Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Before yesterdayMain stream

PA lawmaker demands accountability at UPenn after prof praises Luigi Mangione

12 December 2024 at 08:21

EXCLUSIVE: A Pennsylvania congressman fired off a scathing letter overnight to the University of Pennsylvania’s president demanding the firing of a left-wing professor whose social media posts lauded Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

In his letter, GOP Rep. Dan Meuser called for Cinema & Media Studies professor Julia Alekseyeva’s firing and noted the university had just finished weathering another scandal relating to its soft response to antisemitic and pro-Hamas protests.

Alekseyeva made her online accounts private this week after blowback for saying – among other things – that she is proud to be a UPenn Quaker like the accused killer. Thompson's murder sparked a left-wing outcry depicting a simmering anger toward the insurance industry that led to online celebrations in other quarters.

Alekseyeva posted a TikTok video of herself smiling as "Do You Hear The People Sing?" from the French musical "Les Miserables" played. The play tells the story of a peasant imprisoned for stealing food and his ensuing quest for redemption. 

MEUSER BILL WOULD PROHIBIT US FINANCIAL AID TO AFGHANISTAN TIL ALL WRONGFULLY-DETAINED AMERICANS RELEASED

"I am writing to express my profound concern regarding the recent actions of Assistant Professor Julia Alekseyeva… which appear to celebrate the alleged actions of Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the tragic murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson," Meuser wrote to UPenn interim President J. Larry Jameson.

Meuser noted Alekseyeva proudly connected Mangione to the University City, West Philadelphia school and that she had labeled him "the icon we all need and deserve."

The educator, who was reportedly born in the Ukrainian USSR and moved with her family to Chicago in the 1990s, also refers to herself as a "socialist and ardent anti-fascist" on her website.

Meuser, seen as a potential top contender in the 2026 gubernatorial contest against Democrat Josh Shapiro, called Alekseyeva’s behavior "outrageous" and said it violates the "basic ideals of a civilized society."

In exclusive comments to Fox News Digital, Meuser said it is unacceptable for any educator to glorify acts of violence, especially at a high-level institution like UPenn.

"These actions undermine the core values of higher education and threaten the trust placed in our academic institutions," Meuser said.

SARA CARTER RECOUNTS ‘MIND-BLOWING’ INTERVIEWS WITH UPENN STUDENTS FOLLOWING PRESIDENT'S RESIGNATION

The lawmaker, who represents the Coal Region and part of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, said he is a fan of the Quakers but expects answers from Jameson in order to ensure further federal support for the school.

"Your response will dictate how my colleagues and I support allocating future federal funding for research at the University of Pennsylvania," he wrote in the letter, calculating $936 million in federal research grants in 2023.

"[This] forces Congress to question whether safeguards are in place to ensure that faculty conduct reflects the ethical and professional standards in line with the University’s reputation as a center of excellence and thought leadership."

He also asked Jameson whether Alekseyeva was found to have used university property in making her pronouncements, whether other faculty made similar gestures of support for Mangione and what other steps are being taken to prevent such scandals in the future.

The school has until the end of the year to respond, he said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to UPenn for comment. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The school’s deputy dean of its Arts & Sciences school said in a Wednesday statement the university is aware of concerns over Alekseyeva’s posts and that they are "antithetical to the values" of UPenn.

"Upon reflection, Assistant Professor Alekseyeva has concurred that the comments were insensitive and inappropriate and has retracted them. We welcome this correction and regret any dismay or concern this may have caused," Dean Jeffrey Kallberg said, according to the New York Post.

Mangione, a member of a large and well-connected Baltimore family, was captured following a tip from a customer visiting a McDonald's off Interstate 99 in Blair County, Pa.

Trump assassination attempt hearing devolves into screaming match

5 December 2024 at 08:43

The acting director of the U.S. Secret Service and a Texas congressman got into a screaming match Thursday during a hearing on the agency's failures leading to two assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe shouted at Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, after the GOP lawmaker lambasted the service for security lapses that made Trump a target of two failed shooting attempts. 

The outburst happened after Fallon showed a picture of Presidents Biden and Trump at a 9/11 commemoration ceremony this year and suggested that as the Special Agent in Charge of that detail, Rowe should have been close enough to Biden to be in the picture. Rowe was not pictured.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: SECRET SERVICE ACTING DIRECTOR REVEALS ‘NUMEROUS CHANGES’ AGENCY HAS IMPLEMENTED

"Who is usually at an event like this closest to the President of the United States?" Fallon asked, pointing at the photo. "Were you the special agent in charge of the detail that day?"

Rowe said the security detail was present but out of view of the camera. As he spoke, he became enraged and accused Fallon of using 9/11 for political purposes.

SECRET SERVICE KNEW AIRSPACE PROTECTION WOULD END WITH FORMER PRESIDENT ONSTAGE

"That is the day where we remember more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11. I actually responded to Ground Zero," Rowe said. "I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center." 

"I'm not asking that, I'm asking you, if you were… were you the special agent in charge!?" Fallon interrupted, shouting at Rowe.

Rowe raised his voice in response. "I was there to show respect for a Secret Service member that died on 9/11!" he yelled back.

"Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!" Rowe screamed at the lawmaker. 

SECRET SERVICE, FBI RESPOND TO TRUMP RALLY VIDEO SHOWING FIGURE ON ROOF MINUTES BEFORE GUNFIRE

"I'm not," Fallon fired back, as the committee chairman demanded order and banged his gavel. 

"You are, sir. You are out of line, congressman!" Rowe fumed. "Way out of line."

Fallon then accused Rowe of "playing politics" by refusing to answer his question. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"I am a public servant who has served this nation," Rowe retorted, saying he served on the nation's "darkest day." 

"You will not politicize it!" Rowe thundered. 

Outside the hearing room, Fallon told Fox News' Chad Pergram that he had legitimate questions about why Rowe was there that day, suggesting that Rowe was auditioning for the job of full-time director by getting close to Biden and Trump that day.

"There's no reason for him to be there. There isn't. Try to find a place at a time in history where the Secret Service director was that close to the president at a function or event. I don't think you could find it. So, yeah, I think he was auditioning for the job, a job that I don't believe he's going to get come Jan. 20. I have not talked to the president about that, but I suspect that they're going to find much better people because we need to change the culture as well."

Trump assassination attempt task force holds final hearing; Secret Service director to testify

5 December 2024 at 01:00

The House task force on the two assassination attempts of President-elect Trump will gather for its final hearing Thursday ahead of the release of its highly anticipated report.

U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Director Ronald Rowe will testify before lawmakers. Task force members will then huddle behind closed doors to consider their final report.

Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., said the hearing was about restoring confidence in federal law enforcement.

"What we’re working on more than anything else is the public has to know what happened that day because there’s still a lot of confusion about it," Kelly told Fox News Digital Wednesday.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT TASK FORCE SAYS ATF ‘FAILED TO PRODUCE’ REQUESTED MATERIALS

"When we look at Secret Service, that’s always the elite of the elite. So, I think what we’re trying to do is establish the situation where … we can restore that confidence."

Trump held a rally in Kelly’s district July 13, when a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on the event from just outside its security perimeter, injuring Trump and others. One rally attendee was killed. 

Later in September, USSS agents opened fire on a 58-year-old man who had a rifle aimed at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, golf course where the president-elect was out for the day.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: SECRET SERVICE FAILURES MAY WARRANT DISCIPLINE, AGENCY REPORT SAYS

The incidents prompted heavy scrutiny of the USSS and its security practices and led to the ouster of USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle.

And while Kelly admitted he "would have rather had" Cheatle testify before his task force, he praised Rowe’s handling of the situation since succeeding her. 

"From the very start, he said, ‘Look, it was entirely our fault. This is the worst state the Secret Service has ever had,’" he said. 

SECRET SERVICE KNEW AIRSPACE PROTECTION WOULD END WITH FORMER PRESIDENT ONSTAGE

Kelly said he anticipated the final report being released around Dec. 13, the task force’s "due date" for producing the results of its investigation.

The panel released an interim report in late October detailing "a lack of planning and coordination between the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners before the rally."

USSS personnel at the event "did not give clear guidance" to state and local authorities about how to manage security outside their hard perimeter, nor was there a central meeting between USSS and the law enforcement agencies supporting them the morning of the rally, according to findings presented as key failures in the 51-page report.

Georgia Gov. Kemp, after life sentence for Laken Riley killer, says justice 'was swift and severe'

20 November 2024 at 13:13

EXCLUSIVE - Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says that justice was served after a judge sentenced the 26-year-old migrant from Venezuela who was convicted of murdering Laken Riley to a life sentence in prison.

"I'm glad that justice was served, and it was swift and severe," the governor said in a Fox News Digital interview on Wednesday soon after a judge in Athens County, Georgia convicted and then sentenced Jose Antonio Ibarra, a migrant who had entered the U.S. illegally.

Kemp said that the conviction and sentencing was "no surprise" and emphasized that Riley's murder was "a really tragic set of circumstances. Tragic for that family and I've certainly had them in my thoughts and prayers. I know that people in Georgia and around the country have."

JUDGE ANNOUNCES SENTENCE IN LAKEN RILEY MURDER TRIAL

The 22-year-old Riley, a nursing student, was attacked in February while running on a trail on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Ibarra was charged in connection with the killing a day later.

The judge, H. Patrick Haggard of State Superior Court in Athens-Clarke County, rather than a jury, decided the case following a request from Ibarra’s lawyers after they unsuccessfully worked to move the case out of Athens.

Riley's killing was repeatedly spotlighted by now-President-elect Trump during this year's presidential campaign, as he argued for the mass deportation of millions of undocumented migrants in the country.

Kemp, taking aim at President Biden's border security actions, argued that "the policies are outrageous. They've gotten people killed not only in Georgia but around the country and that's why our people elected Donald Trump to be our president, or at least a big reason for that. So we look forward to working with the administration like we did in their first term to secure the border and make sure these things aren't happening in our local communities."

And Kemp emphasized that "it is just literally heartbreaking for this family, for her fellow students that she was in school with, for her friends, for local communities and really for the whole state."

Kemp was interviewed by Fox News Digital in Marco Island, Florida, minutes after he was elected chair of the Republican Governors Association. 

❌
❌