Good morning, and welcome to the Epoch Times News Brief for Thursday, March 21, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas.
Appeals Court Reinstates Hold on Texas Immigration Law
A federal appeals court has issued an order reinstating a hold blocking Texas from enforcing a law that allows local law enforcement to arrest suspected illegal immigrants.The decision came from a three-judge panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which voted 2–1 to overturn a previous ruling that granted an administrative stay on the law’s implementation.
The prior ruling had temporarily halted an injunction from a federal district court judge in Austin, Texas. The Austin judge’s rationale was that the law might pave the way for other states to enact their own immigration legislation.
Following the March 19 order, the Fifth Circuit will hear arguments on whether to stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal. A dissenting opinion by Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham argued for the law to remain enforceable.
This decision came after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request from the Biden administration to review the administrative stay. The Department of Justice argued that the law violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and that states do not have the power to enforce immigration laws.
The law, known as SB4, allows for the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants and grants state judges authority over their deportation. Mexico’s government has declared that it will not accept the return of illegal immigrants from Texas.
This is a developing story and please keep tuned in for updates.
Judge Grants Trump’s Request to Appeal Fani Willis Disqualification Decision
Former President Donald Trump and seven co-defendants have been granted a certificate of immediate review by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. This allows them to appeal the judge’s order denying the disqualification of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.The certificate, filed on March 20, allows them to seek an appeal from the Georgia Court of Appeals, which has the discretion to accept or decline to hear the case. The co-defendants involved in the appeal are Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Robert Cheeley, Michael Roman, Harrison Floyd, Cathleen Latham, and David Shafer.
The request for immediate review, filed on March 18 by Steve Sadow, attorney to President Trump, stems from Judge McAfee’s decision to allow Ms. Willis to remain on the high-profile case, in which President Trump is accused of election interference.
President Trump has denied wrongdoing and has called the case a politically motivated “witch hunt” meant to undermine his 2024 comeback bid for the White House.
Ms. Willis was accused of having an “improper” romantic relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade and benefitting from it financially.
Judge McAfee said in a March 15 order that there was an appearance of impropriety but that no conflict of interest had been proven. He found that disqualifying Ms. Willis wouldn’t be the appropriate remedy to the appearance of impropriety and instead ordered Mr. Wade off the case. Mr. Wade resigned hours after the morning order was issued.
The case still has 15 defendants (four have accepted plea bargains) and is expected to run for about six months.
Charges Dropped Against Gold Star Dad Arrested for Interrupting Biden’s State of the Union
Charges have reportedly been dropped against Steve Nikoui, the father of the late Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, after he was arrested for interrupting President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this month.House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed the dropping of charges, and the office of Brian Schwalb, the Democratic attorney general in Washington, also stated that they would not pursue charges.
Mr. Nikoui’s 20-year-old son was among 13 U.S. service members killed when an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated explosives near Abbey Gate terminal at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 26, 2021. His death occurred during a chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Mr. Nikoui attended the State of the Union as a guest of Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and interrupted President Biden’s speech by yelling “Abbey Gate” and “United States Marines,” referencing his son’s tragic death.
Following his comments, Mr. Nikoui was removed from the chamber and arrested by Capitol Police. He was subsequently arrested and charged with misdemeanor protest of crowding, obstructing, or incommoding Congress after violating the D.C. Code, Capitol Police confirmed.
Speaking to DailyMail.com a week after his arrest, Mr. Nikoui said he felt compelled to stand up and disrupt President Biden’s speech after he failed to mention the names of the soldiers killed near Abbey Gate.
“He knew that there were other Gold Star family members, he could’ve at least just said their names and this would have been done,” Mr. Nikoui said of President Biden.
He said President Biden’s failure to acknowledge those killed in the Kabul bombing was “just total disrespect” to him and the other parents of the soldiers who lost their lives during the explosion.
Several Republican lawmakers, including Mr. Mast, Rep. Michael Waltz, and Rep. Darrell Issa, had urged officials to drop the charges against Mr. Nikoui following his arrest. They criticized President Biden’s handling of the situation and welcomed the news that charges were dropped against the Gold Star father.
“He did nothing wrong. And this is the right decision,” Mr. Issa said. “What we need is a lot more media coverage of the Gold Star families from Afghanistan and the accountability they deserve.”
Christian Actress Fired Over Religious Post Loses Appeal
Actress Seyi Omooba, known for her Christian beliefs, is facing legal fees of over $414,000 after being removed from the lead role in the stage production of “The Color Purple” due to a controversial Facebook post about homosexuality made in 2014.Despite her claims of discrimination, breach of contract, and harassment being dismissed, the Employment Tribunal London has ordered Ms. Omooba to cover the legal expenses of her former agency and the Curve Theatre, where she was slated to perform. The final amount she may have to pay is yet to be determined pending further assessment.
Ms. Omooba’s legal battle ensued after she filed a lawsuit against the theater and her agency, alleging discrimination and breach of contract. The controversy stems from her Facebook post in September 2014, in which she expressed Christian beliefs regarding homosexuality, particularly in response to legislative changes on same-sex marriage. In the post, she asserted her belief that homosexuality is not innate and that homosexual practices are not morally acceptable, citing biblical verses to support her stance.
Ms. Omooba’s lawyers argued that she did not perceive her character in the production as a lesbian and was not explicitly informed of the character’s sexual orientation.
In response to the ruling, Christian Concern, a group supporting Christians facing discrimination, condemned it as an act of censorship and discrimination, characterizing Ms. Omooba’s case as a reflection of broader societal issues. Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, criticized the tribunal’s decision as an endorsement of ideological conformity over religious freedom and vowed to appeal the decision.
Curve Theatre welcomed the tribunal’s rejection of Ms. Omooba’s claims.
Graphic Congressional Hearing Puts a Face on Harvesting Aborted Baby Organs
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) takes issue with calling abortion “women’s health care,” and to illustrate her point, she spent the first 10 minutes of a congressional hearing on Tuesday graphically describing the different types of abortions, and showing photos of the instruments used in the procedures.That was only the beginning of a hearing filled with gruesome testimony, photos, and videos.
She was the host of the hearing, titled “Investigating the Black Market of Baby Organ Harvesting,” attended by Reps. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas).
The hearing also featured testimonies and evidence of Planned Parenthood’s involvement in selling aborted baby body parts for research. David Daleiden, founder of the Center for Medical Progress, shared undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood employees discussing these practices.
He revealed a contract between Planned Parenthood and the University of California that exchanges “access to fetal and placental tissues, which are proprietary materials” of Planned Parenthood. The potential financial gain from this arrangement is significant.
“The abortion industry, led by Planned Parenthood, is a powerful special interest in our country. They fight to silence reporting on their black market of aborted baby organ harvesting,” he said. “The ongoing cover-up goes to the highest levels of our government. Kamala Harris, as the Planned Parenthood-endorsed attorney general of California in 2016, raided my apartment to seize hundreds of hours of unreleased undercover footage.”
Planned Parenthood went to court and won an injunction preventing the release of the remaining footage. Mr. Daleiden and his organization now face a $25 million fine in connection with this incident.
Another witness, Terrisa Bukovinac, founder of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), recounted the discovery of boxes containing the remains of aborted babies being loaded onto a medical waste truck headed to a Maryland incinerator.
Ms. Bukovinac and PAAU’s director of activism Lauren Handy told a worker there were aborted babies in the boxes and asked if they could have a box to give the babies a proper burial. Inside, they found the remains of 110 first-trimester babies and five later-term babies that appeared to have been in the second and third trimesters. They named each one, held a funeral mass with a Catholic priest, and buried the 110 first-trimester babies in a cemetery.
They contacted the police through an attorney, asking the police to take the babies and have an autopsy performed to determine if the five later-term babies were legally or illegally aborted.
While police did collect the babies, that same day, the FBI arrested Ms. Handy and charged her with a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for an October 2020 incident at the same abortion business, where pro-life activists held a sit-in. For that, Ms. Handy and others with similar charges were found guilty of violating the FACE Act and have been in federal prison for seven months, awaiting sentencing.
Each faces up to 11 years in prison for participating in that sit-in. No one has been charged in connection with the suspected partial-birth and late-term abortions.
Ms. Bukovinac also expressed concern about the $57 million spent on fetal tissue research by the federal government in 2022. The hearing shed light on the monetization of abortion in the United States and raised questions about the ethical implications of such practices.
Ms. Greene said the hearing was meant to begin to make changes.
“The biggest change that needs to be made is: there should be no baby slaughtered in their mother’s womb or partially born and slaughtered barbarically for their body to be sold,” Ms. Greene said. “I can’t imagine any American disagreeing with that.”
Finally, earlier this week, we brought you a story about an illegal immigrant, who was charged with carrying a semi-automatic pistol despite knowing he was unlawfully in the United States.
However, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman dismissed his case, ruling that the law banning illegal immigrants from possessing guns violated the Second Amendment.
People continue to send us their comments regarding this story and understandably, a number of folks have very strong opinions.
Mr. Tyler says, “What is happening now, the illegals are not citizens of this country. Hence, they have no rights under the second amendment. Judges who rule against that are tearing the country apart.”
Mr. Andrew wrote in to express his appreciation of The Epoch Times for reporting the complete story. He wrote in his email that illegal immigrants “are not citizens of this country and do not fall under the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution.”
And finally, Daun wrote in to say that there has been “a deafening silence regarding the removal of actual currency for crypto currency.” He expressed his concern that the digital money will allow authorities “complete control of every person’s ability to live as they will ‘allow’ you to buy food or shelter.” He wrote: “Name the names, explain the horror of having to depend on some government official who may or may not like your belief, politics or power and then your crypto account will somehow have no value. This needs to be THE topic while we still may have time to stop this horror.”
We’re running short on time, but before we sign off, if you are celebrating a birthday today, you’re celebrating with actor Timothy Dalton, who is 78, actor Matthew Broderick, 62, and actor-comedian Rosie O’Donnell, 62.
That wraps up today’s news highlights. As we sign off, we encourage our listeners to stay informed, engage in thoughtful discussions, and reflect on how these issues affect our society.
Thank you for tuning in, and we'll be back with more news to keep you informed and connected. Have a great day.
