'White saviors'' use of whistles causes bitter internal rift inside anti-ICE movement - Asra Q. Nomani

 

by Asra Q. Nomani

Organizations from Seattle to Maryland tell predominantly White activists to quit 'White Savior' behavior during ICE operations

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Immigrant groups have a message for their mostly White allies: Quit blowing the whistle on ICE. 

Fox News Digital has reviewed days of messages inside Signal chat rooms that reveal that a new internal feud has erupted inside the anti-ICE protest industry, pitting immigrant-led organizations against predominately White "rapid response" networks that have made whistle-blowing a dramatic part of anti-ICE protests.

In one dismissal, a "rapid responder" in Seattle reported back that "immigrant networks are being weird."

Groups from Seattle to Montgomery County, Md., are telling mostly White "rapid responders" to back off a dynamic described by activists as "White Savior," reminding them they are not cameo actors in an "action movie" against ICE.

This past weekend, the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network — known locally as "WAISN," a Seattle-based, immigrant-led organization, publicly rebuked the practice of whistles, setting off a backlash inside mostly White liberal activist "rapid response" circles.

"WHY WAISN RAPID RESPONSE DOES NOT USE WHISTLES," the group wrote in an Instagram post, emphasizing, "We show up with care and accountability, not noise or panic."

"It is not about being the loudest, the bravest, or the most visible person on the scene or confronting immigration agents. It is a commitment to non-violence, discipline and harm reduction, centering the well-being of the most vulnerable immigrant and refugee committees in Washington," the post continued.

The message amounted to a blunt directive: Put away the whistles.

THE FAR-LEFT NETWORK THAT HELPED PUT ALEX PRETTI IN HARM'S WAY, THEN MADE HIM A MARTYR

Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 24, 2026.  (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reviewed internal Signal chat messages from Seattle-area rapid response groups showing that the rejection of whistles triggered open hostility.

"We believe in whistles, people want whistles. Nothing change [sic] no matter what WAISN says," one participant wrote in a group called "WA Whistles."

The dispute escalated when Snohomish County Indivisible in Washington state told followers this week it would follow the guidance and "pause distribution of whistle kits." The local group is a chapter of the powerful national nonprofit, Indivisible, which has received $7.26 million from 2018 through 2023 from billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations,  which is aligned with the Democratic Party. 

In a striking admission, the Indivisible chapter warned against activists positioning themselves as rescuers, falling into a "'White Savior’ dynamic." It added bold-faced type to get its point across.

"The use of whistles is complex, and we recognize this decision may be disappointing," the Indivisible chapter said. "It is essential that we avoid falling into a ‘White Savior’ dynamic, centering ourselves as rescuers, acting on communities rather than with them, or prioritizing feeling helpful over building real, shared power."

For months, whistle-blowing has been a favored tactic among mostly white rapid responders in cities including Minneapolis, Chicago, New York and Seattle. Activists have used whistles to alert neighborhoods to the presence of federal immigration agents, disrupt operations and create public pressure.

In the Seattle group, a "rapid responder" dismissed the group’s concerns as "vaguely condescending," arguing that while whistles might be "traumatizing," they were surely "no worse than being actually kidnapped, or watching it happen in front of your house."

Others framed the immigrant-led nonprofit as self-interested and risk-averse. One person sneered at the "immigrant rights nonprofit business," while another complained about "careerists at nonprofits" who don’t put the "cause over their job." 

The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network is a tax-deductible organization under 501(c)(3) of the tax code, raising $3 million in revenues in 2024, according to its latest publicly available tax filing.  Indivisible Project is a 501(c)(4) political nonprofit that raised $10.4 million in 2024, according to its latest tax filing. It has a political 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Indivisible Civics Inc., that raised $5.2 million in 2024, according to its most recent tax filing.

A separate comment derided long-term nonprofit workers as drinking the "koolaid," labeling nonviolent, disciplined approaches as "fed coded."

WA Whistles told Fox News Digital the group "respects" the local immigrant organization's decision "not to use whistles in their rapid response." It added: "Individual comments made in our chats do not reflect WA Whistles as a whole. We respect everyone’s first amendment right to express themselves."

DEAN PHILLIPS: WE CAN FIX IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT WITHOUT FUELING CHAOS OR LAWLESSNESS

Anti-ICE "rapid responders" use whistles to warn residents as federal immigration agents raid a house on Jan. 13, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minn.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Some activists, who referred to themselves as "print dwarves" for producing whistles on 3-D printers, said they would remove the group’s contact number from their materials. Only a few participants pushed back on the criticism, one saying she was "very uncomfortable" with the "derogatory remarks" directed at the immigrant organization.

Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, for its part, was explicit about the stakes. In Washington state, the group said, whistle tactics have "increased fear, drawn unwanted attention, and interfered with rapid response efforts." It didn’t respond to a request for comment.

"We are committed to taking direction from organizations with the longevity, trust and expertise in this work—experience we simply do not have, nor would we presume to know better," the statement said.

CCP-CONNECTED MILLIONAIRE ALLEGEDLY BANKROLLS MINNEAPOLIS AGITATOR GROUPS THROUGH DARK MONEY NETWORK

A woman blows her whistle at US Border Patrol agents at a gas station in Minneapolis, Minn. on Jan. 21, 2026. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

The controversy also exposes ideological fault lines. Since last summer, groups including the People’s Forum, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Democratic Socialists of America have promoted whistles as part of a broader confrontation with U.S. law enforcement. They have borrowed from whistle-blowing tactics used by socialist and communist labor union groups in Europe.

The People’s Forum and the Party for Socialism and Liberation are funded by an American-born tech tycoon, Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai and supports groups that have made it their business to foment mayhem and protests in the United States, with a pro-China agenda.

In one post, the Party for Socialism and Liberation declared, "Hear a whistle? That just might be ICE!" The Seattle whistle group uses templates that the People's Forum distributes through a group, "ICE Out of New York."

The Washington state group echoed a warning from immigrant-led groups in Maryland who issued an anti-whistle edict last month, pointedly speaking to "white allies" who they reminded weren’t playing cameo roles in an "action movie," with their whistles as weapons of power and authority.

In an Instagram post, the Montgomery County Immigrant Rights Collective published an anti-whistle message — "WHY WE DON’T USE WHISTLES IN RAPID RESPONSE — with other local immigrant-led groups, including the Central Maryland Immigrant Rights Collective, the Prince George’s County Immigrant Rights Collective, the "Immigration Coalition," "Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid" and "UndocuRebels." The groups didn’t return a request for comment.

"Especially for white allies," they wrote, "whistles can represent a subconscious desire for authority, protection or control in moments of crisis, but rapid response is not about assuming authority. It is about showing up for your community with discipline, humility, and restraint when we question decisions made by those impacted, we risk centering our own comfort instead of impacted people."

They noted, "Loudness does not equal effectiveness."

"START WITH REALITY (NOT HEROICS)," they wrote, with the soundtrack of a popular protest song, "Que me devuelvan la tierra," which means "Give me back my land."

They wrote, "This is not an action movie. You are not in a one-on-one fight with ICE."

Adding bold emphasis, they noted, "And you are not the center of this situation."

They noted that its anti-whistle position was shaped by speaking to "120+ community members" with families who have "lived through ICE, detention, surveillance and state violence." After consulting community members, the conclusion was unanimous: do not use whistles.

DEMOCRATIC OFFICIALS, TIKTOKERS, LIBERALS TAKE THEIR ANTI-ICE RHETORIC TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Detroit, Michigan, Volunteers with the Detroit Peoples Assembly put together whistle kits. The whistles are designed to alert others in the community when immigration agents are nearby. These volunteers are preparing a bilingual sheet of tips for dealing with immigration agents. (Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The Maryland coalition warned that whistles can "escalate already volatile ICE agents," "make it harder to document and capture information," "increase the likelihood of aggression toward bystanders or the detained person" and "create confusion" for community members and children.

They also pointed to disproportionate impacts on "Black and Brown communities" that are already "overexposed to chronic noise pollution," which they linked to PTSD, anxiety, sleep disruption and heart disease.

Perhaps most pointedly, the group rejected the symbolism itself. Whistles, it said, are historically associated with military and police operations, including "repression, raids and disappearances," especially in developing countries.

"They were not tools used by communities under oppression, they were tools used against them," they said, emphasizing their point in bold.

In the new clash between immigrant-led groups and mostly white activist allies, immigrant leaders warned that the tactics meant to signal solidarity can just as easily reproduce the sounds of "state power."

But in the trenches, the mostly White "allies" continued diminishing the guidance, saying they were going to continue, business as usual, blowing their whistles.

By mid-week, WA Whistles made its stubborn position public, posting a message on its Instagram, saying, "WHISTLES WORK."

"They are a call to courage and a decision to care out loud," it declared, laying claim to the moral high ground.

One user then asked for "more bright-colored whistles that can work around the neck as a symbol of resistance that everyone can see as they go about their day."

Fox News Digital's Kiera McDonald and Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.

 

Asra Q. Nomani is senior editor of investigations at Fox News Digital. She is a former reporter at the Wall Street Journal, where she covered stories related to money, politics and society. She is the author of "Woke Army: The Left-Green Alliance That Is Undermining America’s Freedom." She can be reached at asra.nomani@fox.com and on X at @asranomani.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/white-saviors-use-whistles-causes-bitter-internal-rift-inside-anti-ice-movement

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The Democrats’ Conditional Loyalty - Thaddeus G. McCotter

 

by Thaddeus G. McCotter

From Civil War nullification to modern sanctuary cities, Democrats revive a doctrine of conditional loyalty that defies federal law and risks renewed national chaos. 

 

 

Roughly a decade and a half ago, I authored a Republican House policy paper identifying “sanctuary cities” as being ideologically premised upon the discredited and destructive doctrine of nullification. At the time, this was either ignored or derided, but never disproven. Time has tragically evinced its accuracy.

I cite this because today, others who have come to agree with this assessment now posit an ominous prognosis. In the cases of conditional loyalty to the law, the lessons of history are clear. When a substantial and determined swath of society deems itself above the law and justified in taking illicit and often violent means to attain its ends, the result is civil unrest and worse. Thus, the consequence for our free Republic is to again confront the looming prospect of a divided nation reprising its most momentous tragedy.

To wit, the earliest manifestation of the Democrats’ “conditional loyalty” to the Constitution and the duly enacted laws of the United States spurred the Civil War and was embodied in the political theory of “Nullification.” Specifically, the theory held that if a state disagreed with a federal law, the state could “nullify” the legislation by disregarding it. This theory, formulated and propagated by John C. Calhoun, was first applied to tariffs and, ultimately, slavery.

Viewing Abraham Lincoln’s election as president as an existential threat to its “peculiar institution,” Southern Democrats—excused and/or abetted by numerous “copperhead” fellow travelers in the north—abandoned the ballot for the bullet. The damage to the country—and the Democrat brand—was so extensive that the party hurled their belief in conditional loyalty into the trash can of history.

And there it remained, disreputable and dormant, for close to a century—until the segregationist Democrats went garbage picking in their failed attempt to retain Jim Crow laws against African-Americans.

The recrudescence of the doctrine of nullification occurred because the United States government finally recognized and began to remedy its failure to secure equality under the law for African-Americans, instead allowing segregation to metastasize throughout the defeated former Confederacy. As the Civil Rights movement impelled changes in federal laws and the Supreme Court rectified erroneous interpretations of the Constitution and ruled “separate is inherently unequal,” the process of expanding equality and liberty under the law was again met with obstinance by southern Democrats. Fearing the loss of their unconscionable and unconstitutional control of the African-American minority, the Democrats seized upon the doctrine of nullification.

The Democrats argued that the federal writ did not run in their states and cities and that segregation would remain the law of the land, regardless. Again, the doctrine of nullification ran rampant, violence ensued, and again, the primacy of federal law was affirmed. So ashamed of their behavior during this period, the party has attempted to risibly revise history and claim that all the Democrats who supported Jim Crow (and their descendants) are now actually Republicans. (One individual actually took this to the illogical extreme that John Wilkes Booth would now be a Republican.)

Yet, while once again having been burned by their use of the nullification doctrine, the Democrats—both south and north—have proven unable to resist it. The whole concept of “sanctuary cities” and the vehement opposition, refusal to follow, and, in fact, obstruction of federal law and its enforcement regarding immigration is based upon the doctrine of nullification. And, once more, it is about retaining control—this time, over both the illegal immigrant and their perceived right to rule, regardless of the outcome of democratic elections.

Shrilly virtue signaling altruistic righteousness, the Democrats hope one fails to see the sordid political selfishness of their nullification ploy to control illegal immigrants. Namely, their benefit to Democrats for redistricting and large swaths of federal and state funding (which is fungible), based upon population, not strictly citizenship. The mass deportation of illegal immigrants constitutes an existential threat to the Democrat Party and its operations and aims; consequently, Democrats are violating and obstructing federal law to prevent the deportation of individuals who are here in violation of federal law.

Still, the ideological and practical motivations of Democrats are buttressed by their psychological need for external validation. They need to be seen by their fellow party members and the public as morally superior to those who disagree with them. The result is that in their zeal to do all this, once more, Democrats have returned to their disastrous nullification doctrine. This is accompanied by the Democrats’ self-righteous caterwauling and ad hominem attacks against anyone who opposes their seditious doctrine.

So too, along the lines of their attempts to absolve themselves of their treacherous history by asserting modern Republicans are descendants of yesterday’s Confederate/segregationist Democrats, Democrats are now alleging the GOP is sparking a new civil war by enforcing federal law in the face of seditious Democrat opposition. One can only wonder how the Democrats will try to rewrite history to blame someone else after this latest reprehensible relapse into their nullification doctrine devolves into disgrace.

Just as in circa 1860 and 1960, Democrats believe they are laws unto themselves. That they individually and collectively profess to hold a “higher loyalty” to “my truth” to “justify” their pursuit of subjective political preferences regardless of the Constitution and federal law is undeniable. Again, Democrat elected officials violate their oaths of office to protect and defend the Constitution and the duly enacted laws of the land. Again, the Democrat Party embraces the nullification doctrine as a cudgel against federal laws they dislike. Again, their chaos cleaves our Republic.

And, regrettably, even as the Democrats resurrect their nullification doctrine, it bears stating the obvious: the Democrats’ rights cannot be even remotely considered infringed. Despite their paranoid delusions, the Democrats are not living in a dictatorship. They are living in a constitutional republic with democracy. Hence, they retain possession of every single God-given constitutional and statutory civil right as they had prior to the last election. They can use these fundamental rights to organize and impact the upcoming election, and, if successful, they will possess the opportunity to change federal immigration law. There is no call or excuse for attempting to nullify federal law. Unless, of course, Democrats only love “our democracy” until they lose.

Given the Democrats’ repetition of the nullification doctrine, it is best not to let history repeat itself. When exercising your civil rights prior to and during the next election, always bear in mind that the Democrats are willfully violating federal laws, in no small part to energize their base vote for the midterm elections. In this pending election, then, if you choose to reward with your vote the Democrats’ conditional loyalty, doctrine of nullification, and the chaos it wreaks, the past will become prologue; and, God forbid, a nation built upon “self-evident truths” will degenerate into a hellscape of subjectivity and civil unrest.

***

An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003 to 2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles, a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars, and a co-host of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances. 

 Photo: Union soldiers advance in battle. Engraving published 1896. Original edition is from my own archives. Copyright has expired and is in Public Domain.

 

Thaddeus G. McCotter

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/02/07/the-democrats-conditional-loyalty/

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Texas Republican faces another close primary challenge from YouTuber who has used Nazi imagery - Aaron Bandler

 

by Aaron Bandler

Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas GOP strategist, told JNS that Rep. Tony Gonzales will likely pull off a narrow victory against Brandon Herrera again.

 

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) at a news conference on border security outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 14, 2023. Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

On Dec. 18, U.S. President Donald Trump offered his “complete and total endorsement” of Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), as the moderate Republican seeks re-election in the state’s 23rd Congressional District.

Trump called Gonzales “a terrific representative” and stated that “a retired master chief petty officer from the U.S. Navy, who bravely deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, Tony knows the wisdom and courage that is required to defend our country, support our brave military/veterans and ensure peace through strength.”

Gonzalez, who faces a close primary challenge again from a YouTuber who has made references to Nazis that critics have called antisemitic, has also received accolades from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. (The primary is on March 3.)

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Gonzales, who traveled to Israel in February 2022 with an AIPAC partner, has voted to fund the Jewish state and co-sponsored legislation supporting Israel after Oct. 7, and he co-sponsored bills sanctioning the Iranian regime, the pro-Israel group states on its site.

The congressman has said, “I am both enraged and horrified by the brutal attacks being carried out by Hamas against Israel” and “fully stand by our close ally as it defends itself against these terrorists,” AIPAC notes. “Israel has the ability and the right to abandon its measured, targeted approach and use full force to completely annihilate Hamas.”

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His primary challenger, again, is Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer with 4.18 million followers on YouTube. He has been criticized for videos in which he fired Nazi-made weapons, referred to a gun as being the “original ghetto blaster” and said “for the Fatherland” while firing a weapon.

Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist in Texas, told JNS that “we should have a zero-tolerance policy in the party about antisemitism or promoting or even frankly mentioning things like that.”

“Unfortunately, antisemitism is having a moment right now on the right and the left,” said Steinhauser, who thinks that supporters of Holocaust deniers and antisemites Nick Fuentes and Candace Owen on the right are “overplaying their hand.”

“The data is clear. The vast majority of Republicans support Israel and oppose antisemitism, so the very online community is not necessarily in line with where the voters are who actually vote in primaries and vote in general elections,” he told JNS.

Gonzales’s “tone, his style and his substance are all a little more moderate, but he is still very conservative,” Steinhauser said. A Republican like Gonzales can likely keep the district red. (JNS sought comment from Gonzales.) 

“I’m not trying to tip the scales one way or the other—like people should go vote for who they want to vote for, but I just think people have to consider that make-up of the district and say, ‘OK. Who is going to keep this seat in a big election year where the Democrats are going to have a lot of momentum?’” he said.

In 2024, Gonzalez beat Herrera in the primary by 354 votes, or 1.2 percentage points—15,023 votes (50.6%) to 14,669 (49.4%).

Gonzales “represents the Republican regulars, the mainstream of the GOP, if you will,” while Herrera is “an insurgent candidate,” who is probably going to be outraised and outspent by a 5-1 or 6-1 ratio, according to Steinhauser. Herrera “is ballot-tested and he had a base from last time, so it’s a competitive race,” Steinhauser added.

Two other Republican candidates are listed on the ballot—attorney Francisco Canseco and Keith Barton, who, according to his campaign website, is a manager at Texas First Rentals and runs his own drone company. Herrera is the “main opposition” to the incumbent, Steinhauser told JNS.

As of Dec. 31, Gonzales had $1.77 million in total receipts and $2.48 million in cash on hand, per Federal Election Commission data. In that same timeframe, Herrera had $864,186.58 in total receipts and $721,738.24 in cash.

The district, which includes parts of the El Paso and San Antonio metropolitan areas, is “fascinating,” because it “spans 800 miles with a lot of small towns and some border towns,” according to Steinhauser. Immigration and border security are important issues there, he said.

In 2023, the Republican Party of Texas censured Gonzales after he voted for a gun control law the prior year. Uvalde, the site of the May 24, 2022, mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, is part of the 23rd Congressional District.

Herrera “made the race about guns and gun rights and other issues,” and “guns are still kind of an issue in the race,” Steinhauser told JNS. He noted recent events in Minnesota, where federal immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis. Gun-rights groups have decried some Trump administration officials, who have said the agents acted in self-defense, since Pretty was carrying a legal firearm.

“It’s very much in the news,” Steinhauser said. “The right is talking about it, as we always are, but we’re talking about it a lot right now, because there are people in the party that are saying things that are not exactly aligned with where the voters are.

“I think that’s creating space for candidates like Brandon to talk about the differences, talk about the discrepancy,” he said.

Herrera stated in April 2024, after Gonzales told CNN that he is a “known neo-Nazi,” that “I am not, nor have I ever been a neo-Nazi,” and “my entire political philosophy is the opposite of fascism.”

That kind of statement hasn’t changed the thinking of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which backed Gonzales in 2024 and is doing so again.

The RJC has previously referred to Herrera as “a goose-stepping extremist.” Sam Markstein, the coalition’s national political director, told JNS that the group “takes on these tough fights.”

“Congressman Gonzales is a proven winner in an important district,” Markstein said. “The majority is very, very thin right now, so every single one of these races absolutely matters.”

“Congressman Gonzales is a very strong pro-America, pro-Israel Republican” and is “very, very strong on U.S. national security” and “strong on the border,” he said.

Gonzales has also “been an indispensable ally to the Jewish community and a strong supporter of strengthening the U.S.-Israel alliance,” Markstein told JNS. “We’re going to continue to support him in 2026, and what exactly the contours of that support look like are to be announced.”

“Herrera has no credibility on any of these issues,” Markstein said. “He mocked veterans. He really is someone who should not be in Congress.”

Brandon Herrera speaks with attendees at the 2025 San Francisco Young Americans for Liberty Spring YALCON Series at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Francisco Airport in San Francisco, Calif., March 8, 2025. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons.

‘Gotten to know him on a personal level’

Steinhauser thinks that Gonzales will hang onto the seat in the primary, “given the financial advantage, given the fact that you have the incumbent running again,” though he expects a close race.

“If it’s a tie polling-wise or if it’s like a close race, then I think you have to bet on the incumbent, who’s going to outspend the challenger by 5-to-1 or whatever, and I think that’s probably the case here,” he said.

The 2024 primary led to a runoff between Gonzales and Herrera. If no candidate passes the 50% plus a vote threshold, there would be another runoff this year.

Steinhauser believes it’s a “coin toss” whether there will be a runoff. If there is one, Gonzales has “a good shot there and probably is the favorite,” he said.

Markstein told JNS that the RJC hopes Gonzales will clear the threshold to avoid a runoff. But if there is a runoff, “he’s won those races. He’s a proven winner at winning close elections.”

“We fully expect Congressman Gonzales to continue his track record of winning,” he said.

Rabbi Avraham Scheinberg of Congregation Rodfei Sholom, an Orthodox synagogue in San Antonio with 250 families, including those from Reform, Conservative and secular backgrounds, told JNS that Gonzales “works very closely with our community.” 

Several months ago, someone drew a knife on some of his congregants as they left the synagogue. Gonzales “got the Department of Justice to make sure that they take a look at it,” and the congressman “took a meeting with us,” Scheinberg told JNS. “It was not hard to get that.”

“He was there to help us,” the rabbi said. 

Scheinberg said that Gonzales is “definitely someone who is very much looking out for the community, looking out for the minorities in the community, not just the Jewish community.

“I know this is the experience of other communities here as well that are in this district,” he told JNS.

Gonzales has visited the synagogue and shaken hands with members. “People have really gotten to know him on a personal level and seen he’s a good person,” he said, “that he’s an honest person and he’s really there for them.”

“Any time that we’ve reached out as a community, he’s been very helpful in making sure that the right thing is done and that he represents us correctly,” despite the large area the congressman covers, the rabbi said.

Scheinberg doesn’t know Herrera personally, but told JNS that “there definitely seem to be some videos that are disturbing.”

“We don’t want someone who’s going to represent us that we have a question about, obviously,” he said. “There’s a lot of things going on nationwide with antisemitism, and so even if he is or if he’s not—I don’t know—we definitely don’t want any question about someone that is.”

“Even if the perception is that he is not so pro-Jewish, maybe antisemitic, that itself is very damaging,” Scheinberg said. “It’s not only about the person themselves that’s in office. It’s about the people here feeling empowered and emboldened by who’s in office.” 

“If he has a reputation for being an antisemite and he gets voted in, then regardless of if he is or not, the people here that are antisemites in San Antonio are going to feel emboldened,” the rabbi told JNS. “They’re going to feel that they can do things now.” 

Aaron Bandler

Source: https://www.jns.org/texas-republican-faces-another-close-primary-challenge-from-youtuber-who-has-used-nazi-imagery/

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Why is the United Nations Chief Calling for Israel's Destruction? - Bassam Tawil

 

by Bassam Tawil

The United Nations Does Not Stop War, It Conserves War

 

• United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is still pushing for the establishment of a Palestinian terror state next to Israel. There are only three ways to read Guterres's position: he is completely clueless; he wants to see Israel eradicated; or he is happy to oblige his constituents at the UN who would apparently like to see Israel eradicated.

• At the UN, 26 member states -- including Qatar, US President Donald J. Trump's "neutral" peace negotiator and member of his "Board of Peace," as well as other "Board of Peace" affiliates such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Indonesia -- do not even "formally" recognize Israel.

• When Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel took place, there was no "occupation" in the Gaza Strip. The "occupation," in fact, ended in the summer of 2005....

• For most Palestinians, all Jews there are "illegal settlers," and Israel just "one big settlement" that has no place in the Middle East.

• Many Palestinians viewed the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a retreat in the face of terrorism. In their eyes, if Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip as a result of terrorism, all that is needed for the rest of Israel to leave is more terrorism.

• As the great historian Bernard Lewis noted nearly 50 years ago, the UN does not resolve war, it conserves war. Trump, who managed to contain several wars in six months, has shown the world as much.

• If Palestinians could be taught -- and learn -- coexistence, their lives could be so magnificent. This change, however, can never take place while the UN and its scores of Arab and European camp-followers enable impossible fantasies.

• Finally, Guterres might listen to what the majority of the Palestinians are unmistakably saying: NO to a two-state solution. Palestinians polled two years ago by AWRAD, a Palestinian research group, unequivocally said that they did not want a "two-state solution" -- 75% rejected any solution other than a Palestinian state "from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea" – meaning over all of Israel.

• As Guterres must know full well, the establishment of a Palestinian state will not lead the Palestinians to abandon their determination to eliminate Israel. Quite the opposite. A Palestinian state will make them more determined than ever to continue their efforts to obliterate Israel. October 7 did not happen because Palestinians were denied a state. It happened because they were given one.

It is hard to believe that, more than two years after Palestinians invaded Israel, murdering, torturing, wounding, and kidnapping thousands of Israelis and foreign nationals, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is still pushing for the establishment of a Palestinian terror state next to Israel. Pictured: Guterres gives a speech calling for a Palestinian state at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly on September 22, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

It is hard to believe that, more than two years after Palestinians invaded Israel, murdering, torturing, wounding, and kidnapping thousands of Israelis and foreign nationals, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is still pushing for the establishment of a Palestinian terror state next to Israel. There are only three ways to read Guterres's position: he is completely clueless; he wants to see Israel eradicated; or he is happy to oblige his constituents at the UN who would apparently like to see Israel eradicated.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) alone consists of 57 UN member states out of a total of 192. At the UN, 26 member states -- including Qatar, US President Donald J. Trump's "neutral" peace negotiator and member of his "Board of Peace," as well as other "Board of Peace" affiliates such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Indonesia -- do not even "formally" recognize Israel: Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Niger, Pakistan, and Cuba.

"The two-State solution with Israelis & Palestinians living side by side in peace & security is the only viable path to a just & lasting peace," Guterres wrote this week "The occupation must end. The inalienable rights of the Palestinian people must be realized. International law must be respected."

The UN secretary general seems to have forgotten that the two-state solution was finally laid to rest on October 7, 2023, when Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, accompanied by thousands of "ordinary Palestinians" from the Gaza Strip, attacked Israel's southern communities, murdering more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and wounding thousands. On just one day, more than 250 Israelis and national foreigners, including women, children and the elderly, were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip as hostages.

When Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel took place, there was no "occupation" in the Gaza Strip. The "occupation," in fact, ended in the summer of 2005, when Israel withdrew from Gaza after evacuating 9,000 Jews and destroying 21 Jewish communities.

On October 7, 2023, Israel had no security or civilian presence inside the Gaza Strip. In 2005, every Jew left Gaza; it then became a de facto independent Palestinian state.

After the Israeli withdrawal, the Palestinians could have turned the Gaza Strip into the "Singapore of the Middle East." Instead, most Palestinians in 2006 voted for Hamas, whose stated goal is the destruction of Israel. Hamas, with the help of Iran, Qatar, and Turkey, turned the Gaza Strip into one of the largest bases for jihad (holy war) and terrorism in the Middle East. Hamas, recruiting tens of thousands of soldiers, built its own army.

This period was not used to build prosperity, institutions, or peaceful coexistence. Instead, it was used to arm Palestinians, radicalize them and prepare for war.

On October 7, 2023 the "State of Gaza" declared war on the State of Israel by firing more than 2,000 rockets into the country, roughly the size of New Jersey (approximately 22,000 sq.km.), while thousands of Palestinians poured over the border, many videotaping their atrocities.

The Israeli communities targeted by the Palestinian terrorists are not "disputed territories" or "illegal settlements." They are towns and cities located inside Israel's internationally recognized borders. Even Guterres's UN does not dispute that fact. Additionally, Israeli citizens living near the border with the Gaza Strip are not, according to the UN and international law, "illegal settlers."

The Palestinians, incidentally, do not distinguish between a Jew living over the Green Line and a Jew living in Tel Aviv or any other city inside Israel. For most Palestinians, all Jews there are "illegal settlers," and Israel just "one big settlement" that has no place in the Middle East.

Although the "occupation" of the Gaza Strip ended more than two decades ago, the Palestinians' dream of eliminating Israel has not disappeared. In fact, conversely, Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip increased their appetite to pursue their jihad to replace Israel with a Palestinian Islamist state. Many Palestinians viewed the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a retreat in the face of terrorism. In their eyes, if Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip as a result of terrorism, all that is needed for the rest of Israel to leave is more terrorism.

The Palestinians and their Arab brothers have already voted against a two-state solution many times, starting in November 1947. The UN had offered a partition plan dividing then Mandatory Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem as an international city. Rather than accept the offer, the Arabs attacked Jewish civilians and looted Jewish shops, setting them on fire -- with the apparent aim of terrorizing Jews in order to prevent a Jewish state in any part of the land.

Since then, Palestinian leaders have rejected all Israeli peace offers that would have given them a state.

In 2000, US President Bill Clinton hosted Israeli and Palestinian leaders at a summit in Camp David with the hope of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement between the two sides. Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat walked away from the summit after turning down an Israeli offer that would have given the Palestinians control of nearly all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as large parts of east Jerusalem.

Clinton said:

"It was historic: an Israeli government had said that to get peace, there would be a Palestinian state in roughly 97% of the West Bank, counting the swap, and all of Gaza where Israel also had settlements. The ball was in Arafat's court.

"I was calling other Arab leaders daily to urge them to pressure Arafat to say yes. They were all impressed with Israel's acceptance and told me they believed Arafat should take the deal. I have no way of knowing what they told him, though the Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar, later told me he and Crown Price Abdullah had the distinct impression Arafat was going to accept the parameters.

"On the twenty-ninth, [US envoy] Dennis Ross met with [Palestinian negotiator] Abu Ala, whom we all respected, to make sure Arafat understood the consequences of rejection. I would be gone. Ross would be gone. [Then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Barak would lose the upcoming election to [Ariel] Sharon....

"I still didn't believe Arafat would make such a colossal mistake."

By continuing to call for a Palestinian state, Guterres is clearly seeking to reward Hamas for its October 7 massacre – and doing a great service to Hamas.

The Palestinians' repeated rejection of the two-state solution shows that their leaders have repeatedly chosen to sacrifice their own people to achieve their goal of destroying Israel.

The UN has done nothing but prolong the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As the great historian Bernard Lewis noted nearly 50 years ago, the UN does not resolve war, it conserves war. Trump, who managed to contain several wars in six months, has shown the world as much.

Guterres and his UN staff, if they were honest, would tell the Palestinians in no uncertain terms that they will never "return" to Israel – even after Trump and Netanyahu are long gone -- and that, in their own best interests, they would be wise to abandon 78 years of failed attempts to eliminate Israel. If Palestinians could be taught -- and learn -- coexistence, their lives could be so magnificent. This change, however, can never take place while the UN and its scores of Arab and European camp-followers enable impossible fantasies.

Finally, Guterres might listen to what the majority of the Palestinians are unmistakably saying: NO to a two-state solution. Palestinians polled two years ago by AWRAD, a Palestinian research group, unequivocally said that they did not want a "two-state solution" -- 75% rejected any solution other than a Palestinian state "from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea" – meaning over all of Israel.

Guterres is right. International law must be respected. It is the Palestinians, however, who must respect international law by recognizing Israel's right to exist and ending their jihad to destroy it. Unfortunately, there are no signs that the Palestinians are coming around.

As Guterres must know full well, the establishment of a Palestinian state will not lead the Palestinians to abandon their determination to eliminate Israel. Quite the opposite. A Palestinian state will make them more determined than ever to continue their efforts to obliterate Israel. October 7 did not happen because Palestinians were denied a state. It happened because they were given one.

Bassam Tawilis a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made possible through the generous donation of a couple who wish to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22258/un-chief-calling-for-israel-destruction

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China Syndrome: Biolabs in California, Las Vegas raided by FBI tied to indicted Chinese national - Jerry Dunleavy

 

by Jerry Dunleavy

The FBI believes that a years old bio lab in California and a newly-discovered biolab in Las Vegas are both tied to a CCP-linked Chinese fugitive currently awaiting a fraud trial.

 

An illegal biolab in California raided by the FBI in 2023 and a separate hazardous lab inside a Las Vegas garage searched by the bureau this weekend are both tied to a CCP-linked Chinese national currently awaiting trial for fraud, false statements, and the adulteration of medical devices, according to court filings, police officials and members of Congress.

Jia Bei Zhu was arrested in 2023 on allegations he was running an illegal biological laboratory in Reedley, Calif. On Saturday, the FBI and local police raided a similar biolab in Vegas, arresting the home’s property manager, Ori Salomon (also spelled Solomon).

Police and lawmakers say the two labs are closely connected.

“An illegal bio lab was just raided in Vegas” and “it is directly linked to the secret Chinese lab found in California in 2023, which was oozing with E. Coli, HIV, and Malaria,” Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., tweeted on Tuesday. 

“The lab just raided in Vegas was operated by the same LLC and same Chinese nationals as the one discovered in Reedley,” Kiley said in a House floor speech. “Now we know there was at least one other such lab, but we still don’t know how many others."

The lawmaker described the biolabs in California and Vegas as “counterparts.”

A review by Just the News of federal court filings, real estate records, and police documents shows that the Vegas property featuring a garage filled with suspicious vials and biohazard equipment has been listed as being owned by Zhu, an LLC founded by him, and/or by his romantic partner and business associate who fled to China.

Congressional investigators allege that Zhu (also known by the aliases of Jesse Zhu, Qiang He, and David He) had significant connections to the Chinese Communist Party apparatus and allege he ran an illegal laboratory in California that housed approximately 20 types of infectious disease samples — including HIV, Tuberculosis, and the deadliest known form of Malaria. It also allegedly sold oft-counterfeit or Chinese-origin COVID-19 tests without a proper permit, the investigators said.

The Vegas property raided by police and federal agents over the weekend was located at 979 Sugar Springs Drive — and ownership records show it is run by David Destiny Discovery LLC, a company registered by Zhu and now in the name of his wife and business partner Zhaoyan Wang, who reportedly fled to China after police began investigating the father of her child in 2023.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal shared aerial photographs clearly showing the property raided by authorities was the 979 Sugar Springs Drive address, and footage released by Las Vegas police also makes it clear that it is that specific location. Photographs of the house on Zillow and Google Maps also make it clear it is the same address owned by Zhu through David Destiny Discovery and managed by Salomon.

The Justice Department in November 2023 charged Zhu with “distributing adulterated and misbranded medical devices” in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and for “making false statements” to the Food and Drug Administration. A superseding indictment in August 2024 also charged both Zhu and Wang with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to their alleged biolab scheme.

Salomon was arrested on Saturday by Vegas police as they searched the Sugar Springs Drive property he ran for Zhu, and he was hit with a state-level felony charge for the criminal “Dispose/Discharge [of] hazardous waste.” 

The Justice Department on Monday also hit Salomon with a federal charge for the illegal possession of a firearm while under a nonimmigrant visa after investigators discovered at least six firearms at the Vegas property as part of their investigation.

Just the News has found that Zhu and his attorney have been fighting unsuccessfully against his detention for more than two years — often seeking to use the Sugar Springs Drive home in Vegas as collateral to allow him to be released on bail, and specifically and repeatedly naming Salomon as one of his proposed custodians to help monitor him once he is bailed out.

Zhu remains behind bars, but the court filings help show the close links between Zhu, the Sugar Springs Drive property, David Destiny Discovery (also called “3D” by Zhu and his legal team), and Salomon.

The filings also demonstrate the DOJ’s concerns that the bail deal repeatedly proposed by Zhu is actually a scheme to help him flee to China, which is where Wang jetted off to with their child shortly after Zhu was raided a few years ago.

KLAS Las Vegas reported this week that “police suspect Wang has access to cameras monitoring the Sugar Springs Drive home.”

Police directly name jailed Chinese national as “suspect” in the Vegas case too

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill on Monday accidentally referred to Zhu as the prime suspect in the Vegas case, before saying that the prime suspect was actually Salomon.

“The main suspect in this case” is “the owner of the house on Sugar Springs Drive,” McMahill said at the Monday press conference in reference to Zhu, before adding that “I’m sorry, that’s not the main suspect, that’s the main suspect in the California case.”

“The primary suspect we arrested, however, is Mr. Ori Salomon,” McMahill said. “His initial charge was a charge of disposing and discharging hazardous waste.”

The police chief said Salomon is “believed to be the property manager” for the two properties raided by authorities over the weekend, including the Sugar Springs Drive home.

Las Vegas police said onMonday that investigators “learned the property owner” at Sugar Hills Drive “was connected to a 2023 illegal biological laboratory investigation in Reedley, California.”

“Investigators have identified a suspect in this case as the owner of the residence on Sugar Springs Drive. That individual was already in federal custody on charges related to the investigation of a biolab in Reedley, California in 2023,” Vegas police said in reference to Zhu. “A second suspect, 55-year-old Ori Solomon, was arrested in conjunction with this investigation. Solomon is the property manager for the two properties on Sugar Springs Drive and Temple View Drive.”

Multiple local outlets reported early this week that, after his arrest, Zhu made more than 400 calls to Salomon while Zhu was jailed.

KTNV Las Vegas reported this week that, according to an investigative report, “Zhu and his associates attempted to license a medical laboratory in Las Vegas” and “investigators believe materials from that lab may have been taken to other properties in Las Vegas linked to Zhu, including the home on Sugar Springs Drive that was searched on Saturday.”

Salomon did not immediately return a request for comment sent to him through the federal public defender assigned to him, and Zhu did not immediately return a request for comment sent to him through the Fresno attorney who has been defending him in court for years. Zhu has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing in the past.

Court filings show long link between Zhu, Cali biolab, Vegas home, and Ori

An extensive review of court filings show Zhu, through his defense attorney, repeatedly sought to persuade a federal judge to let him out on bail and to allow him to use the Sugar Springs Drive property as collateral. The defense also repeatedly sought to have the court allow Salomon be designated as a third party custodian for him.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton said during a detention hearing in November 2023 that “the government is not sure that he is married to the son's mother, but he does have a relationship with her” and that “it seems they share an address.”

“They are also listed as the principals on a company called David Destiny Discovery, which the address for that company is a residence in Vegas. It's the same residence that's listed on the newborn child's passport application that Ms. Wang and Mr. He share,” Barton said. “The Government believes that that business, to the extent that it is an actual business, is operated out of that residence by them.

"And then, more importantly, from there, David Destiny Discovery, based on bank records obtained by the Government — the Government has shown that, just in the month of September of 2023 alone, there has been over $250,000 transferred to David Destiny Discovery. Those checks are being deposited by Mr. He into bank accounts that he's on.”

The prosecutor said that “this company, David Destiny Discovery, is currently the owner on … a house in Las Vegas valued at approximately $800,000” and two condos in Las Vegas that together are worth approximately $800,000.” Barton said that Zhu and Wang “are both listed as principals or managing members of this David Destiny Discovery, so the Government believes they control these properties and assets.”

Barton argued that “the Government believes this shows that He has control over these assets, even though they're in the name of David Destiny Discovery” and thus that it was a “lie” when Zhu allegedly claimed in his pretrial services report to only having $10,000 to $20,000 in assets.”

Zhu’s lawyer filed an April 2024 motion pushing the court to review his client’s detention, stating that “the defendant is a Chinese citizen with a Chinese passport and lives in a house in Las Vegas, Nevada that is owned by David Destiny Discovery” and that “Ms. Wang states in her declaration that David Destiny Discovery, LLC, invests in real estate with money from her family in China.”

“Ms. Wang also states in her declaration that … David Destiny Discovery, LLC., 3D was established in 2022. 3D is engaged in the sale, operation, and management of Las Vegas real estate. It is registered in Las Vegas. Ms. Wang is the company manager,” Capozzi wrote. “3D is willing to post two properties as collateral: 979 Sugar Springs Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada” and a property in California as well.

Included in Capozzi’s filing was an exhibit which was a declaration written by Wang (signed in Qingdao, China) which also appears to have been submitted in Chinese.

“David Destiny Discovery LLC (3D) was established in 2022. It is mainly engaged in the sale, operation, and management of Las Vegas real estate. It is registered in Nevada. I am the company manager that mainly invests in family funds from China,” Wang wrote in her declaration, repeating that “3D is willing to post two properties as collateral” including the Sugar Springs Drive property.

Barton along with U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert and other federal prosecutors filed a motion in response the same month.

“Zhu has maintained ties with China while living in the United States. He owned and operated a business named Ai De Diagnostics out of China since at least 2016,” the DOJ lawyers wrote. “Notably, income generated from this Chinese-based business supplied the funding for the purchase of the Sugar Springs Las Vegas property Zhu now offers for bond.”

The federal prosecutors argued that Zhu’s Ai De Diagnostics “also provided funds at various times to Zhu’s other businesses” — including David Destiny Discovery — which are “businesses Zhu now claims are owned and operated by someone else.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Carbajal told the court during a bail review hearing in May 2024 that “the declaration submitted by Mr. Capozzi” from Wang “was executed in China.” 

“We noted that Defendant still has the active business interests in the Chinese company Adai and that that was the company — one of the companies used to fund the purchase of the property — one of the properties being proposed for bond, and the property that he proposes to live in, which right now is a rental property,” the DOJ lawyer said. “In fact, that business, that LLC, David Destiny Discovery, owns about five properties. So, what's being offered is only a couple of rental properties off of a portfolio of different properties.”

Carbajal added that “what Mr. Capozzi has submitted indicates some change in ownership in David Destiny Discovery” but that “Mr. Zhu — that's Mr. He — is still the registered agent for that business even today.” The prosecutor added: “What it appears to be is at the time of the first detention hearing, in the lapse of a few months, steps have been taken to move Mr. He — Mr. Zhu as Mr. He — his name off of these subsidiary businesses and into the name of Ms. Wang who is at this point outside of the jurisdictional reach of the Court. So, I think that's also very significant.”

In a transcript of a hearing on Zhu’s motion for bail review in July 2024, Capozzi argued that there are “conditions that would reasonably assure his appearance” and which would allow his client to be released on bail. The defense lawyer claimed that “he doesn't want to go back to China. If he did, I think he'd be in deep trouble. He has a Chinese passport.”

Zhu’s lawyer then appeared to reference Salomon as Zhu’s “property manager.” 

“He has a driver's license from Las Vegas. And the collateral is in Las Vegas. He would live in Las Vegas. His third-party custodians are in Las Vegas,” Capozzi said of Zhu. “One is his longstanding attorney because his family is gone, and the other is his property manager of the properties his wife owns in Nevada. I think there's substantial collateral, a million and something. I forgot what the number was.”

U.S. Distruct Judge Dale Drozd, one of the federal judges who has handled the Zhu case, referred the “proffered third-party custodians” being insisted upon by Zhu.

Capozzi said that “there's two” custodians being proposed by Zhu, his lawyer “Mr. Lynn (phonetic)” and "Ari Solomon (phonetic), both in Las Vegas.”

The judge asked what bond was being proposed by Zhu and who would be posting the bond, with Zhu’s lawyer saying that “it would be his company.”

When asked what their relationship was to Zhu, Capozzi said that “his partner, his wife, owns this” and referenced the Las Vegas property again as part of the “substantial collateral.”

Barton soon jumped in to call Zhu a liar once more, saying the defendant was misleading about his ties to China.

“The Government does want to address this asylum story. … There is strong proof he's not telling the truth. This asylum application is false. It's got false — demonstrably true falsehoods. The Government has the application. We're happy to file it. We can file it under seal. Defense Counsel was asked to sign a waiver allowing the Government to show it in open court. Defense wouldn't sign that waiver,” the prosecutor argued. “That asylum application has numerous falsehoods about Mr. Zhu, about prior names used, about family connections, about his prior travels to the United States, all lies. He is an incredible flight risk.”

Zhu’s defense attorney filed yet another motion for review of the detention order against his client in December 2024, and specifically named Salomon and the Sugar Springs Drive property as being a key part of Zhu’s argument for why the accused criminal should be allowed out on bail.

“The defendant is a Chinese citizen with a Chinese passport and lived in a house in Las Vegas, Nevada that is owned by David Destiny Discovery, LLC. Ms. Wang states in her declaration that David Destiny Discovery, LLC, invests in real estate with money from her family in China,” Capozzi wrote.

The lawyer told the court that "3D" is “willing to post two properties as collateral: 979 Sugar Springs Drive” in Las Vegas as well as a home in California, and that “Wang is willing to post a ‘3D’ property in Las Vegas valued at approximately $850,000.” The lawyer added that “Mr. He would propose to live in the 979 Sugar Springs Drive Las Vegas, Nevada residence with an ankle bracelet, GPS monitoring, and surrender his Chinese passport.”

The defense attorney added that “Mr. He would propose having two third party custodians, Michael Lin, his Las Vegas attorney, and Ori Soloman, the property manager of 3D properties in Las Vegas.”

In the same court filing, Zhu’s lawyer repeated his proposal that “the defense would post David Destiny Discovery, LLC property in Las Vegas, Nevada, at 979 Sugar Springs Drive, and as collateral.” and that Zhu “would propose having two third party custodians” — including Salomon.

Talbert told the court in January 2025 that the DOJ still opposed letting Zhu out on bail.

“Zhu again offers the same two properties as collateral and the same two individuals as third-party custodians as he did before without any explanation as to why the Court should believe the collateral and custodians will ensure his compliance with conditions,” the U.S. attorney wrote. “Zhu also does not address the conflict of interest that is created by the fact the two properties are controlled by his fugitive codefendant, Wang. This shows that Zhu has no viable collateral or custodians who can vouch for him.”

The federal prosecutor added: “The fact that Wang continues to pledge her properties as collateral for Zhu’s release, but refuses to return to the United States to face the charges against her, is a strong indication of what Zhu will do if he is released. He will almost certainly run and hide with her in China. The Court should not let that happen.”

Despite repeatedly attempting to use his Las Vegas property on Sugar Springs Drive and Salomon the property manager as justification to be allowed out on bail, Zhu remains behind bars in federal detention ahead of his trial.

Despite Zhu repeatedly and publicly linking himself to Salomon and the Vegas property over the years, Christopher Delzotto, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Vegas field office, said Monday that “I don’t know that I can comment on that or if I have knowledge of that” when asked if this house had ever been searched before. He said it was searched now based on “intelligence that was gathered” recently.

Inside the raid in Vegas: 1,000 samples, mysterious vials, biomaterial, hazmat equipment

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) revealed Saturday that police and the FBI were “currently serving a search warrant” at the Sugar Springs Drive home, noting that “as a precaution, investigators on scene will be wearing protective gear in case hazardous material is found inside the residence.”

The police said later that day that “investigators discovered evidence of possible biological material to include refrigerators with vials containing unknown liquids.”

Sheriff McMahill said at a press conference on Saturday that “the warrant was related to information that a possible biological laboratory was inside the residence”

The Las Vegas SWAT Team “searched a home on Sugar Springs Drive in northeast Las Vegas” while the FBI searched a separate property nearby at the same time on Temple View Drive, although “there was no threat found” at the latter location, the sheriff said.

The sheriff said “possible biological material” was found at the Sugar Springs Drive location, “including refrigerators with vials containing unknown liquids.”

“There’s a lot of questions that we have that need to be answered and a lot of work that is ahead of us that needs to be done,” McMahill added, noting that Salomon was taken into custody on Saturday.

The FBI’s Delzotto said the bureau deployed an evidence response team unit, a scientific response analysis unit, and a technical hazards response unit to assist Vegas police in the search and the investigation.

Vegas police said on Monday that “a little over a week ago, LVMPD received information that laboratory equipment and potentially hazardous materials may have been stored inside the home.”

The police noted that, in the connected California case from 2023, investigators had found “potentially dangerous pathogens” inside that bio lab, and so “while it was unknown whether similar materials were present at the Las Vegas residence, the possibility required LVMPD and partner agencies to proceed with extreme caution.”

The police said that LVMPD’s Counterterrorism Section and ARMOR Task Force, in partnership with the FBI and regional fire agencies, “initiated a joint investigation and extensive operational planning to address the potential risk safely.”

During the early Saturday morning raid, “three individuals renting rooms inside the home were safely removed and are not involved in the investigation,” police said.

The “investigators focused on a locked garage believed to contain the materials” and police said LVMPD “deployed drones for aerial awareness and a tactical robot to clear the interior and conduct air sampling before personnel entered.”

The ARMOR team then “entered wearing protective equipment,” police said. “Investigators observed refrigerators, a freezer, laboratory-type equipment, and numerous containers holding unknown liquid substances.”

The police said that “evidence collection continued through Sunday” and concluded that evening, and that “the materials were transported to a Southern Nevada Health District facility for secure storage and are now being transferred to an FBI laboratory for testing.” Police said that “some of that evidence included biological material and liquids that were meticulously collected and sent to FBI labs for testing.”

Vegas police released a video of investigators in hazmat gear entering and searching the property. The video shows investigators pulling bags and stacks of vials out of a freezer and a refrigerator in the home. The investigators can be seen placing the vials in “Biohazard” bags and photographing and labeling the evidence.

Video released by the police also shows a four-legged “robot dog” approaching and entering the home before human investigators did so. The video also shows police drone surveillance of the home before and during the search.

Sheriff McMahill said Monday that Vegas police’s counterterrorism section and armed taskforce had launched a “joint investigation” with the FBI leading up to the raid.

The sheriff said investigators found multiple refrigerators, a freezer, and “other laboratory type equipment” inside the Sugar Springs Drive property “consistent in appearance to the items found and described in the Reedley, California lab investigation.”

Investigators found a "significant volume of material” in the fridge and freezer “including various vials and storage containers with liquids of different colors and compositions,” McMahill said.

"The scene presented a high level of complexity with materials that have been yet identified and still require careful assessment,” the sheriff added. “Some items appeared consistent with biological and chemical storage.”

The sheriff said that there was now “zero threat to the public — it was all contained in that garage.”

The garage-based biolab had “left multiple people sick”

Fox 5 Vegas reported that they had obtained court documents which showed that the biological lab inside the Vegas garage had “left multiple people sick.” The outlet said that a woman responsible for cleaning two homes managed by Salomon said “the garage smelled like a hospital,” according to a court document, and that the woman recounted that it was “not like a clean hospital but more of a foul, stale, stagnant air smell.”

The house cleaner reportedly told police that she became “deathly ill” with the outlet saying that “her symptoms included having difficulty breathing, muscle aches, and being fatigued to the point where she could not get out of bed.”

KTNV Las Vegas also reported this week that a woman who lived in the home "ended up in the hospital with severe respiratory issues."

It was reported by KLAS Las Vegas that police received a tip that the home contained “many dead crickets” and that multiple people had been sickened at the property.

Inside the charges against Jia Bei Zhu and Ori Salomon

Zhu and his alleged co-conspirator — Zhaoyan Wang, his business partner and the mother of his child currently hiding out in China — were both hit with a superseding federal indictment in August 2024 after Zhu was initially arrested and charged in 2023.

The first count related to 18 U.S.C. § 1349 — conspiracy to commit wire fraud — with the DOJ alleging that “as a result of the false and fraudulent representations that defendants Zhu and Wang … caused to be made to the buyers” of “COVID-19 test kits” from companies owned by the duo, these companies “sold hundreds of thousands of the test kits and received over $1,700,000 in payments.”

The second through ninth counts against Zhao and Wang related to 18 U.S.C. § 1343 — wire fraud — for the aforementioned scheme.

The tenth and eleventh counts against the duo hit them with a charge under 21 U.S.C. § 331(a) and 21 U.S.C. § 333(a)(2) for the “distribution of adulterated and misbranded medical devices.”

The twelfth count was against just Zhu, and it was a charge under 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2) for alleged “false statements” made to FDA officials, with the DOJ arguing that Zhu lied when he claimed that “he was not defendant Zhu aka Jesse Zhu and was instead Qiang He aka David He” and that “did not know the manufacturing and distribution histories” for his companies and  “did not have access” to the “distribution records, financial records, or ownership records” for the companies.

Zhu has pleaded not guilty. Wang is unavailable for prosecution as she is in China.

A court filing by the State of Nevada on Saturday against Salomon — the property manager for Zhu and Wang — showed he had been hit with a felony charge under Statute 459.600.3. 

The court docket says that “probable cause existed for the defendant’s arrest” and that “the defendant’s biological specimen shall be submitted to the appropriate laboratory for genetic marker analysis.”

Salomon posted bail on Sunday for a $3,000 cash bond, and he is listed as being due in court in Clark County in early March.

Soon after the raid of the Vegas property which he manages, the Justice Department revealed in a Monday court filing that he was also being charged federally under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(B) and 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2) for being a “prohibited person in possession of a firearm.”

The criminal complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, had its affidavit penned by FBI Special Agent Hannah Janousek.

Janousek said that Salomon, “knowing that he was an alien admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa, knowingly possessed” a number of firearms in violation of the law, including four handguns and two rifles.

The FBI agent said that, during Saturday’s search, Vegas police “officers observed a room that appeared to be an office space for Salomon” and that the police found a French passport with the name “Ori Salomon” and an Israeli passport bearing the name “Ori Solomon.”

The House Select Committee on the CCP’s 2023 report said that Zhu was "a fugitive from Canada who illegally entered the United States" and had "previously stolen millions of dollars of American intellectual property." According to the report, after entering the United States under his “David He” alias, Zhu formed new companies with the help of an unnamed accountant who allegedly had ties to the Chinese United Front Work Department and wider Chinese Communist Party leadership. 

Jerry Dunleavy

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/biolabs-california-and-vegas-raided-fbi-both-tied-ccp-linked-fugitive-chinese

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