Tag: massachusetts

Massachusetts Couple Accused of ‘Kidnapping’ Their Own Five Children from State Custody

A Massachusetts couple is facing serious charges after allegedly kidnapping their five children, who had been placed in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Isael Rivera, 31, and Ruth Encarnacion, 30, were located by Fitchburg Police in early March, after a multi-state manhunt.

The couple is accused of taking the children across state lines in an attempt to evade DCF intervention.

Authorities believe the family fled Massachusetts shortly before the state attempted to enforce child protective measures, according to WCVB 5.
Rivera, the biological father of four of the five children, was arraigned last week in Fitchburg District Court. A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and he is currently being held without bail, WHDH reported.

Encarnacion, the mother of all five children, is scheduled to be arraigned this week and faces five counts of kidnapping a minor by a relative. A not-guilty plea has also been entered on her behalf.

According to law enforcement, the family went missing just as DCF prepared to remove the children from Encarnacion’s care on February 27.

Encarnacion’s sister reported her missing days later on March 3, citing a lack of contact since February 26. DCF officially reported the five children missing on March 5, triggering a state and federal search.

Court documents indicate that DCF had opened a case against the couple in February after a pediatrician flagged signs of neglect involving the youngest child, a 9-month-old.

DCF intervened shortly thereafter, but by then, the family had reportedly left Massachusetts.

According to unconfirmed reports, they told their pediatrician they were skipping vaccines for their baby.

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Anti-Trump ‘Resistance’ Leader’s Campaign Bankrolled By Dem Power Broker Tied To Chinese Intel Agency

Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu’s 2021 campaign received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a fundraiser who is listed by a Chinese intelligence agency as an official, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.

Gary Yu, the founder of Boston International Media Consulting, helped raise over $300,000 for Wu with the help of a Chinese civic association he leads. However, Yu — whose Chinese name is Yu Guoliang — is listed as an official by an agency of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence and intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD), and also operates as a recruiter for the Chinese government, according to reports from the CCP, Chinese state media and civic associations led by Yu.

“The Communist Party’s UFWD never rests,” author and China expert Gordon Chang told the DCNF. “There is no ethnic Chinese official in America who is not targeted. It’s time for law enforcement to investigate the CCP’s ties to Gary Yu and Yu’s ties to Mayor Michelle Wu.”

Wu has risen to national prominence as a central figure in the Democratic resistance to Trump’s border and deportation policies. Wu recently defended her city’s refusal to cooperate with immigration officials during her March 19, 2025 “State of the City” address, during which she criticized “presidents who think they are kings,” prompting the White House to fire back the next day with a press release labeling Wu a “radical mayor” who “puts violent criminal illegal aliens first.”

“Wu’s ultra-leftism makes her the perfect candidate for CCP recruitment and capture,” Chang said. “Or do we have it backward? Is her ultra-leftism the result of CCP recruitment and capture? More than just the people of Boston would like to know.”

Wu’s office, Yu, and Boston International Media Consulting did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

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DOGE Finds 3 States Are Responsible For Over Half Of All Unemployment Fraud

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has identified California, New York, and Massachusetts as the primary states responsible for over half of the fraudulent unemployment claims in the United States since 2020. According to DOGE’s findings, these three Democrat-led states accounted for $305 million out of the $382 million in improper claim payments.

DOGE’s survey revealed numerous fraudulent claims made by individuals with improbable ages , including those listed as over 115 years old, between one and five years old, and even with birthdates that have not yet occurred. These fraudulent claims amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, with $254 million claimed by children aged one to five and $69 million by individuals with future birthdates.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer emphasized the department’s commitment to recovering these funds, stating, “We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud.” Meanwhile, Elon Musk , who is spearheading the DOGE effort, highlighted the absurdity of the situation, noting that tax dollars were being used to pay fraudulent claims for “fake people born in the future.”

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Democrat Massachusetts Lawmaker Arrested on Federal Fraud Charges in Stunning Corruption Scandal

In yet another stunning chapter of Democrat corruption, Massachusetts State Representative Christopher Flanagan (D-First Barnstable) was arrested Thursday after being indicted on five counts of wire fraud and one count of falsification of records in connection to a brazen scheme to steal tens of thousands of dollars from a local trade association.

The embattled Cape Cod legislator allegedly used the stolen cash to fund everything from mortgage payments and Macy’s menswear to psychic services, children’s toys, and even his 2022 political campaign.

Flanagan, 37, who represents the Cape towns of Dennis, Yarmouth, and Brewster, is now facing up to 120 years in prison if convicted. He was arrested Thursday morning and is scheduled to appear in federal court at 2:30 p.m.

According to the bombshell federal indictment, Flanagan’s theft began in 2021 while he was serving as Executive Officer of the Home Builders Association of Cape Cod (HBA).

With personal debt mounting and his bank accounts hemorrhaging from overdraft fees and missed mortgage payments, Flanagan allegedly began siphoning money from the nonprofit — ultimately embezzling at least $36,000 through wire transfers, PayPal, and official checks.

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ICE Arrests Illegal Alien Outside Boston Courtroom as City Defies Feds – Now Judge Slaps Agent with Contempt

A Boston judge has held a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in contempt for executing his duty to detain an illegal immigrant during an ongoing trial.

On Thursday, March 27, 2025, ICE agents, ICE agent Brian Sullivan apprehended Wilson Martell-Lebron, a Dominican national illegally residing in the United States, as he exited the Boston Municipal Court.

Martell-Lebron, a Dominican national residing illegally in the country using fake identity, was on his second trial for charges related to falsifying information on a driver’s license application.

Despite the gravity of his alleged offenses, Boston’s lenient policies had allowed him to remain free until ICE agents, led by Agent Brian Sullivan, apprehended him outside the courthouse.

But instead of applause for upholding our borders, a Massachusetts state court judge—yet another cog in the radical left’s sanctuary machine—had the gall to hold an ICE agent in contempt.

Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville held Agent Sullivan in contempt, accusing him of violating Martell-Lebron’s so-called rights to due process and a fair trial.

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Nurses at Massachusetts hospital concerned about growing number of cancer cases among staff

Nurses at Newton-Wellesley Hospital say they’re concerned about growing numbers of cancer cases among longtime nurses who have been working on a fifth-floor maternal care ward. “You’re going into work every day with that feeling in your gut, and it’s a lousy feeling,” a nurse who doesn’t want to be identified tells WBZ-TV. 

She’s speaking out after being diagnosed with a brain tumor and says she’s not alone among her nursing colleagues. “It’s getting to the point where the number just increases, and you start saying am I crazy thinking this,” she said. “This can’t just be a coincidence.” 

Nurses diagnosed with brain tumors

She claims as many as ten nurses who work on the floor have been diagnosed with different brain tumors over the last few years, some cancerous and some not. She says three have had surgery and believes the hospital has not been supportive enough. 

“We want reassurance because this has not been a reassuring past few months for a lot of the staff members,” she said. “We want to feel safe, the same way we want to make our patients feel safe.” 

The hospital confirms it has been investigating since December and has interviewed ten nurses, six of whom it says have differing brain tumors. 

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O’Keefe Media Group: MGM Casino Marketing Director Says He’s “Not Going to Hire Whites”

A casino marketing director for the MGM Resorts in Springfield, Massachusetts, said he openly discriminates against whites during the hiring process.

“No matter how great they [Whites] look on paper, they don’t fit well with my team,” Albie Velarde, the Director of Casino Marketing at MGM Springfield told an undercover OMG journalist.

“I will purposefully look for those diverse-based hires,” he admitted.

Albie Velarde also revealed that MGM closely tracks the racial makeup of its workforce with HR providing monthly reports.

Velarde said, “At a [MGM] property level, HR sends us, every month when they send us our turnover summary of the month, they’ll point out this month we lost this amount of females versus males.”

These turnover summary reports influence hiring decisions, according to Velarde: “Hey guys, we’re losing all of our female workforce. Let’s try, you know, let’s put more females through the pipeline.”

Velarde also told the undercover journalist that they take race and gender into account when hiring employees to replace others who have left the company.

“So like if I lose one of my female hosts, I would try to replace her with a female,” Velarde said. “Selena, she’s my Vietnamese host, she’s very reserved, she’s very quiet. But that’s her culture. I would replace her with somebody who is, in some capacity, that culture.”

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Did a Senate Democrat Just Call for an Insurrection?

Do you remember when Democrats accused former President Trump of incitement for telling his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically” march to the Capitol to make their voices heard? Well, fast forward to today, and we have a sitting senator engaging in rhetoric that does far more than make a call for peaceful assembly. Earlier this week, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) advocated for “revolution” while standing outside in snow-covered Boston, a site steeped in revolutionary history.

“Massachusetts is where revolutions are born,” Markey began. “And the revolution against Donald Trump and Elon Musk starts here.”

“This is the city of revolutionaries from the American Revolution to create checks and balances in the United States Constitution so that we did not have a dictator — a king — the way those colonists were living under it. And they fought all along Massachusetts Avenue. All coming out, the men and women to say, ‘no taxation without representation.’ We want to have a balance, we cannot have a king.”

Markey’s choice of words raises an important question: is “revolution” just a dog whistle for “insurrection”? His post on X proudly calls for this upheaval, and he pinned it to his account to make sure people see it. Perhaps he believes this kind of incendiary language is acceptable when those on the left wield it.

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Sell Flavored Tobacco in Massachusetts, Go To Jail

In 2022, I wrote an article for Reason predicting that it was only a matter of time before selling flavored tobacco products landed an American behind bars. Almost three years later, that day has arrived in Massachusetts. According to a press release from the Middlesex district attorney and the Department of Revenue, the owner of a Marlborough vape shop has pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted tax evasion arising from the sale of e-cigarettes brought in from across state borders. He was sentenced to serve six months in the House of Correction and five years probation.

In 2020, Massachusetts became the first state to implement a comprehensive ban on all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes. Violation of the flavor ban is only a misdemeanor, but since flavored tobacco products are sold on the illicit market, sellers simultaneously violate state tax law. This brings much harsher penalties into play. In Massachusetts, evading taxes on tobacco products is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Criminal justice reformers have warned for years that flavor bans would encourage illicit markets, creating felony crimes in the process. For example, a 2021 coalition letter signed by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers warned that a federal menthol ban would create “a massive law enforcement problem for states, counties, and cities since all states treat unlicensed sale of tobacco products as a crime—usually as a felony punishable by imprisonment.”

This is a prescient description of how the comprehensive flavor ban in Massachusetts is working out. The latest annual report from the state’s Multi-Agency Illegal Tobacco Task Force (published in February 2024) notes: “Field personnel are routinely encountering or seizing untaxed menthol cigarettes, originally purchased in other states, and flavored ENDS [electronic nicotine delivery systems] products and cigars purchased from unlicensed distributors operating both within and outside the Commonwealth. Without providing too much detail about the processes and methods of Task Force enforcement strategies, smugglers are developing more sophisticated smuggling operations to counter the Task Force’s targeted investigations.” 

These annual reports document law enforcement activity directly related to the flavor ban. Massachusetts has seized so much contraband tobacco and so many e-cigarettes that the state struggles to find the capacity to store it all. There are many instances of individuals arrested for possessing allegedly commercial quantities of menthol cigarettes or flavored e-cigarettes, with some of these cases referred for prosecution.

The Marlborough case is one of the first, if not the first, to resolve with a guilty plea and criminal sentence. The defendant is 62-year-old Ashraf Youssef, who owned AAA Smoke and Vape Shop. According to prosecutors, he “routinely” purchased e-cigarettes from out-of-state distributors between 2020 and 2022, evading $467,000 in excise taxes. In high-tax states like Massachusetts, there are obviously financial reasons to smuggle products from other jurisdictions, but the prohibition on flavored products offers additional motivation.

The Massachusetts flavor ban took effect in 2020, and minutes from a 2022 Marlborough Board of Health meeting note multiple instances of Youssef’s shop selling flavored products. In December of 2021, for example, a “Tobacco Control Manager stopped at the establishment, witnessed the sale of flavored tobacco products, and found 300 disposable flavored vapes.” And in March of 2022, “The Marlborough Police Department was sent to investigate suspicious activity in the parking lot of AAA Smoke & Vape. They determined the business has a car parked outside where patrons can walk up & purchase flavored vape products for cash.”

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A Massachusetts School District Rolled Back Advanced Classes. Teachers Are Starting To Revolt.

In 2021, a school district in Newton, Massachusetts, got rid of advanced classes in a bid to increase racial equity. But instead of reducing achievement gaps between racial groups, teachers are now sounding the alarm that the strategy is resulting in classrooms that serve neither struggling students nor high achievers. 

According to a Boston Globe article by reporter Carey Goldberg, several parents brought up similar concerns with the new policy—but say they were smeared as “racists” and “right-wingers.”

Goldberg writes that, in 2022, a group of three moms—all Democrats—started a petition to create a parental advisory panel for the school district. The move was motivated by what one parent described as “ideology superseding student needs,” following the school district’s decision to place students in “multilevel classes.” In these new classes, rather than sorting students by ability, students would learn together in the same classroom. The school also decided to stop allowing advanced math students to skip a year to access higher-level classes. The parents also shared concerns that the school’s approach to race and identity issues “emphasized differences rather than commonalities.”

The women say they were branded as far-right conservatives motivated by racial animus rather than a genuine concern for academic opportunities. According to Goldberg, Parent Teacher Organization newsletters urged parents to speak out against the petition at a public meeting. An email from local activist group Families Organizing for Racial Justice said that the petition was “tied to the apparent belief that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts that take race into account compromise academic excellence” and claimed that some petitioners “challenge the need for any activities related to micro-aggressions, inclusion, respect or belonging.”

“The mothers and their allies found themselves portrayed online and in public as dog-whistling bigots doing the bidding of right-wing national groups. Social media comments painted their side as ‘racism cloaked as academic excellence’ and ‘right-wing activism cloaked as parental concern,'” Goldberg wrote. At one meeting, a speaker compared those who supported the petition to “white women who helped perpetuate segregation and white supremacy.”

But years later, the Newton mothers are being vindicated. Teachers themselves are now openly criticizing multilevel classes, arguing that it isn’t serving students’ needs.

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