Ladies and Gents: It’s on.
What’s about to take place — as flagged here — is exactly what many of us have been calling for: a task force approach to left-wing violence. And as the feds finally get serious against left wing extremist violence, things are likely to get pretty messy, pretty fast.
Let’s start with the Alvarado, Texas ICE facility attack some months back. A federal officer was shot in the neck. The main organizer, Ben Song, has been reported as a member of the John Brown Gun Club — the same group allegedly tied to the flyers left on Georgetown’s campus that mimicked the rifle-round engravings (“Hey Fascist, Catch!”) linked to the alleged Charlie Kirk shooter. Song, clearly radicalized, was also reportedly involved with something called the Socialist Rifle Association.
Folks, it’s time to face facts. We’re not facing some loose, isolated protest scene. We’re past even the “astroturf” paid-protestor analysis. What we’re facing is a network.
In 2007, when counterterrorism was still taken seriously, a network like this would be under a whole-of-government investigation. Phones seized. Hard drives exploited. Analysts building link charts, intel shared across agencies. Have we been doing any of that? Will we be? If not, we’re likely looking at an unending series of “known wolf” attacks that slip through because no one is aggregating the data?
So: Who funds the John Brown Gun Club, a group that already has one attempted murder on its slate? How organized is it? How many more such groups are there? Is there a common denominator funding mechanism?
Get the boots on the ground, then: follow the money. If we do, we’re likely to find the same patterns we saw with past extremist funding — foreign nonprofits, “movement” groups, and the naïve wives of billionaires who think underwriting radical chic is philanthropy. The Real Housewives of Leftist Extremism.
And yet, let’s recall: Even calling these outfits “domestic terrorists” doesn’t actually change anything. Under federal law there is no “Domestic Terrorist Organization” designation the way there is for foreign groups. Readers of this space know we’ve advocated for Congress to change this, because otherwise DOJ is stuck jury-rigging charges while waiting for the next bloodbath.
And do not be gaslighted by the media calling this “fascist” (a word that’s losing all impact). If groups with Islamist branding had been responsible for half the violence of recent months, the headlines would call it a national emergency. But when it’s left-wing extremists in Illinois, Portland, or Alvarado, we see little or no local police presence protecting ICE officers or federal property. That’s not an accident — it’s a policy choice.
The President already has authority under Title 10 — to deploy the National Guard or other federal assets when state officials obstruct enforcement of federal law. Governors who wink at this violence are effectively inviting federal intervention.
Well — it’s coming.
A Task Force is the start. A real domestic-terror law is the finish. Without both, we’re just waiting for the next Alvarado.
Wondering How We Got Here? Wonder No Longer
The agents in Immigration and Customs Enforcement are up against it these days. As we’ve seen in the NYPD, when so-called leaders castigate and demonize the police, cops get hurt.
After leaders in New York implied the NYPD was out of control after Eric Garner’s death, a suicidal man with a long criminal record assassinated Officers Liu and Suarez as they sat in their patrol car.
When cops nationwide were smeared as evil racists after George Floyd’s death, dozens were assaulted. In New York, officers had bricks, bottles, even a Molotov cocktail thrown at them. The 88th Precinct was nearly overrun, and police vehicles torched. Never mind what happened in Portland, where an entire police precinct was burnt to the ground.
The rhetoric against ICE Agents is even worse. California Governor Gavin Newsom has called ICE “Trump’s private police force,” labeled their actions “reckless” and “cruel,” and just last week likened them to a “dystopian sci-fi movie” — with “unmarked cars” and people “disappearing” with “no rights.” He’s also accused them of racial profiling. These claims are not only inflammatory but false.
And that’s just one politician angling for the presidency. Others echo the same slander — and lunatics like Joshua Jahn get the message and try to kill ICE agents. No surprise that agents are now surrounded in the street, tracked online, grabbed during arrests, and pelted with debris. And no wonder they prefer to stay masked.
Of course, Newsom and others have the right to speak. Words aren’t violence, despite progressive claims. We even (initially) criticized ICE in this space ourselves, stating they should wear standard uniforms so as to better identify themselves during arrests.
History shows where rhetoric like we’re seeing now goes. It makes agents targets — and it’s hard to believe people like Newsom truly care about ICE agents or their families. Their sympathies lie with illegals and, more accurately, their own political ambitions.
Remember that at election time.
The Great Des Moines School Superintendent Saga
So let me get this straight. The Des Moines School Board’s 2023 “secret search” for the “best candidate” landed them… a new city Schools Superintendent with an expired visa, two prior weapons charges, a sketchy resume, and a loaded gun in his car when ICE finally showed up.
Congrats, folks. That’s not a superintendent — that’s the pilot for a Netflix crime series.
Meet Ian Andre Roberts. Hired in 2023 to run Iowa’s largest school district. Paid like a CEO, perked like a senator, and given the mission of “equity in education.” Which, in case you haven’t noticed, is code for: “Your kids can’t read, but at least they’ve been taught that gender is fungible.”
When ICE came for him, Roberts hit the gas — literally. First in his car, then on foot, $3000 in cash in his pocket, gun in his ride. You know, just the kind of role model you want running the PTA bake sale.
And about that “Masters” in “urban education leadership” from St. John’s University? Yeah, funny thing: St. John’s doesn’t seem to even list that program. But don’t worry — when you’re chasing equity, you don’t need degrees, you need vibes. This is the academic equivalent of showing up to a job interview with a Hogwarts diploma.
Now let’s give a round of applause to the geniuses who hired him. The chair of the Des Moines School Board is Jackie Norris, who once served as Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama. And wouldn’t you know it — now she’s running for U.S. Senate!
Perfect. Because nothing says “ready for higher office” like failing to notice your superintendent is basically auditioning for “Cops: Superintendent Edition.”
Here’s Jackie’s response to the scandal: “radical empathy.” And nope, this is not an AI parody:
But here’s the real kicker: Roberts didn’t even have a work authorization. The guy running Des Moines schools wasn’t legally allowed to work in the United States. Think about that. Iowa students are being lectured on “equity,” while their superintendent couldn’t accurately fill out the I-9 form you need for Burger King.
Oh, and then later in the year, they conveniently changed their rules so they could employ ex-cons. Guess who recommended the change? Yup — Roberts himself.
And still, The Des Moines Register spins this as Roberts being chosen to help the district navigate new laws on “restrictive” curriculum and LGBTQ issues. Translation: “Sure, he’s got a rap sheet, but you should hear him on pronouns.”
Meanwhile, students can’t do math, can’t write, and don’t know history. Overseas, kids are solving calculus in middle school. In Des Moines, they’re being taught by a guy who outran ICE.
So congrats to the Des Moines School Board. You’ve turned America’s report card into a rap sheet. Forget “No Child Left Behind.” This is “No Background Check Required.”
The vetting was so bad, these people could’ve worked for Alejandro Mayorkas.
Eric Adams Bows Out
Eric Adams finally faced the inevitable today and bowed out of the mayor’s race. That makes him the first one-term mayor since David Dinkins in 1992, putting him in rare company with Abe Beame and Vincent Impellitteri. Even Jimmy Walker, knee-deep in corruption, managed a second term before Roosevelt and Judge Seabury chased him out of town.
And yes, it was corruption that ended Adams. The Biden DOJ charges may be flimsy, but his cronies were not. You’d need to take off your socks to count the Adams appointees facing corruption allegations.
His exit leaves a sliver of hope that New York’s next mayor won’t be a socialist retread. That means the field narrows to Andrew Cuomo or Curtis Sliwa.
Cuomo is a non-starter for us. Beyond the misconduct scandals that drove him from Albany, his disastrous bail “reforms” ignored DAs and police leaders, unleashing chaos across the state. After George Floyd’s death, he doubled down with anti-cop rhetoric, a “Say Their Name” agenda, and legislation stripping officers of protections against the release of baseless complaints.
Sliwa, by contrast, has consistently backed fair law and order. He’s willing to call out misconduct but doesn’t demonize the cops. He’s blunt, sometimes bombastic, but refreshingly honest—rare in City Hall politics. If it comes down to Sliwa versus Zohran Mamdani, that’s a fight between a real New Yorker and an outsider, funded by outsiders. We’ll take Sliwa in that match-up.
Go, Curtis! Consider yourself endorsed by The Ops Desk.
The Sunday Podcast: The Comey Indictment
Gang, join Paul, Chris, and Eric for our deep-dive into the recent, and historic, indictment of James Comey.
We’ve been calling these cases accurately for awhile now — and we may well have a handle on this one, too. Realistically, under the facts we know now, it seems to come down to one issue.
What is that fact? You’ll have to listen to find out!
So join us as we pull apart what will undoubtedly be the first in a number of major cases to come down against those who turned law fare into national policy.
Click above for a preview… and HERE for the whole thing.
And put your helmets on… in the words of Sherlock Holmes: The game is afoot!
DC Crime Update
After Donald Trump’s federal takeover of the Criminal Justice System in Washington, D.C, crime continues to plummet. It seems like this was not a quick publicity stunt that many claimed.
From August 11, 2025, when Trump announced the takeover through September 27, 2025, violent crime is down 40%. Overall crime is down 22%. Robberies are down 56%. Homicides are down 52%.
This sounds like a roaring and sustained success. The federal rollout in Memphis starts next week. We are looking forward to more positive results. It is likely that many Democrat politicians are hoping for failure. What does that tell you?
When Did This Happen?
When exactly did the teacher’s unions become communist agitators who endorse cop-killers? My God.
Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, was a member of the Black Liberation Army who in 1977 was convicted of first-degree murder, along with several related assault and weapons charges, for her role in the 1973 New Jersey Turnpike shootout that left State Trooper Werner Foerster dead and another trooper wounded.
Chesimard was also convicted of armed robbery and bank robbery conspiracy in separate cases tied to her activities with radical militant groups. In addition, she was suspected in several other police killings and violent incidents attributed to the Black Liberation Army during the 1970s, though she was never convicted in those cases.
Sentenced to life in prison plus additional terms, she escaped from a New Jersey prison in 1979 with the help of armed accomplices and later surfaced in Cuba, where she reportedly just died, having lived on $13 per-day provided by the Cuban government.
Here’s the response from the Chicago Teacher’s Union:
“Struggle”? Struggle? What struggle? You get full health benefits and the summers off with a solid salary to teach kids. Why are you invoking any struggle?
We should’ve let the mafia take out Castro. But as we’ve written previously in this space: expect changes in Cuba inside the tenure of the present Trump administration.
If only this lowlife were alive to see it.
And finally…
A meteor on its way to Des Moines, no doubt.
Paul, with regard to the Des Moines hiring of a Superintendent of Schools; in 1986, the Legislature of Virginia passed a law mandating that all school employees would be Background checked because they would be in proximity to our children. In Falls Church, Va., the business manager for the School Board had his notion approved and the School Board let all of their School Bus employees go and they signed a contract with a School Bus company. Whether wittingly or not, the new School Bus drivers were not Background checked but were in proximity to our children.
Someone in Iowa should be reporting on whether Iowa ever passed a law requiring a Criminal Background check for all school employees. If so,the Iowa AG should get involved and maybe the Feds.
Having worked and educated in the SUNY system for a total of 13 years, I had to labor under some of the worst so called leaders that were the out put of Official SUNY so called “search committees “. I doubt these selected candidates ever went through a rigorous criminal history investigation.
Sounds like the Des Moines school board officials are in denial.