Tag: religion

Relative Spills on Lance Twiggs’ Relationship with Charlie Kirk Assassin: ‘Full of Evil and Hatred,’ Feared He Might Hurt Someone, Raged Against Christians and Conservatives

A relative of Lance Twiggs has confirmed he is in a romantic relationship with Tyler Robinson, and that he “harboured animosity” for conservatives and Christians.

Robinson is the 22-year-old accused of assassinating conservative icon Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

It has been reported by multiple outlets that Robinson, who grew up in a conservative Utah family, lived with a transgender partner named Lance Twiggs at the time of the shooting.

The relative, who asked to remain anonymous, told Wisconsin Right Now that Twiggs is “full of evil and hatred.”

WRN reports:

The shaken relative, who almost broke down into tears at one point during the interview, asked not to be named. WRN tracked down the family member through datamining sites that showed the familial linkage to Twiggs.

The relative alleged that Lance Twiggs is “not mentally well at all.” Asked whether Lance was transgender and transitioning, the family member alleged, “This is true. I can’t be sure of when it started. I have suspicions it would have been about four years.”

The family member alleged to WRN that Robinson was Lance Twiggs’ boyfriend. “I knew he had a boyfriend. I never met him. None of us had.” The relative was not sure how long they were together.

Asked how the relative knew Robinson was allegedly Lance Twiggs’ boyfriend, the relative responded: “Lance disclosed that. Not to me directly. He wanted to have lunch with other family members to introduce his boyfriend.”

“I know the reason I had nothing to do with him is he (Lance Twiggs) is full of evil and hatred,” the family member alleged about Lance Twiggs. “While this is extremely shocking, I was afraid he might hurt someone,” they said, claiming this belief was based on “things he would say to family members.”

The relative would not elaborate on what caused that belief.

They explained that they had not seen Twiggs in at least four years and had not met Robinson.

“I did not want him around my personal family. He’s not a healthy person. He is very angry with anyone who is supportive of conservative ideals and Christian values,” the relative explained.

They added that the family is devastated, especially because they liked Kirk.

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German farmer investigated over gift from Russia

A farmer is facing criminal prosecution in Germany over receiving a small Easter gift from a Russian friend. The man is now accused of violating sanctions and could face up to five years behind bars.

A public prosecutor’s office in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania confirmed on Friday that a criminal case had indeed been opened against a local man on suspicion of violating the restrictions.

The case dates back several months, to when a German customs office intercepted a small package which was sent to the farmer from Russia. According to the broadcaster NDR, the package contained a piece of soap, a wooden figurine, and a CD – worth less than €27 ($32) in total. All of the items were on the sanctions list, the report said, adding that the customs office had confiscated the package and a probe was opened into it.

The farmer, who has been identified as Rudolf Denissen by NDR, could face between three months and five years of imprisonment if found guilty. The prosecutor’s office also requested an official written statement from him, as well as “complete personal details and information on net monthly income.”

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US Condemns Prosecution of Finnish Lawmaker Over Bible Verse Tweet

Finland’s prosecution of Päivi Räsänen has drawn sharp condemnation from the US State Department, which labeled the charges “baseless” and included a Bible verse in a rare public gesture of support.

This comes as Finland’s Supreme Court prepares to hear a case widely regarded as a test of whether expressing religious beliefs can be treated as a criminal act in a democratic nation.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor made its position clear on X, stating: “In a democracy, no one should face trial for peacefully sharing their beliefs. The case against Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen, which accuses her of hate speech for simply posting a Bible verse, is baseless, as two courts have unanimously found.”

The post included a verse from Matthew 5:11: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”

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Longtime head of Mexican megachurch is indicted in New York on federal sex trafficking charges

The longtime head of a Mexican megachurch who is serving more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young followers has been charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking for allegedly victimizing members of the church for decades, authorities said Wednesday.

A federal grand jury in New York returned the indictment alleging that Naasón Joaquín García, 56, and five others exploited the church for decades to enable the systemic sexual abuse of children and women for the sexual gratification of García and his father, who died in 2014.

The newly unsealed indictment said the criminal activity included the creation of photos and videos of child sexual abuse.

García was taken into federal custody early Wednesday in Chino, California, where he is serving a more than 16-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2022 to two state counts

His lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

García is the head of La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), which claims to have 5 million followers worldwide. Believers consider him to be the “apostle” of Jesus Christ.

Prosecutors in California have said that he used his spiritual sway to have sex with girls and young women who were told it would lead to their salvation – or damnation if they refused.

Besides García, one defendant charged in the case was taken into custody in Los Angeles while another was arrested in Chicago, authorities said. Three others were at large.

According to the indictment, two of the defendants and others tried to destroy evidence and prevent victims of the sexual abuse from speaking to law enforcement after García was arrested.

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Critical Update: Evangelical Leaders Raided and Jailed in South Korea Like in Mao’s China

South Korea Escalates Crackdown on Evangelical Leaders: From Billy Kim to Son Hyun-bo

SEOUL — South Korea’s Christian community is reeling from a rapid series of unprecedented state actions that many describe as a coordinated campaign of religious persecution. After prosecutors raided the home and ministry of Reverend Billy Kim — globally known as Billy Graham’s interpreter and longtime evangelical partner — a special prosecutor issued a summons for him. Only days later, authorities jailed Reverend Son Hyun-bo, senior pastor of Busan’s Saegero Church, on charges stemming from pastoral speech and online posts.

These moves come despite repeated warnings from President Donald Trump and his close allies, who have publicly voiced concern over mounting attacks on religious freedom in South Korea. Observers warn that the Lee Jae-myung government’s actions resemble authoritarian tactics designed to silence pro-American and conservative Christian voices.

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Texas attorney general wants students to pray in school – unless they’re Muslim

Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general running for US Senate, has long believed in school prayer. Now, he’s prescribing precisely what type of prayer he wants the state’s 6 million public school students to recite.

“In Texas classrooms, we want the Word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up,” Paxton said in a statement on Tuesday, encouraging students to say “the Lord’s Prayer, as taught by Jesus Christ”.

The press release included the full text of the Lord’s Prayer as it is written in the King James version of the Bible, the latest example of Paxton and other Texas officials seeming to endorse Christianity over other faiths.

“Twisted, radical liberals want to erase Truth, dismantle the solid foundation that America’s success and strength were built upon, and erode the moral fabric of our society,” Paxton said. “Our nation was founded on the rock of Biblical Truth, and I will not stand by while the far-left attempts to push our country into the sinking sand.”

Paxton’s statement was released as Senate Bill 11 went into effect across Texas; it’s a piece of Republican legislation allowing schools to set aside time for “prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious texts” during the school day. Critics have condemned the bill as an attempt to imbue a secular public education in the state with the practice of Christianity, in violation of the US constitution’s separation of church and state.

“They’re blowing right through separation of church and state,” said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

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Texas Woman Sentenced for ‘Devastating and Dangerous’ Arson Attack on Washington Church

A 38-year-old woman from Temple, Texas, was sentenced Thursday for setting a Washington state church on fire in 2023.

Natasha Marie O’Dell will spend the next six years in prison after her sentencing on three felonies, Fox 7 reported on Saturday.

In a press release on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington said O’Dell committed arson in targeting the Seattle Laestadian Lutheran Church (SLLC) in Snohomish County on August 25, 2023.

She was visiting relatives in Woodinville at the time, and officials later linked her to the crime through cell phone records, credit card records, and surveillance video.

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Ukraine Gov’t Looks to Ban Branch of Orthodox Church over Ties to Russia

The Ukrainian government has declared that a branch of the Orthodox Church has failed to sever its longstanding ties with Moscow – and could soon be banned.

The looming ban affects one of the two rival branches of Orthodoxy in the country and further underscores the turbulent role of religion as Ukraine fends off the Russian invasion. Orthodoxy is the majority religion in both Russia and Ukraine and has served as a cultural and spiritual battleground in tandem with the wider war.

The action comes a year after the Ukrainian Parliament passed a law banning the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church due to its strong support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The law also authorized banning any organization tied to the Russian church. A government investigation into the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with its centuries-old ties to Moscow, soon followed.

The UOC denounced the full-blown Russian invasion from the start in 2022. It declared its independence from the Moscow church the same year and reiterated that stance in 2025.

Even so, the government says the UOC has refused to take necessary steps, such as revising its governing documents, to complete that separation.

The Aug. 27 government action, while long in the works, still requires more legal processes to take full effect.

The government has petitioned a court to ban the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church itself. The church, if it loses, would have the right to one appeal to a higher court before the case is finalized – a process that could be completed in months, its lawyer said.

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Trump’s Department of Education CONFIRMS Biden Regime WEAPONIZED the Agency Against Christians

A new report confirms what millions of Americans had already known for years: Joe Biden’s Department of Education was weaponized against Christians, unleashing the full weight of the federal government to punish people of faith.

The findings come from the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, created under President Donald Trump and chaired by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

According to the report obtained by Fox News, the Biden administration engaged in “numerous instances” of anti-Christian bias that went far beyond policy disagreements and into outright persecution.

“The Task Force makes this commitment: the federal government will never again be permitted to turn its power against people of faith,” the report reads.

“Under President Trump and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, in partnership with all members of this Task Force, the rule of law will be enforced with vigor, and every religion will be treated with equality in both policy and action.

“The days of anti-Christian bias in the federal government are over. Faith is not a liability in America—it is a liberty,” the report added.

The Department of Education (DOE) tried to impose record-breaking fines on some of America’s largest Christian universities:

The report also documents how Biden’s DOE created a “book ban coordinator,” a bureaucratic hatchet job designed to target school boards and parents who dared object to sexually explicit or age-inappropriate material being forced on their children.

In other words, Christian parents standing up for their kids were treated as criminals.

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Dearborn Heights Police Department Unveils Police Patch with Arabic Writing

The Dearborn Heights Police Department became the first in the nation to feature a police patch with Arabic writing.

The patch was designed by Officer Emily Murdoc with the intent to honor the diversity of the community.

“The Dearborn Heights Police Department is proud to share a new patch that our officers may wear as part of their uniform,” the Dearborn Heights Police Department said in a Facebook post.

“This patch was created by Officer Emily Murdoch, who designed it to reflect and honor the diversity of our community – especially the many residents of Arabic descent who call Dearborn Heights home. By incorporating Arabic script alongside English, this patch represents unity, respect, and our shared commitment to service. We are proud of Officer Murdoch’s creativity and dedication in helping our department better represent the people we serve,” they said.

“Our officers proudly serve all members of our community, and this new design is another way we continue to celebrate the rich cultures that make our city unique,” they said.

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