"No conservative would plausibly take that action," a Volokh Conspiracy post concluded, reading Alito's account of the Dobbs leak as ruling out a leaker on the right. A second post called Jan Crawford's reporting on Alito's role "worth heeding."

Reason Magazine Oct 5 that day's brief ›

also cited Reason Magazine

"yet another mass hysteria event" is how the Actual Justice Warrior commentator framed the case to about 100,000 viewers. He argued, citing the prosecutor's earlier decision, that the encounter was consensual and that the accused were convicted by social media.

YouTube: Actual Justice Warrior Oct 5 that day's brief ›

"Lethal injection dresses up the death penalty as something clinical and civilized." Reason's earlier piece argued the state's attempt to sanitize killing is what failed, and it noted the absurdity of medics working to save a woman the state had just tried to kill.

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"Killing people is, by definition, at odds with the meaning of the word," Reason wrote, after laying out data showing lethal injection has the highest botch rate and the firing squad the lowest. Reason treated humane execution as a contradiction rather than a design problem. The Free Press took a different route, interviewing a former Oregon prison superintendent who planned two executions and then turned against the practice.

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also cited Reason MagazineThe Free Press

"there is profound reason to doubt whether James intends to give them a fair shake," Reason wrote, pointing to James's Sept. 28 post calling the accuser a survivor, and it called Hochul's "loophole" claim confused. The Free Press split the lens: Caitlin Flanagan wrote that no brother was "man enough to shut it down" and set the legal dispute aside.

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also cited The Free Press

"Survivors of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre praised President Donald Trump's decision," Fox wrote, giving the reversal to the victims rather than to critics. Both Blaze pieces sided with the cancellation, one collecting thanks from Catholic and evangelical figures and the other telling readers that watching would cost them spiritually. None of the four MAGA pieces defended the stream itself.

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also cited Fox NewsThe BlazeThe Blaze

"The man has been treated with far more restraint than any American soldier should ever have expected after so consequential a betrayal," the Federalist wrote, citing World War II hangings. Tucker Carlson broke with that view on the spectacle, warning that "you never want self-righteousness to creep into your assessment of other people." The camp split on the broadcast, not the sentence.

The Federalist Oct 15 that day's brief ›

also cited YouTube: Tucker Carlson

The Federalist accused Democrats of "singing a different tune" after cheering the 2022 Mar-a-Lago search, and Fox gave ex-prosecutors room to say Democrats have dirty hands on election timing. Breitbart, the Daily Wire and Fox all ran the New York Post report that Omar's staff changed her listed birth year from 1981 to 1982 in 2019. The Blaze's own column held that "A warrant is not a verdict," while Glenn Beck warned "This could be really, really good, or this could be really, really, really bad."

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also cited Fox NewsFox NewsFox NewsFox NewsBreitbart News

"even she is questioning the military's decision to livestream his death," Fox wrote of survivor Julia Wilson, who wants to attend the execution. The Daily Wire reported Broglio "deplored the Pentagon’s plan" and gave Vance's defense the last word; Breitbart ran the statement straight. None of the three MAGA outlets defended the broadcast in its own voice.

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also cited The Daily WireBreitbart News

"Few condemned men could make a more difficult case for mercy," Fox wrote, then gave the piece to survivor Alonzo Lunsford, who wants Hasan dead and opposes the stream. Breitbart reported Hegseth "framing it as a warning" and noted the execution is set for the hour Hasan opened fire shouting "Allahu Akbar." The Daily Wire led with Vance on "the potentially live-streamed execution." Two of the four MAGA pieces centered Vance's doubt rather than Hegseth's plan.

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also cited Fox NewsBreitbart NewsThe Daily Wire

The Daily Wire identified her as "Pike, who tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995," detailed the box cutter, the pentagram and the skull fragment, and quoted the victim's mother saying she did not get justice.

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Benny Johnson argued the Bible "explicitly calls for capital punishment dozens of times" and spent the segment mocking Hillary Clinton's objection. The Blaze relayed that "Hegseth said the execution should be a deterrent to other criminals," and OAN printed Trump's "And he deserves it."

YouTube: Benny Johnson Oct 10 that day's brief ›

also cited The BlazeOne America News NetworkBreitbart News

"Motivated by radical Muslim extremism" is how OAN introduced Hasan, and it called the scheduled date the closest the case has come to final legal closure. All three MAGA outlets used "terrorist" or "Islamist" in their headlines. The Daily Wire carried Hegseth's line about Obama and workplace violence without correction, and Fox ran the Pentagon confirmation in two sentences of its own.

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also cited The Daily WireFox News

First Things' editors devoted a podcast segment to the canceled livestream alongside a discussion of corruption in the administration.

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Livestreamed executions "make a spectacle of the event," the Christian Post's op-ed argued, while its author wrote "I support the death penalty." The camp split inside its own pages: the Christian Post's news report printed Robert Jeffress backing a public execution and Tony Perkins opposing it. The American Conservative ran a brief news item.

The Christian Post Oct 16 that day's brief ›

also cited The Christian PostThe American Conservative

"Americans no longer have the stomach for public displays of violence," TAC wrote, while holding that "A firing squad is better than lethal injection" after the Pike case. It predicted footage of soldiers shooting a man in a wheelchair would repel viewers.

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The Christian Post headlined the aunt's belief that God willed Pike's survival, while describing the crime in its own words as "brutally torturing and murdering her 19-year-old classmate." It reported both the commutation plea and Slemmer's mother's anger.

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"It is not necessary to compromise on the truth in order to be compassionate," Allie Beth Stuckey told listeners. She said she would not "automatically say that Jane Doe is correct," framing the case as a test of truth over sympathy.

YouTube: Allie Beth Stuckey Oct 6 that day's brief ›

"cannot kill expeditiously one 50-year-old-woman," Theodore Dalrymple wrote in the paleoconservative magazine, mocking the state rather than the sentence. He called the 30-year delay a sign of the system's "incompetence and moral corruption," whatever one thinks of capital punishment, and closed with satire about private contractors and execution equality.

The American Conservative Oct 4 that day's brief ›

"The case has drawn reactions from pro-life advocates and from both opponents and supporters of the death penalty," the Christian Post wrote, then printed the split inside its own movement. It quoted Lila Rose calling the death penalty unnecessary and former Del. Nick Freitas citing Leviticus in its defense. The paper took no side.

The Christian Post Oct 3 that day's brief ›

"this juror is an absolute hero" is how a CBN host described Desronvil, comparing him to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. CBN's hosts tied the case to euthanasia in the Netherlands and gender medicine as signs of a culture calling evil good.

YouTube: CBN News Sep 19 that day's brief ›

Atlanta Black Star wrote that the raid "revived a question about his own standards," setting Trump's 2024 complaint about the Justice Department's 60-day practice beside Katie Miller's deleted celebratory post. The 19th, writing from a women's standpoint, framed it with "Trump has often directed his ire at women, particularly Black women." The Jewish outlet Algemeiner split from both, reminding readers that Omar "has emerged as a harsh critic of Israel" while stating no crime has been established.

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also cited The 19thThe Algemeiner

"Critics fear livestreaming Hasan’s death could turn him into a symbol for armed groups," Al Jazeera wrote, and it placed the case inside Trump's broader push to expand the federal death penalty, including to drug dealing and sedition.

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TheGrio wrote that Lunsford "has mixed feelings regarding the shooter" being executed on camera, quoting his plan to attend and look Hasan in the eye. It also printed Republican congressmen Austin Scott and Rob Bresnahan objecting to the stream.

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TheGrio described a lawsuit that "has swelled to become a nationwide story and further conversations regarding consent" and laid out Lopes's petition against James.

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"Campaign to project military toughness now includes an audience for an execution," The Advocate wrote. It placed the announcement in a line with Hegseth's Quantico speech mocking transgender people, and it set the plan beside Tennessee's failed attempt to execute Christa Pike.

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TheGrio reported the plan straight from Hegseth's interview and the Pentagon's confirmation. It closed by linking the announcement to the Pike case, quoting her lawyers on her psychological trauma.

TheGrio Oct 9 that day's brief ›

Al Jazeera wrote that botched executions are "a disturbingly common feature of capital punishment in the US," citing compounding pharmacies, untrained staff and the refusal of medical bodies to take part. It listed failed lethal injections in six states since 2022.

Al Jazeera Oct 9 that day's brief ›

TheGrio centered Justice Clarence Thomas, who enters the case "with a legal record that has prompted both sides to examine how he might approach the dispute." It alone reported that Alito "has recused himself because of his holdings in energy stocks," which could leave the court split 4-4.

TheGrio Oct 5 that day's brief ›

"But the propaganda damage is already done," 404 Media wrote, documenting Al Qaeda-aligned channels and TikTok edits already reviving Hasan as a martyr. Futurism called the original plan "an unfathomable act of cruelty for all to see."

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also cited Futurism