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Flock Cameras in Santa Clarita: The License Plate Reader Dragnet Tracking Every Car You Drive — and Why We Say It Violates the 4th and 14th Amendments

The Truth News — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 07:00:39 +0000

Good Shepherd Media · Santa Clarita, California · Government Spying · Editorial & Investigation

Flock Cameras in Santa Clarita: The License Plate Reader Dragnet Tracking Every Car You Drive — and Why We Say It Violates the 4th and 14th Amendments

The City of Santa Clarita leases dozens of AI-powered Flock Safety license plate readers that photograph every vehicle that passes, build a searchable “fingerprint” of your car, and log where you have been — at locations the Sheriff’s Station refuses to disclose. Volunteers mapped them anyway. Search your own street below, see what these cameras collect, and read why we believe this is precisely the surveillance state the Constitution was written to prevent.

Good Shepherd Media Editorial Board · Santa Clarita, CA · September 7, 2026 · Est. reading time: 11 minutes

In this report

Live map: Flock and ALPR cameras in Santa Clarita (search your address)
What is a Flock camera and what does it record?
Santa Clarita’s Flock program by the numbers
Why we believe Flock cameras violate the Fourth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment: due process and equal protection
The 1984 surveillance state, built one pole at a time
What Santa Clarita residents can do
Frequently asked questions

You didn’t consent to this. You were never asked. But if you drove to church on Sunday, to the pharmacy on Tuesday, or to a friend’s house on Friday night, there is a very good chance a camera bolted to a pole somewhere in Santa Clarita photographed your car, read your plate, logged the time and place, and filed it in a private company’s database where any deputy with a login can search it — no warrant, no judge, no suspicion required.

The cameras are made by Flock Safety, a venture-backed Atlanta company that has become the largest seller of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the United States. In November 2024, the Santa Clarita City Council approved a two-year lease of 35 Flock cameras for roughly $261,250, with renewals allowed up to $511,250, to be operated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Santa Clarita Valley station. By March 2025 the station said all 35 were installed. Where? The station told the local paper it would rather not say, citing the safety of the cameras.

The government that answers to you has placed surveillance equipment on public streets, paid for with your money, and decided that you are not entitled to know where it is watching you from.

Live map: Flock cameras and license plate readers in Santa Clarita

The Sheriff’s Station may not publish a list, but the cameras stand on public right-of-way in plain view, and a nationwide volunteer effort called DeFlock has been documenting them one by one into OpenStreetMap. This map pulls that data live every time the page loads. Red dots are Flock Safety cameras; gold dots are other or unlabeled license plate readers. The faint wedge shows which direction the lens faces. Click any dot for details. Type your ZIP code or street address to see every reader near your home, your church, or your child’s school.

Flock Cameras: A Warrantless Dragnet on Every Road

Flock Safety license plate readers photograph every car that passes — plate, make, color, bumper stickers, dents — and store where you were and when in a private database that police search with no warrant, no judge, and no suspicion. Santa Clarita leases 35 of them and won’t say where they are. Volunteers mapped them anyway.

Fourth Amendment. A permanent, searchable log of everyone’s movements is a search. The Supreme Court said so for cell-phone location data in Carpenter (2018) and again in Chatrie (2026). A camera on every chokepoint is the same dragnet on a pole.
Fourteenth Amendment. No notice, no hearing, no vote — the public was never told where the cameras are. And a tool any logged-in user can point at any group, with no judge in between, is not equal protection of the laws.

Search your ZIP or address below. Red dots are Flock cameras; gold are other license plate readers. Every one records you.

Camera locations © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), crowdsourced by the DeFlock community. Volunteer-reported and may be incomplete — if a camera on your street isn’t here, add it. Address search by Nominatim/OpenStreetMap. Full national map: maps.deflock.org. Open the map full-screen.

Look at where they sit. Not scattered at random — at the chokepoints. The freeway approaches. The arterials every neighborhood drains into. The parking lot exits. As of this writing the community data shows 67 license plate readers inside Santa Clarita — 34 tagged as Flock Safety hardware and 33 from other vendors or not yet identified — every one of them with a recorded facing direction. That is nearly double the 35 the city leased, which tells you the city contract is only part of the picture: homeowners associations, shopping centers, and other agencies are running their own. If you leave your neighborhood the same way each morning, you are passing the same camera every day. That is not a tool for finding a stolen car. That is a net.

What is a Flock camera, and what does it actually record?

A Flock Safety camera is a solar-powered, cellular-connected license plate reader, usually mounted on a black pole or an existing traffic signal, aimed at the rear plates of passing cars. Flock’s marketing says its cameras “just read license plates.” The City of Santa Clarita’s own staff report says otherwise. The cameras, in the city’s words, employ machine learning and artificial intelligence to capture vehicle characteristics beyond the plate — color, make, body type, roof racks, bumper stickers, dents — so that a vehicle can be searched for even when no plate number is known. Flock calls this a “Vehicle Fingerprint.” A single camera can process up to 30,000 vehicles a day.

Every one of those 30,000 captures is a record of an innocent person going about their life. The camera does not know or care whether you are a fugitive or a grandmother. It records everyone and sorts it out later — which is to say, it records everyone and keeps it. Once uploaded, the data lives on Flock’s servers, and any officer with credentials can search it — and, depending on the sharing settings the agency chooses, so can hundreds of other agencies around the country through Flock’s national network.

Santa Clarita’s Flock camera program, by the numbers

Santa Clarita license plate readers: the facts

City-leased Flock Safety cameras	35 (contract approved Nov. 12, 2024; all installed by March 2025)
Two-year lease cost	About $261,250; not to exceed $511,250 with renewals
Operator	LASD Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station
Readers mapped by volunteers in the city	67 (34 Flock, 33 other vendor / unlabeled)
Capacity per camera	Up to 30,000 vehicles per day
Camera locations disclosed by the city	None
Public hearing on whether residents wanted to be tracked	None
Warrant required to search the data	No
ALPRs mapped across Southern California	More than 10,000

Why we believe Flock cameras violate the Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment guarantees “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” For most of American history the government could not follow you everywhere you went because doing so was expensive: it took a deputy, a car, and a lot of coffee. That cost was itself a protection. Flock cameras erase it. For a few thousand dollars a pole, the government now follows everyone, everywhere, all the time, and stores the result.

The Supreme Court has already recognized this danger. In Carpenter v. United States (2018) it held that the government needs a warrant to obtain historical cell phone location records, because a record of “the whole of a person’s movements” reveals their “familial, political, professional, religious, and sexual associations.” This summer, in Chatrie v. United States, the Court went further, holding by a 6–3 vote that pulling a person’s location data is a search even when investigators only take a narrow slice of a much larger database — the exact argument cities have used to defend their camera networks.

We will be honest about the state of the law, because our readers deserve it. In January 2026, a federal judge in Norfolk, Virginia ruled that that city’s network of 176 Flock cameras did not yet violate the Fourth Amendment, because with 21-day retention and gaps in coverage it did not capture the “whole” of a person’s movements. The same judge warned in the same opinion that ALPR surveillance could cross the line “at some point.” In that case, the city’s own data showed the two plaintiffs’ cars — two ordinary people, no warrant, no charges — had been photographed hundreds of times in four months. The plaintiffs have appealed to the Fourth Circuit, and the Institute for Justice has filed a similar Fourth Amendment suit against San Jose, right here in California.

“Not today,” the judge wrote. We say: what is the number, then? How many cameras, how many days of retention, before a free people are entitled to say the government may not build a searchable record of where every one of us has been?

Santa Clarita has already decided the answer for us, without asking. We believe the courts will eventually catch up to what common sense already knows: a permanent, warrantless, city-wide log of the movements of every innocent driver is an unreasonable search, whether the judge in Norfolk is ready to say so or not.

The Fourteenth Amendment: due process and equal protection

The Fourteenth Amendment promises that no state shall deprive any person of liberty without due process of law, nor deny any person the equal protection of the laws. Both promises are broken here.

No notice, no hearing, no vote

Due process starts with notice. Santa Clarita installed a surveillance network on public streets and refused to tell the public where it is. There was no hearing on whether residents wanted to be tracked, no public vote, no meaningful opportunity to object — only a line item on a council agenda approved after “some debate.” The city cannot deprive you of the liberty to move about anonymously in your own town and then deny you even the information needed to understand what was taken.

A dragnet that falls on whoever the person at the keyboard chooses

Equal protection is the promise that the law falls on everyone alike. But a camera network at neighborhood chokepoints does not fall on everyone alike; it falls hardest on whoever the person at the keyboard decides to look for. Around the country, Flock data has been used to track a woman across state lines over an abortion and to feed federal immigration enforcement — in Mountain View, California, city officials discovered federal and state agencies had searched their cameras without consent. That revelation is why Santa Clara County voted in February 2026 to drop Flock entirely, why Los Altos Hills pulled its cameras down in January, and why by one count more than 90 cities nationwide have rejected or canceled Flock contracts. When a tool can be pointed at any group by any logged-in user with no judge in between, “equal protection” becomes whatever the person searching decides it is.

California’s Constitution says privacy is inalienable — and Sacramento did nothing

California’s own Constitution goes further than the federal one: Article I, Section 1 names privacy as an inalienable right of every Californian. And yet, as CalMatters reported this week, the Legislature has now failed for the fifth straight year to pass meaningful regulation of these cameras; this year’s bill, SB 1013, died without a vote. The people who could set the limits have declined to. That leaves it to cities — and to us.

The 1984 surveillance state, built one pole at a time

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is usually invoked lazily. We invoke it precisely. Orwell’s insight was not that the telescreen was always watching; it was that no one could ever be sure whether it was, and so everyone behaved as if it were. That is the effect of a camera network whose locations are secret and whose data is searchable at will. You do not have to be guilty of anything to change where you drive, whom you visit, which meeting you attend, which church or clinic or lawyer’s office you pull into. You only have to know that someone could look.

A community of free people does not have to accept this. We are told the cameras help deputies with staffing shortages; we are told they find stolen cars. Perhaps. Every surveillance state in history has been able to point to a criminal it caught. The question a constitutional republic asks is different: what does it cost the innocent, and who gets to decide? In Santa Clarita, so far, the answer to the second question has been “not you.”

What Santa Clarita residents can do about Flock cameras

Speak at City Council. The Flock lease is a two-year contract with renewal options. Renewal is a vote. Show up, put your name on the record, and ask each councilmember whether they will vote to renew warrantless tracking of their own constituents.
Demand the audit logs. California’s ALPR statute (Civil Code §1798.90.5 et seq.) requires every ALPR operator to maintain a usage and privacy policy and to log who accessed the data and why. File a California Public Records Act request with the City of Santa Clarita and the SCV Sheriff’s Station for the Flock usage policy, the search/access logs, and every outside agency the data has been shared with.
Map the cameras. If there is a reader on your street that isn’t on the map above, photograph it and add it at deflock.org. Secrecy is the program’s first defense; a complete public map takes it away.
Ask your HOA and your shopping center. Nearly half the readers mapped in this city are not the city’s. Ask who owns the one at your gate, what it keeps, and who can search it.
Sign, and tell your neighbors. Resident petitions to remove the cameras — including “Remove Flock Cameras from Santa Clarita” and “DeFlock SCV” — are circulating. Signatures alone won’t do it, but they tell the council which way the wind is blowing.

We will keep this map live and this story updated. If you have information about how Santa Clarita’s camera data has been accessed or shared, contact Good Shepherd Media.

Frequently asked questions about Flock cameras in Santa Clarita

Are there Flock cameras in Santa Clarita?

West Hollywood Pointed Its Inspectors at the Victim! The Law Says the Source Is Next Door!

The Truth News — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:33:59 +0000

Investigation · Government Accountability

West Hollywood Will Inspect the Victim’s Building. The Source Next Door Stays Sealed.

A property owner documented water pouring in from the bar next door and asked the City to inspect both his building and the source. City Hall moved on the victim’s building — and left the neighbor’s plumbing unopened.

By M. Reynolds · Good Shepherd Media
West Hollywood, Calif.

I have covered a lot of municipal runarounds. This one is different, because the City wrote its own runaround down. A West Hollywood property owner on Santa Monica Boulevard reported that water is intruding through the wall he shares with the bar next door — after that bar’s City-permitted remodel left plumbing running close to the shared wall. His written demand asked the City to inspect the intrusion point in his own building and the source next door. The City moved on his building. When he pressed for the source to be inspected too, its Assistant City Manager wrote that he was “interpreting [the] voice message as a denial” and that the City “will render findings absent such inspection” — recasting a demand to inspect the source as a refusal to be inspected. The offending plumbing next door remains unopened.

The Complaint, in the City’s Own Language

On or about August 11, 2026, the owner — referred to here as Mr. Zullo — sent a formal written demand. It was not a rant. It cited Health & Safety Code sections 17920.3 and 17980, the City’s own nuisance and plumbing ordinances, and it attached a California Public Records Act request for the neighbor’s remodel permit and inspection file. He identified the probable sources next door: an ice-machine drain at the shared wall with no code-compliant air gap, a broken corrugated roof-drainage channel, and a plugged drain and sump with a broken pump.

In other words, he did what a city says it wants a citizen to do. He wrote it down, cited the code, and pointed at the exact fixtures. And here is where the story turns.

Who Is Actually Refusing to Look?

Read the sequence the City itself created, in its emails of August 24, 25, and 26:

The owner’s written demand asks the City to inspect both the intrusion point in his building and the source next door, and identifies the neighbor’s plumbing as the cause.
The City schedules an inspection of the owner’s building — “internal and external” — and says nothing about opening the neighbor’s.
The owner presses, in writing and by recorded voicemail, for the source to be inspected too.
The City records that as a “denial” and says it “will render findings absent such inspection” — of his building.

Read honestly, the record does not show a citizen refusing to cooperate. It shows a citizen who asked for two things and received movement on only one — the half that points at him. Mr. Zullo invited inspection of his own intrusion point, invited inspection of the source, filed a written legal demand, and requested the permit file. What has not happened is the one thing that would actually locate the cause: an inspection of the offending plumbing next door. The neighbor’s remodel and drainage sit unexamined behind a permit the public has not been shown. A city cannot “render findings” on where the water comes from while declining to open the wall it comes through.

A city cannot render findings on where the water comes from while declining to open the wall it comes through. The source next door has never been inspected.

What the Law Requires — and the Word Is “Shall”

California’s State Housing Law defines a “substandard building” to include “deteriorated or ineffective waterproofing of exterior walls, roofs, foundations, or floors” (Health & Safety Code § 17920.3(g)(2)). In 2024, the Legislature passed SB 1465 (Stats. 2024, ch. 487), effective January 1, 2025, broadening that definition to “any building or portion thereof, regardless of zoning designation or approved uses,” and — pointedly — extending its protection to “nearby residents,” not just a building’s own occupants. A commercial bar is squarely covered, and a neighbor harmed across a shared wall is exactly the “nearby resident” the amended law names.

Once the City inspects and confirms the condition, its discretion is spent. Section 17980(c)(1) says the agency “shall commence proceedings to abate the violation.” Not “may” — “shall.” Where a public agency refuses a clear, present, ministerial duty, a court may compel it by writ of mandate (Code Civ. Proc. § 1085; State of California v. Superior Court (1974) 12 Cal.3d 237), with fees available to a prevailing petitioner under Code Civ. Proc. § 1021.5.

The City’s own code is even more direct. West Hollywood Municipal Code section 9.60.040 declares it a public nuisance to maintain a structure with water intrusion; with roof drainage that “fails to prevent dampness or deterioration in the walls or interior portion of the structure” or roof water “discharged in a manner that creates a public nuisance”; with plumbing not maintained in good condition and waste lines that must “function properly and be kept free from obstructions, leaks and defects”; and with dampness in habitable rooms. Those are the exact conditions documented next door.

And if that bar runs an ice machine, the plumbing standard is not debatable. California Retail Food Code section 114193(a) requires that “ice machines and bins… shall be drained by means of indirect waste pipes, and all wastes drained by them shall discharge through an airgap.” The California Plumbing Code, Chapter 8, says the same. An ice-machine drain at a shared wall with no air gap is not a gray area — it is a violation, and it sends water exactly where Mr. Zullo says it is going.

Immunity Is Not the Wall City Hall Thinks It Is

The City may assume Government Code section 818.6 — inspection immunity — ends the conversation. It does not. That immunity blocks certain damages claims for negligent inspection (Haggis v. City of Los Angeles (2000) 22 Cal.4th 490); it does not bar a writ compelling the mandatory abatement duty, and it does not touch nuisance. The California Supreme Court held in Nestle v. City of Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal.3d 920, 937 that Government Code section 815 “does not bar nuisance actions against public entities to the extent such actions are founded on section 3479 of the Civil Code.” Nor does immunity reach inverse condemnation: “the immunities provided by the Tort Claims Act do not insulate a public entity from liability for inverse condemnation” (Pacific Bell v. City of San Diego (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 596, 602–603; Baldwin v. State of California (1972) 6 Cal.3d 424, 438). And because water intrusion is a continuing condition, every recurrence is a fresh wrong until it is abated (Baker v. Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority (1985) 39 Cal.3d 862).

There is a further wrinkle the City should sit with. Its first substantive response to a written legal demand and a records request was a cease-and-desist aimed at the property owner’s conduct. A citizen’s demand and public-records request are core petitioning activity. When a government answers protected petitioning with threats or coercion, California’s Bane Act (Civil Code § 52.1) supplies a remedy that requires no showing of discriminatory animus (Venegas v. County of Los Angeles (2004) 32 Cal.4th 820), and the First Amendment protects the right to challenge officials (City of Houston v. Hill (1987) 482 U.S. 451; Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach (2018) 585 U.S. 87). That is not a verdict. It is the exposure the City invited by answering the messenger instead of the message.

Why Prevention Is the Entire Point

This is not a fight about a stain on a wall. Restoration and construction-defect specialists describe water intrusion into concealed cavities as the start of a chain, not an endpoint: sustained moisture rots framing, feeds mold, and corrodes the connections that hold a structure together. Left unabated over years, water that compromises structural elements can, in the worst case, threaten the integrity of the building itself — and a compromised structure endangers every person and animal in or beside it. No one is predicting a collapse next week. That is precisely the point of prevention. The substandard-building statutes exist to force repair before deterioration becomes catastrophe. A city that receives documented notice of active, recurring intrusion against structural elements — and answers by inspecting the wrong building — is not managing that risk. It is running out the clock on it.

The People Who Now Owe the Public an Answer

Assistant City Manager Steve Campbell is the official the City named as the property owner’s sole point of contact and the author of the emails at the center of this account — the one scheduling the wrong building, and the one recasting a correction as a “denial.” By the City’s own instruction, he is the person responsible for moving this matter. So far he has moved it in the wrong direction.

Mayor John Heilman, sworn in January 12, 2026, presides over the City this year. Heilman is a founder of West Hollywood, has served as mayor nine times, and teaches law — a professor at Southwestern Law School and adjunct at USC. A city led by a law professor cannot plausibly claim the word “shall” in section 17980 is beyond its understanding. The standard West Hollywood should be held to is the one its own Mayor teaches in a classroom.

City Manager Jackie Rocco, installed in 2026, leads the staff that received the complaint and the records request. At her installation the Mayor said the Council must “hold staff accountable.” This matter is the test of whether that phrase means anything.

The City’s Position

In fairness to the City, its written response to the demand did several things the law requires: it confirmed a litigation hold and the suspension of automatic email deletion to preserve evidence, acknowledged the public-records request and committed the City Clerk to producing records, and stated the City is reviewing the corrective-action demand. Good Shepherd Media invited comment from the City, Mayor Heilman, Assistant City Manager Campbell, and the operator of the adjacent premises. This report will be updated to reflect any substantive response on the central open question — whether, and when, the City will inspect the source next door rather than only the complainant’s building.

Six Questions West Hollywood Must Answer

1. The demand asked the City to inspect both the intrusion point and the source next door. Why has the City moved only on the complainant’s building and not scheduled inspection of the source?

2. Will the City now inspect the neighbor’s ice-machine drain, roof-drainage channel, and drain and sump — and release the neighbor’s remodel permit and inspection file?

3. If inspection confirms a substandard condition, does the City acknowledge its non-discretionary duty under section 17980(c)(1) to “commence proceedings to abate”?

4. On what basis did the City call a written and recorded correction a “denial,” and does it stand by rendering findings “absent inspection” of the source?

5. Did the neighbor’s remodel receive City permits and pass City inspection — and if so, how did plumbing at the shared wall pass?

6. Was the cease-and-desist a response to the owner’s protected petitioning and records request, and how does the City square that with the Bane Act and the First Amendment?

Prevention is not a favor a city grants when it feels like it. Under California law it is a duty, and the duty is written with the word “shall.” The man who reported the leak asked for the source to be inspected. So far, West Hollywood has agreed to look everywhere except the wall the water comes through.

Key Findings

California law places a mandatory, non-discretionary “shall abate” duty on West Hollywood once it inspects and confirms a substandard water-intrusion condition (Health & Safety Code § 17980(c)(1)), and — as of SB 1465 (Stats. 2024, ch. 487, eff. Jan. 1, 2025) — that duty now reaches “any building or portion thereof, regardless of zoning designation” and expressly protects “nearby residents.” The City’s decision to inspect Mr. Zullo’s own building rather than the source (the adjacent bar) inverts the statutory scheme.
The strongest tools are the mandatory-abatement duty (§ 17980(c)(1) + writ of mandate, CCP § 1085), nuisance liability that survives governmental immunity (Nestle v. City of Santa Monica), and inverse condemnation (which overrides Tort Claims Act immunities). The weakest are damages theories dependent on Gov. Code § 815.6, which face the broad inspection immunity of Gov. Code § 818.6 (Haggis).
The rhetorical reversal is legally grounded: it is the City and the neighbor — not Mr. Zullo — who are now refusing to inspect the true source and are on course to “render findings absent inspection” of the offending plumbing.

The mandatory-duty statute is real and recently strengthened. H&S § 17920.3(g)(2) defines a substandard building to include “deteriorated or ineffective waterproofing of exterior walls, roofs, foundations, or floors,” plus dampness/inadequate-sanitation conditions. Section 17980(c)(1) says that once an enforcement agency “has inspected or caused to be inspected a building and has determined that the building is a substandard building … the enforcement agency shall commence proceedings to abate the violation.” SB 1465 — authored by Sen. Bob Archuleta, sponsored by the Code Enforcement Officers Association (CACEO), and crafted, per California Building Officials, “in the wake of the Ghost Ship Fire … to prevent catastrophic events through proactive enforcement” — amended § 17920.3 to cover “any building or portion thereof, regardless of zoning designation or approved uses of the building … in which there exists any of the following listed conditions to an extent that endangers the life, limb, health, property, safety, or welfare of the occupants of the building, nearby residents, or the public.” As the Serviam Law legal alert explains, “nearby residents are distinguished alongside occupants and the public as those whose health and safety is impacted by substandard buildings, emphasizing the impacts of substandard buildings on the entire community.”
Plumbing-code and food-code duties support the “source is the bar” theory. California Retail Food Code (H&S § 114193(a)) requires that “all steam tables, ice machines and bins … shall be drained by means of indirect waste pipes, and all wastes drained by them shall discharge through an airgap into a floor sink or other approved type of receptor.” The California Plumbing Code (Ch. 8) requires ice-making equipment to discharge through an air gap/air break into a receptor. An ice-machine drain at the shared wall lacking an air gap is a documented code violation.
West Hollywood’s own code independently declares these conditions nuisances. WHMC § 9.60.040 designates as public nuisances, among others: water intrusion (§ 9.60.040(b)(3)); roof drainage that “fails to prevent dampness or deterioration in the walls or interior portion of the structure” and “roof water … discharged in a manner that creates a public nuisance” (§ 9.60.040(b)(7)); plumbing not conforming to code or “not … maintained in good condition,” and waste lines that must “function properly and be kept free from obstructions, leaks and defects” (§ 9.60.040(h)); and “dampness in habitable rooms” (§ 9.60.040(j)(4)).
Nuisance and inverse condemnation pierce governmental immunity; § 815.6 damages claims largely do not. Nestle v. City of Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal.3d 920, 937 holds Gov. Code § 815 “does not bar nuisance actions … founded on section 3479 of the Civil Code.” Inverse condemnation overrides Tort Claims Act immunities (Pacific Bell v. City of San Diego (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 596, 602-603; Baldwin v. State of California (1972) 6 Cal.3d 424, 438). But damages for negligent inspection are blocked by the broad inspection immunity of Gov. Code § 818.6 (Haggis v. City of Los Angeles (2000) 22 Cal.4th 490).
The City’s “refusal/render findings” tactic is legally reversible and raises retaliation exposure. Mr. Zullo’s written demand and CPRA request are protected petitioning activity; a cease-and-desist aimed at his petitioning conduct implicates the Bane Act (Civ. Code § 52.1; Venegas v. County of Los Angeles (2004) 32 Cal.4th 820) and First Amendment principles (42 U.S.C. § 1983; Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach (2018) 585 U.S. 87; City of Houston v. Hill (1987) 482 U.S. 451).

Statement of the City’s Mandatory Duty

The City of West Hollywood’s Obligation to Inspect and Abate the Source

The Santa Monica Boulevard — water intrusion from the adjacent premises at Santa Monica Boulevard

This statement sets out, in plain terms, the duties California law imposes on the City. These are obligations, not courtesies.

1. The condition is defined by statute. Water intrusion that produces “deteriorated or ineffective waterproofing of exterior walls, roofs, foundations, or floors,” together with dampness and structural deterioration, is a “substandard building” under Health & Safety Code § 17920.3(g) and (a). As amended by SB 1465 (Stats. 2024, ch. 487, eff. Jan. 1, 2025), that definition reaches “any building or portion thereof, regardless of zoning designation or approved uses,” and expressly protects “nearby residents” — the owner’s status relative to THE ISSUE.

2. Abatement is mandatory, not discretionary. Once the enforcement agency “has inspected or caused to be inspected a building and has determined that the building is a substandard building,” it “shall commence proceedings to abate the violation.” (Health & Safety Code § 17980(c)(1).) The Legislature wrote “shall.” Inspecting the complainant’s building while leaving the source next door unopened does not discharge that duty.

3. The City’s own code says the same. West Hollywood Municipal Code § 9.60.040 declares it a public nuisance to maintain a structure with water intrusion; with roof drainage that “fails to prevent dampness or deterioration in the walls or interior portion of the structure”; with plumbing “not maintained in good condition” and waste lines that must “function properly and be kept free from obstructions, leaks and defects”; and with dampness in habitable rooms. Abatement authority follows under WHMC Ch. 1.32 and the adopted building and plumbing codes (WHMC Ch. 13.04, 13.12).

4. The plumbing standard is exact. Ice machines and bins “shall be drained by means of indirect waste pipes, and all wastes drained by them shall discharge through an airgap.” (Health & Safety Code § 114193(a); Cal. Plumbing Code, Ch. 8.) An ice-machine drain at the shared wall without an air gap is a violation on its face.

5. Immunity does not dispose of this. Inspection immunity (Gov. Code § 818.6; Haggis v. City of Los Angeles (2000) 22 Cal.4th 490) does not bar (a) a writ of mandate compelling the mandatory abatement duty (Code Civ. Proc. § 1085; State of California v. Superior Court (1974) 12 Cal.3d 237, with fees under § 1021.5); (b) nuisance liability (Gov. Code § 815 does not bar Civil Code § 3479 actions — Nestle v. City of Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal.3d 920, 937; a continuing nuisance supports successive actions until abated — Baker v. Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority (1985) 39 Cal.3d 862); or (c) inverse condemnation, which overrides the Government Claims Act immunities (Cal. Const., art. I, § 19; Pacific Bell v. City of San Diego (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 596, 602–603; Baldwin v. State of California (1972) 6 Cal.3d 424, 438; Albers v. County of Los Angeles (1965) 62 Cal.2d 250).

6. Notice is complete. The City has actual, documented, written notice of an active, recurring, structure-threatening condition. Unabated water intrusion into masonry progressively degrades mortar, brick, and embedded structural elements; the governing statutes exist to compel repair before deterioration becomes catastrophe. Prevention is the purpose of the law, and the duty to prevent is now the City’s.

The City’s obligation is straightforward: inspect the source at Santa Monica Boulevard, and, upon a substandard determination, commence abatement. All rights and remedies are expressly reserved.

M. Reynolds

Investigative Reporter, Good Shepherd Media

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Editor’s note: Statements attributed to the property owner reflect his account and the documentary email record, including a recorded voicemail, reviewed as provided and reported as his account. Statutory text, case law, and public records concerning City offices and officials are drawn from primary and government sources. Named public officials are discussed solely in their official capacities. Nothing in this article states or implies that a structural failure is imminent; the discussion of structural risk describes the general, foreseeable progression of unabated water intrusion and the preventive purpose of the governing statutes.

Notified, and Still Not Reading: How West Hollywood Answered a Documented Safety Hazard by Inspecting the Wrong Building

The Truth News — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:38:58 +0000

Investigation · Government Accountability

Notified, and Still Not Reading: How West Hollywood Answered a Documented Safety Hazard by Inspecting the Wrong Building

A property owner told the City in writing, again and again, that water is destroying his building from the property next door. The City’s answer was to schedule an inspection of his building — then to declare his correction a “refusal.”

By Good Shepherd Media West Hollywood, Calif.

There is a difference between a city that cannot fix a problem and a city that will not read the complaint. Over the span of a single August in West Hollywood, a commercial property owner on Santa Monica Boulevard learned which kind of city he is dealing with. He documented water pouring through a shared wall from the property next door. He cited the exact statutes that obligate the City to act. He sent photographs and video. And the City — through its Assistant City Manager, under a Mayor who teaches law for a living — responded by aiming its inspectors at the wrong building and then treating the owner’s objection as a refusal to cooperate.

The Complaint the City Would Not Read

The facts, as documented by the property owner, are not complicated. His building shares a party wall with the adjacent bar space. After a City-permitted remodel of that neighboring space — a remodel the City itself inspected and signed off — water began intruding through the shared wall into his property. It had not done so before. He identified the probable sources at the neighbor’s address: an ice-machine drain at the shared wall, a broken roof drainage channel, and a plugged drain and broken pump.

On or about August 11, 2026, he sent the City a formal demand. It named the source property. It cited California Health & Safety Code sections 17920.3 and 17980. It requested inspection and abatement of the neighbor’s property, and it included a California Public Records Act request for the remodel’s permit and inspection file. This was not a vague grievance. It was a road map, written in the City’s own legal language, pointing at a single address.

A Record of Not Listening

What followed, according to the email record, is a sequence that speaks for itself:

First, the City replied not with an inspection date for the source property, but with a cease-and-desist letter over the owner’s phone conduct — a response to the messenger rather than the message.
Then, when scheduling finally came, the City’s Assistant City Manager offered dates to inspect — in his own written words — the owner’s own building, “to conduct an internal and external inspection of the premises” at the owner’s address, not the neighbor’s.
The owner corrected the record, in writing and by a recorded voicemail, stating plainly that the property to be inspected is the neighbor’s — the source — not his own.
The City’s answer was to write back that it was “interpreting [the] voice message as a denial for allowing the City to inspect” his building, and that it “will render findings absent such inspection.” In other words: having pointed at the wrong building, the City recast the owner’s correction as a refusal, and prepared to close the file on that basis.

Read that sequence again. A property owner reports that Building A is flooding his property. The City proposes to inspect Building B — his. He says no, inspect Building A. The City records that “no” as a refusal to cooperate. This is not the paperwork of an agency that misunderstood. It is the paperwork of an agency that was not listening, and then built a record to make the listener the problem.

The owner reported that the property next door was the source. The City scheduled an inspection of his building — then called his objection a refusal.

What the Law Actually Requires

The frustration here is sharpened by the fact that the law is not ambiguous. Under Health & Safety Code section 17920.3, a building is “substandard” when it exhibits, among other conditions, “[f]aulty weather protection,” expressly including “[d]eteriorated or ineffective waterproofing of exterior walls, roofs, foundations, or floors.” As amended by Senate Bill 1465, effective January 1, 2025, that section reaches “any building or portion thereof, regardless of zoning designation or approved uses,” and expressly extends its protection to “nearby residents.”

Once a substandard condition is found, the City’s discretion runs out. Section 17980(c)(1) provides that when an enforcement agency “has inspected or caused to be inspected a building and has determined that the building is a substandard building,” it “shall commence proceedings to abate the violation.” The operative word is shall. And where a public agency refuses to perform a clear, present, ministerial duty, California courts may compel that performance by writ of mandate under Code of Civil Procedure section 1085 — a remedy the Supreme Court has long recognized reaches duties “purely ministerial in character” (State of California v. Superior Court (1974) 12 Cal.3d 237).

The City will likely reach for its inspection immunity under Government Code section 818.6, and courts do construe that immunity broadly (Haggis v. City of Los Angeles (2000) 22 Cal.4th 490). But that immunity is a shield for how an agency inspects — not a license to ignore the separate, mandatory duty to abate once a hazard is determined (Gov. Code section 815.6). Nor does statutory immunity reach a claim for inverse condemnation, which rests on the California Constitution itself: “the immunities provided by the Tort Claims Act do not insulate a public entity from liability for inverse condemnation” (Pacific Bell v. City of San Diego (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 596, 603). And because water intrusion is a continuing condition, each recurrence is a fresh wrong for which successive actions lie until it is abated (Baker v. Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority (1985) 39 Cal.3d 862).

Why Prevention Is the Whole Point

This is not a dispute about an inconvenience. Restoration and construction-defect specialists describe water intrusion into concealed wall cavities as the beginning of a chain, not an endpoint. Sustained moisture degrades framing and finishes; it feeds mold in enclosed spaces; and it corrodes the connections that hold a structure together. Left unabated over time, water that compromises structural elements can, in the worst cases, threaten the integrity of the building itself — and a compromised structure is a danger to every person and animal inside or beside it.

No one is predicting a collapse tomorrow. That is precisely the point of prevention: the entire purpose of the substandard-building statutes is to compel repair before deterioration becomes catastrophe. The Legislature did not write section 17980 to be invoked after a wall fails. It wrote it to prevent the failure. A city that receives documented notice of active, recurring water intrusion against structural elements — and responds by inspecting the wrong building and manufacturing a refusal — is not managing that risk. It is running out the clock on it.

The People Accountable

Accountability for how a city handles a safety complaint runs to named offices, and West Hollywood’s are a matter of public record.

Steve Campbell, Assistant City Manager, is the official the City designated as the property owner’s sole point of contact and the author of the emails at the center of this account — including the one scheduling an inspection of the wrong building and the one recasting the owner’s correction as a “denial.” He is, by the City’s own instruction, the person responsible for moving this matter. On this record, he has moved it in the wrong direction.

Mayor John Heilman presides over the City in 2026. Heilman is not an ordinary elected official when it comes to this subject: a founder of the City who has served as mayor nine times, he holds a law degree from USC and teaches law as a professor at Southwestern Law School and USC. A city led by a law professor cannot credibly claim that the mandatory language of section 17980 — the word “shall” — is beyond its comprehension. The standard of understanding that West Hollywood should be held to is the one its own Mayor teaches in a classroom.

City Manager Jackie Rocco, appointed in 2026, sits atop the administration that received the complaint and the records request. When the Mayor installed her, he publicly stated that the Council must “hold staff accountable.” This matter is a test of whether that phrase means anything.

The City’s Position

The City of West Hollywood has stated in writing that it will respond to the property owner’s demand and produce responsive public records on a rolling basis. Good Shepherd Media will update this report to reflect any substantive response the City provides regarding the water-intrusion complaint, the choice of inspection target, and its characterization of the owner’s correction as a refusal.

The Question West Hollywood Must Answer

Strip away the back-and-forth and one question remains, and it is not rhetorical. A property owner delivered documented notice of a recurring, structure-threatening hazard, in the precise language of the statutes that govern it. The City had every tool it needed to act. Why, after all of that, did West Hollywood point its inspectors at the wrong building and prepare to close the file by calling the complainant uncooperative?

And the larger question, for a city of tens of thousands: if this is how West Hollywood treats a property owner who did everything right — who wrote it down, cited the code, and put the City on notice — what happens to the residents who do not know the statutes by number? Prevention is not a favor a city grants when it feels like it. Under California law, it is a duty. West Hollywood, so far, is failing that duty in writing.

This guy Steve cannot seem to get the offending neighbor inspected for his water intrusion. Posing an ongoing risk to us for his dereliction of duties and incompetence at reading mixed with his passive aggressive attitude.

Editor’s note: Statements attributed to the property owner or to his demand and correspondence reflect his account and documentary materials, including the email record and a recorded voicemail, which Good Shepherd Media has reviewed as provided and reports as his account. Statutory text, case law, and public records concerning City offices and officials are drawn from primary and government sources. Named public officials are discussed solely in their official capacities. Nothing in this article states or implies that a structural failure is imminent; the discussion of structural risk describes the general, foreseeable progression of unabated water intrusion and the preventive purpose of the governing statutes.

Brian Inman Hamblet – The Mask of Confidence

The Truth News — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:46:06 +0000

Brian Inman Hamblet – The Mask of Confidence

Our opinion matters like yours does

In the crowded courtroom, the attorney never argued with me directly. He didn’t need to. Instead, he leaned back in his chair with a smug smile, letting out the occasional snicker whenever I spoke, as though ridicule were a substitute for reason.

The judge barely seemed to follow what was happening, allowing confusion to drift through the proceedings without ever bringing clarity. It felt less like a search for the truth and more like a performance where appearances mattered more than facts.

The attorney seemed perfectly comfortable while the room was watching. Every smirk, every quiet laugh, every dismissive glance was carefully timed for an audience.

But outside the courtroom, the performance disappeared.

When asked directly about his behavior, he denied everything.

“I never laughed.”

“I never snickered.”

“It didn’t happen.”

The confidence that had filled the courtroom dissolved into evasions and excuses. Without spectators, there was no swagger—only someone retreating behind careful words and convenient denials, hoping that if he repeated them often enough, they would become believable.

It became clear that his confidence depended on the room, not on conviction. In public, he projected certainty. In private, he hid behind distance and avoidance rather than standing by his conduct.

Watching that contrast taught me something. Genuine confidence doesn’t need an audience. Integrity doesn’t disappear when the courtroom empties. A person’s character is revealed not by how boldly they perform in front of others, but by whether they stand behind their actions when no one is left to applaud.

Laughing at those defending themselves is in itself a coward move, but we don’t expect much from fat men. Treating others with disrespect in a court especially those that are Pro Se seems to be the way many loser lawyers feel.

This is a matter of public concern to disrespect others and look down upon them when you only went a school in the ghettos of Downtown LA. you are nothing more than low grade shit!

for being a lawyer for 20 years he is poor.

peaceful public assembly is a great tool to allow you to express you and your groups feelings about the actions, behaviors, business they commence, etc….

20742 Dumont St

Woodland Hills

now hear us out why a man who studies at Loyola will have the propensity to suck in more ways than you may understand.
Poor Quality School Environments produce lack luster results Poor Quality School Environments produce lack luster results!

read this major study below conducted by independent experts! “_”

School’s Neighborhood Environment Affects Academic Outcomes

In a school neighborhood study, MSU researchers examined academic achievement and attendance for the 21 schools within the boundaries of Flint and found evidence that school neighborhoods may impact academic achievement. These findings were published in the Child and Youth Care Forum.

September 15, 2020

A neighborhood’s physical disorder has been linked to differences in academic outcomes. However, school neighborhood has not been studied as a potential additional environmental factor in academic outcomes—until now.

In a paper published on September 5 in Child and Youth Care Forum, a Michigan State University research team led by Mieka Smart, assistant professor in the College of Human Medicine (CHM) Division of Public Health and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, explored this association.

Smart defines neighborhood physical disorder as the visually perceivable problems present in a given area, which can include graffiti, garbage, and public intoxication.

In Flint, Mich., the presence of neighborhood physical disorder arises from a combination of factors, including industry disinvestment, increased crime/poverty rates, the outmigration of residents, and the effects of the Flint Water Crisis.

In their school neighborhood study, the MSU researchers examined academic achievement and attendance for the 21 schools within the boundaries of Flint and found evidence that school neighborhoods may impact academic achievement. Specifically, students exposed to economically disadvantaged neighborhoods at school, regardless of where they live, may have poorer academic skills.

“We are the first to objectively evaluate and find a significant relationship between the school neighborhood physical environment and its impact on academically related youth outcomes,” said Smart, who is also director of CHM’s Leadership in Medicine for the Underserved. “We found significant relationships between neighborhood physical disorder and attendance, and neighborhood physical disorder and academic achievement in mathematics. Our research also provides an objective accounting of the conditions of the communities that children are exposed to while at school and while in transit to school.”

These findings indicate that investment in solutions to neighborhood physical disorder might improve learning outcomes for Flint area schoolchildren.

“The implication is that efforts undertaken to improve physical and social conditions of a neighborhood might have this amazing unintended benefit—improvement in academic achievement for the kids that go to school there,” Smart said. “Understanding the effect of neighborhood conditions on child and youth academic outcomes is important for considering potential physical environmental interventions in the school’s neighborhood environment—the physical environment that surrounds a school—an environment that has not received adequate scientific attention.”

The next step is to obtain individual data from area education programs.

“This would allow us to understand how residential neighborhoods and school neighborhoods might interact to impact academic outcomes,” Smart added.

The project was funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Additional authors on the paper are Julia Felton, Cristian Meghea, Zachary Buchalski, Leah Maschino, and Richard Sadler. source

BTW THEY SENT THIS DBAG AFTER KEIKO COULD NOT PERFORM FOR THE ANTI SLAP TASK AS SHE IS CLUELESS IN OUR HONEST OPINION

When an Insurance Lawyer Prosecutes a Free Press Case: A Look at Keiko Kojima’s Handling of City of Santa Clarita v. Zullo

https://goodshepherdmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Jennifer-Seetoo-Made-with-Clipchamp.mp3

Santa Clarita Is Using Your Tax Dollars to Silence a Reporter

The Truth News — Fri, 29 May 2026 22:47:51 +0000

Good Shepherd Media · Santa Clarita, California · Editorial

Opinion & Analysis

Santa Clarita Is Using Your Tax Dollars to Silence a Reporter

When a city government files a restraining order against a journalist for making phone calls to City Hall, something has gone very wrong in a place that calls itself a democracy.

Good Shepherd Media Editorial Board · Santa Clarita, CA
June 2026

The City of Santa Clarita recently took an extraordinary step: it filed a civil harassment restraining order against a local publisher — a journalist — for the act of calling City Hall to seek comment from the mayor on a matter of public concern. Let that sink in. A government entity, funded by you, the taxpayer, is using the civil courts to silence a member of the press.

This is not a hypothetical threat to press freedom. It is happening right now, in this community, under Case No. 26CHRO00913 at the Chatsworth Courthouse. The petitioners are the City of Santa Clarita and two named city officials. The target is a registered journalist operating a legitimate local news publication. The alleged offense? Approximately fifteen phone calls over ten days — not threats, not violence, not harassment in any meaningful sense of the word — but calls to a government office seeking access to elected and appointed officials.

“Calling your government is not harassment. Reporting on your government is not a crime. But suing a journalist for doing both is a profound abuse of power.”

What the City Did — and What It Cost You

Filing a restraining order is not a free act. City attorneys do not work for nothing. Every hour spent preparing petitions, appearing in court, and litigating this matter is billed to the public. Santa Clarita residents — who pay among the highest property tax rates in Los Angeles County — are footing the bill to suppress the very journalism that exists to hold their government accountable.

And what exactly did this journalist do to merit such a response? He called City Hall. He identified himself as a publisher. He sought comment on a matter of public concern. He announced his intent to report on a planned public assembly — a constitutionally protected activity — and took care to note explicitly that any gathering should not target private residences. That last detail is critical: far from inciting disorder, this journalist acted to prevent it.

The city’s response to this responsible journalism was not a press release, not a returned call, not a public statement. It was a lawsuit. It was a Temporary Restraining Order. It was an automatic firearms prohibition imposed under Penal Code § 29825 — a collateral consequence that strips a law-abiding citizen of a fundamental right without a trial, without a conviction, and without any finding of actual danger.

What the Restraining Order Actually Does

► Prohibits a journalist from contacting city officials — the very people he is constitutionally entitled to petition
► Triggers an automatic firearms prohibition under PC § 29825, even though no violence was alleged
► Chills newsgathering by any reporter who fears similar retaliation for persistent inquiry
► Diverts public funds from city services into litigation against a member of the press
► Creates a false public impression of domestic conflict where none exists

“A greedy incompetant mayor office and city council , a corrupt police officer, a trash company and a developer whose interests appear closely aligned with those in City Hall. The public deserves transparency, accountability, and government decisions made for the benefit of residents—not for the benefit of insiders.”

The First Amendment Is Not a Technicality

Courts have long recognized that petitioning the government for redress of grievances is not merely a right — it is the foundational act of democratic self-governance. The Supreme Court has held repeatedly that speech directed at public officials on matters of public concern occupies the highest rung of constitutional protection. Even speech that annoys, offends, or inconveniences those in power cannot be suppressed simply because the powerful find it uncomfortable.

California’s own legislature recognized the danger of powerful entities weaponizing litigation against speakers and reporters. It enacted the anti-SLAPP statute — Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16 — precisely to stop this kind of abuse. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. The law exists because governments and corporations have a long history of filing lawsuits not to win, but to exhaust, intimidate, and silence those who dare to speak. When the defendant in such a case prevails, the law mandates that the plaintiff — here, the city — pay the defendant’s attorneys’ fees.

An anti-SLAPP motion has been filed in this case. The city will have to explain, in open court, why phone calls to City Hall by a journalist constitute legally cognizable harassment rather than constitutionally protected newsgathering. That is a question Santa Clarita residents deserve to hear answered on the record.

“A government that sues journalists is a government that fears scrutiny. And a government that fears scrutiny has something to hide.”

The Chilling Effect Is the Point

Make no mistake: even if this city ultimately loses in court, the filing of this action has already accomplished something. Other local journalists, bloggers, and citizens watching this case now know what awaits anyone who calls City Hall too many times, asks too many questions, or publishes something officials prefer to suppress. That knowledge changes behavior. It makes people hesitant. It makes reporters pull punches. That hesitation — that self-censorship — is the chilling effect the First Amendment exists to prevent.

Local government accountability journalism is already endangered. Newsrooms have collapsed across Southern California. The reporters who once filled city council chambers, read through budgets, and pressed officials for answers are gone. What remains, in communities like Santa Clarita, are a handful of independent publishers operating on shoestring budgets, filing records requests, attending meetings, and making phone calls — doing the unglamorous work of democratic accountability. When a city files a restraining order against one of those publishers, it is not merely attacking an individual. It is attacking the institution of local press itself.

What Santa Clarita Residents Should Demand

The residents of Santa Clarita deserve answers. They deserve to know why city attorneys authorized this action. They deserve a full accounting of how much public money has been spent litigating against a local journalist. They deserve to know whether city officials were personally involved in the decision to file, and what communications preceded that decision.

They also deserve a city government that understands the difference between harassment and journalism — between a threat and a phone call — and that responds to press inquiries with transparency, not lawsuits.

Until those answers are given, and until this action is withdrawn or defeated in court, Santa Clarita’s city government stands credibly accused of weaponizing public resources against the free press, chilling constitutionally protected speech, and betraying the trust of the taxpayers it was elected to serve.

That is a story that will continue to be told — no restraining order notwithstanding.

City of Santa Clarita Uses Public Funds to Sue Its Own Local Journalist

When an Insurance Lawyer Prosecutes a Free Press Case: A Look at Keiko Kojima’s Handling of City of Santa Clarita v. Zullo

	Mayor Laurene Weste
	Mayor Pro Tem Patsy Ayala
	Councilmember Jason Gibbs
	Councilwoman Marsha McLean
	Councilmember Bill Miranda

https://goodshepherdmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Jennifer-Seetoo-Made-with-Clipchamp.mp3

Upcoming Public Hearing

Anti-SLAPP Special Motion to Strike
Case No. 26CHRO00913 · Los Angeles Superior Court, Chatsworth Courthouse
July 2, 2026 · This is a public proceeding. All residents are welcome to attend.

The city must show cause in open court why its action does not constitute a SLAPP — a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public

Participation — targeting constitutionally protected press activity.

City of Santa Clarita Uses Public Funds to Sue Its Own Local Journalist

The Truth News — Fri, 08 May 2026 22:48:59 +0000

Good Shepherd Media

GOODSHEPHERDMEDIA.NET

SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2026  ·  VOL. 1, NO. 1

“TRUTH SERVES THE COMMUNITY”

LOCAL GOVERNMENT  ·  FIRST AMENDMENT  ·  CIVIL RIGHTS  ·  TAXPAYER ACCOUNTABILITY

Exclusive Investigation

Government Overreach

City of Santa Clarita
Uses Public Funds to Sue
Its Own Local Journalist

A restraining order filed by two city officials and the municipality itself targets a news publisher for phone calls to City Hall and plans to report on a public assembly — raising urgent First Amendment questions at taxpayer expense.

By Philip ·  Publisher, Good Shepherd Media  ·  Case No. 26CHRO00913, Chatsworth Courthouse

The City of Santa Clarita, along with two of its named officials, has filed a Civil Harassment Restraining Order against this publication’s own publisher — a journalist — after he made approximately fifteen phone calls over ten days to city offices seeking comment from the mayor on a matter of public concern.

No threats were made. No private home was targeted. The calls were placed to City Hall’s publicly listed numbers. Yet taxpayer resources are now being marshaled through the Los Angeles Superior Court to silence a local news publisher, in what legal observers say bears the hallmarks of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation — a SLAPP.

“The conduct at issue — calling a government office to seek comment and announcing intent to report on a public assembly — is constitutionally protected at its core.”

— Anti-SLAPP Motion to Strike, filed May 19, 2026

Among the most alarming collateral consequences of the temporary restraining order: an automatic firearms prohibition under California Penal Code § 29825 was imposed against the publisher — a sanction typically associated with domestic violence orders — despite no familial relationship of any kind between the parties and no allegation of violence.

The publisher had announced, in his capacity as a journalist, his intent to publish City Hall’s publicly available address in connection with a planned peaceful public assembly. Far from inciting any unlawful gathering, the announcement explicitly invoked Frisby v. Schultz warnings cautioning readers against approaching private residences — responsible journalism that legal experts say affirmatively reduces the very risks the city now claims to fear.

An Anti-SLAPP Special Motion to Strike under CCP § 425.16 was filed on May 19, 2026. A federal civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 has also been prepared, alleging retaliation against protected First Amendment activity by a government actor. Should the Anti-SLAPP motion succeed — as the legal framework strongly suggests it should — a SLAPPback action under CCP § 425.18 is anticipated, which would seek attorney’s fees and damages from the city directly.

Every dollar spent prosecuting this restraining order is a dollar of Santa Clarita taxpayer money spent suppressing local journalism. Residents deserve to know that.

What the Record Shows

The publisher placed calls to City Hall’s public line — not to any private residence or personal number. The two named petitioners were unknown to the publisher during the calls, undermining the legal requirement that harassing conduct be “directed at” a specific person.

Phone carrier records obtained by this publication contradict a screenshot exhibit submitted by petitioners purporting to show the publisher’s number — raising authentication questions under California Evidence Code §§ 1400–1402.

A lawfully made audio recording of a responding police officer, admissible under PC § 148(g) and Askins v. DHS, has been identified as impeachment evidence against petitioner testimony.

Key Legal Claims

► CCP § 425.16 Anti-SLAPP Motion (filed)
► 42 U.S.C. § 1983 — First Amendment retaliation
► California Bane Act, Civil Code § 52.1
► CCP § 425.18 SLAPPback (pending outcome)
► Second Amendment — unlawful arms prohibition

“A greedy incompetant mayor office and city council , a corrupt police officer, a trash company and a developer whose interests appear closely aligned with those in City Hall. The public deserves transparency, accountability, and government decisions made for the benefit of residents—not for the benefit of insiders.”

Analysis

Legal Precedent Cuts Against the City — And Its Lawyers Know It

A 2026 California Court of Appeal ruling, Ortiz v. Saenz, directly mirrors the facts here: a restraining order sought against a government critic. It was struck down.

Courts have repeatedly held that speech directed at government officials on public concern matters occupies the highest tier of First Amendment protection. US v. Popa established that even heated or repeated calls to public offices may not be criminalized when the subject is a public concern. The Santa Clarita restraining order tests that boundary directly — and at public expense.

The case echoes Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach (2018), in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that a city’s retaliatory lawsuit against a resident critic violated the First Amendment. The parallels are striking: a local government using its institutional weight and legal apparatus to burden the speech of a persistent critic rather than engage with the substance of his reporting.

The Anti-SLAPP statute was designed precisely for this scenario. If the motion succeeds, the city faces mandatory fee awards to the prevailing defendant. Every dollar spent prosecuting this restraining order is a dollar of Santa Clarita taxpayer money spent suppressing local journalism. Residents of the Santa Clarita Valley deserve to know exactly how their money is being used.

When an Insurance Lawyer Prosecutes a Free Press Case: A Look at Keiko Kojima’s Handling of City of Santa Clarita v. Zullo

Santa Clarita Is Using Your Tax Dollars to Silence a Reporter

Upcoming Public Hearing

Anti-SLAPP Special Motion to Strike
Case No. 26CHRO00913 · Los Angeles Superior Court, Chatsworth Courthouse
July 2, 2026 · This is a public proceeding. All residents are welcome to attend.

The city must show cause in open court why its action does not constitute a SLAPP — a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public

Participation — targeting constitutionally protected press activity.

	Mayor Laurene Weste
	Mayor Pro Tem Patsy Ayala
	Councilmember Jason Gibbs
	Councilwoman Marsha McLean
	Councilmember Bill Miranda

https://goodshepherdmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Jennifer-Seetoo-Made-with-Clipchamp.mp3

Good Shepherd Media LLC  ·  dba Good Shepherd Media  ·  goodshepherdmedia.net  ·  Santa Clarita, California

Case No. 26CHRO00913  ·  Los Angeles Superior Court, Chatsworth Courthouse  ·  Published May 8th, Updated June 4, 2026

Building A Custom Aquarium – Where to go for a Custom Aquarium Build

The Truth News — Fri, 08 May 2026 18:30:35 +0000

Building A Custom Aquarium – Where to go for a Custom Aquarium Build

For this Review we chose CustomAquariums.com

9.8 out of 10 Editor’s Choice

https://goodshepherdmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ca-home-cropped.mp4

We chose to see what all the internet hype was all about….. well we dove in head first with CustomAquariums.com to see how they could make our fish/aquarium vision a reality

If you want the most credible, persuasive way to describe this builder, call it an engineering-first custom glass aquarium company rather than a generic “luxury tank” brand. The official record supports that positioning: the site offers built-to-order sizing, multiple glass thicknesses and clarity levels, tempered or non-tempered panels, custom hole drilling, framed and rimless tanks, paludariums, multiple stand systems, and modular sump-based filtration. It also has public configurators for rectangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, rimless, and amphibious builds, plus dedicated 10-foot and 12-foot custom pages for oversized projects.

The strongest promotional angle is that these aquariums are designed to feel permanent: thick glass, polished and beveled edges, high-strength silicone, marine-grade anodized aluminum framing on the tanks, and a choice between furniture-style hardwood cabinetry or welded steel stands. That message is not only internally consistent across the site, it is also visually credible because the published package examples and manufacturing pages keep returning to the same ideas of rigidity, serviceability, and long-term durability.

The honest limitation is that ownership looks more like commissioning specialty millwork than buying a standard aquarium. Current policies show long lead times, freight and handling caveats on very large tanks, non-returnability of custom tanks/stands/canopies once production starts, and strict damage-reporting and warranty conditions. A good promotional review should say that plainly, because the product becomes more—not less—compelling when framed as a serious custom purchase.

The Customization breadth is substantial. They offer buyers many options for their glass ranging from 3/8″, 1/2″, 5/8″, and 3/4″ glass, with low-iron “ultra-clear” available in every listed thickness, with tempering options, and with panel-by-panel specification

They can drill holes anywhere!

Holes can be drilled for overflow and return systems, and the configurators publicly support multiple shapes and styles instead of restricting the buyer to a few preset rectangles.

They are here for the small custom build all the was to top tier big-budget builds for elite homes and business a like. Professional is where they start and end from day 1!

The stand and cabinet story is equally important.

The hardwood line is “solid wood throughout” frames are made in the USA from hardwoods such as ash, oak, maple, cherry, hickory, and black walnut, while the tops, backs, door panels, and side panels use matching veneer plywood rather than particleboard.

The steel line is described as high-strength square tube steel, welded into one solid piece and finished with a durable oven-cured powder coating, with a painted 3/4″ plywood top. For smaller, stackable, more institutional displays, there is also an anodized aluminum rack-style stand system.

The company’s customization depth also extends farther into filtration than many competitors’ sites do. The official “dream tank” page describes modular sump packages in 1200, 3600, and 4800 GPH, plus overflows, returns, protein-skimmer options, and plumbing. Lighting is available through its store too, but the site’s real differentiator is structural engineering and flow management rather than bespoke in-house lighting fabrication.

A compelling descriptive line, grounded in the actual specs, would be this: these builds do not look delicate; they look composed. The steel versions feel architectural, the hardwood versions feel like cabinetry, and the framed glass tanks feel intentionally reinforced rather than cosmetically rimmed. That is exactly the sort of distinction that makes a promotional review sound authentic instead of overhyped.

Pricing, Lead Times, Shipping, and Warranty

Published pricing ranges show that the builder spans serious hobbyist budgets up through premium custom budgets. Current package examples on the site run roughly from $770.85–$2,189.04 for a 75-gallon wide, $954.80–$2,578.01 for a 100-gallon, $1,927.70–$4,067.78 for a 150-gallon wide, $2,983.60–$5,172.34 for a 240-gallon, and $4,443.80–$7,150.64 for a 300-gallon package. The site also lists a ready-to-ship 180-gallon complete package at $7,605.30, which suggests that fully optioned, turnkey systems can move meaningfully above the entry package ranges. Truly oversized 10-foot and 12-foot projects are quote-driven instead of openly shelf-priced.

Lead times are not impulse-buy lead times. The current shipping page lists standard aquarium lead times at 40–50 business days, with fast-track options around 20–35 business days depending on the order type, and it says tanks ship fully cured rather than arriving with instructions to wait before use. Tempering adds additional time. That kind of language supports a premium review because it frames the delay as part of the build integrity, not as careless backlog.

Shipping policies are the biggest practical constraint on giant builds. Orders above $4,000 can qualify for free shipping per crate, but residential free curbside delivery has dimensional limits, and very large tanks may only ship free to a commercial loading dock or freight terminal. Extra fees can apply for liftgate service, remote delivery, unloading, and case-by-case in-home or office setup. The FAQ says refundable moving kits help with many popular sizes, but the company still expects buyers to inspect deliveries before signing and to document any damage immediately.

Warranty language is strong but caveated. The posted PDF says aquariums 75 gallons and larger are warrantied for life against leaks or cracks caused by defects in materials or workmanship, while tanks under 75 gallons are covered for 90 days; stands and canopies carry a 1-year limited warranty; custom aquariums, stands, and canopies are not returnable once in production; and accessory returns are limited to 30 days with shipping deductions and a 25% restocking fee. There is also a notable wording mismatch: current product pages and the steel-stand page say tanks sold with a custom stand qualify for lifetime coverage, while the formal PDF specifically references a Majestic-brand stand. A prudent buyer should get that point clarified in writing before purchase.

Third-Party Authenticity Check

The most persuasive outside-case source I found is a 550-gallon school build by Reef Conservation Society, documented on its own site via this . The group says it compared manufacturers, chose this builder after seeing sample tanks and the overflow system at a trade show, received clear drawings, and got the tank built as requested. Just as important, the write-up makes the process feel real: a heavy shipping crate, a purpose-built cart, a loading dock, volunteers, hallway maneuvering, and eventual plumbing into place. That combination of praise and effort gives the brand’s “serious custom build” message real-world credibility.

On the reputation-platform side, the shows a 4.7-star aggregate from 273 reviews pulled from Birdeye, Google, and Facebook. Visible sample reviews repeatedly point to strong customer service, good communication during special-build design, attractive finished runs, secure packaging, and good experiences with 150-, 180-, and 375-gallon systems. The same profile also includes a visible negative review describing a failed delivery/refund experience, which matters because it suggests the public review picture is positive but not artificially spotless.

Best Use Cases and Final Verdict

High-end residential showpiece. The clearest fit is the buyer who wants a long, wide display to function like architectural furniture: ultra-clear front and side panels, a dark rear panel, a hardwood stand that matches the room, and overflow/filtration choices planned at the same time as the tank. The official package examples and cabinetry pages support exactly that scenario.

Waiting room, lobby, or office focal point. The site actively markets to dental offices and hospitals, and the stain/color-matching flexibility makes that credible. This is one of the best authentic promotional scenarios because a custom aquarium can be sold not only as décor but as atmosphere: calmer, quieter, more memorable than standard reception-area furniture.

Corner, peninsula, or odd-footprint room. Pentagon, hexagon, rimless, and other configurable shapes make the builder especially attractive where a standard rectangle would waste the room or kill sight lines. This is the type of buyer most likely to appreciate the configurators and panel-by-panel glass choices.

Fish room, gallery, or multi-tank operation. The anodized aluminum rack system is not the sexy star of the site, but it may be one of the platform’s most functional offerings for breeders, stores, research rooms, and hobbyists building out multiple smaller displays.

Paludarium and hybrid habitat buyers. The amphibious line gives the company a useful edge for turtle, reptile, or land-water projects where standard aquarium makers often stop at “just put a basking area inside.” The official pages show sliding-door and custom-environment possibilities that go beyond basic fishkeeping.

Your Dream Tank,
Built to Last a Lifetime

An in-depth look at CustomAquariums.com

James Reeves
Hobbyist Reef Keeper & Aquascape Enthusiast · 12 years in the hobby

I’ve kept fish tanks since I was eight years old. I’ve filled them with ordinary box-store glass, bargain acrylic panels, and everything in between — and nothing, absolutely nothing, prepared me for what arrived from Custom Aquariums.

— Opening impressions, 280-gallon reef build

The Glass That Changes Everything

Let’s start with what you see, because with Custom Aquariums, you see everything. The company builds exclusively with glass — never acrylic — and their engineering page spells out exactly why: acrylic yellows over time, scratches at the touch of a cleaning sponge, absorbs chemicals, and introduces visual distortion that blurs your carefully aquascaped world into a murky approximation of itself. Glass is scratch-resistant, chemically inert, and dimensionally stable for decades.

But standard glass isn’t what Custom Aquariums ships you. Every panel is precision CNC-cut, then beveled and polished on every single edge — including the edges hidden inside the frame that you’ll never even see. That commitment to invisible quality tells you everything about the philosophy at work in Neenah, Wisconsin.

The result? Looking into my 280-gallon build feels like staring through still air. Corals pop. Fish color is true. The low-iron glass eliminates the greenish tint common in standard float glass, delivering a window so optically pure that guests consistently ask if it’s open-top before they notice the lid. Whether you’re running a lush Dutch planted freshwater scape or a coral-encrusted saltwater reef, the view is absolutely breathtaking.

What It Feels Like In A Room

The visual appeal here comes from controlled disappearance. The best configurations on the site pair a dark painted rear panel with clearer front and side viewing panes, which makes fish, coral, plants, and hardscape appear to float in a darker stage rather than inside a visibly green or plasticky box. On larger examples, the published specs show 1/2″ and 5/8″ glass in combinations that read substantial rather than flimsy, and the hardwood cabinetry options keep the system from looking like hobby gear dropped into a formal room.

Frames Built Like Furniture — and Fortresses

Every aquarist has a horror story: a frame fails at 2 a.m., hundreds of gallons cascade across the floor, and a cherished ecosystem dies in minutes. Custom Aquariums engineered their way out of that nightmare with a patented, marine-grade anodized aluminum frame that outperforms both plastic euro-bracing and traditional trim in every measurable way.

Unlike plastic frames that can become brittle from salt spray and UV exposure, the aluminum will never rust, corrode, or warp. It’s held to the glass with a thick layer of aquarium-grade black silicone — five times stronger than standard clear silicone — which is itself bonded only after the glass panels have been cleaned with deionized water for optimal adhesion. The result is a structural unit that, according to the company’s own documentation, is built to last a lifetime.

For stand options, the Majestic® series offers solid hardwood construction with a ¾-inch plywood top — no particle board anywhere in the build. You choose the wood species, stain, door panel style, and trim; the configurator walks you through it with almost absurd flexibility. Prefer something industrial? The welded steel tube stands handle even the most massive builds. I opted for natural oak on mine, and it sits in my living room as a piece of furniture I’m proud of, not a utilitarian necessity I try to hide.

If You Can Dream It, They Can Build It

This is where Custom Aquariums truly separates itself from the competition. Their online configurator lets you dial in not just length and depth and height, but shape. You can order classic rectangles, dramatic hexagons perfect for 360-degree viewing, corner-fitting pentagons, clean cubes, and even paludariums — those stunning half-water, half-land enclosures ideal for turtles, amphibians, and botanically-rich vivariums. Their 105-gallon tall paludarium, for instance, stands a full 48 inches high with a 15-inch waterline: an entire terrestrial world growing above a thriving aquatic one.

The configurator also handles filtration integration. Custom Aquariums’ proprietary Seamless Sump® system — developed through their sister company Serenity USA’s decades of commercial aquarium service work — combines mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration into one elegantly modular HDPE unit. Pair it with the H2Overflow® for whisper-quiet surface skimming, and the Siphon Stopper® return nozzle to minimize back-siphon flood risk if the pump ever cuts out. These are patented, real-world-tested solutions born not from a marketing whiteboard but from professionals who service aquariums for a living.

Crystal-clear low-iron glass

True-color viewing with zero greenish tint. Beveled and polished on every edge, even those hidden inside the frame.

Patented aluminum frame

Marine-grade anodized aluminum that will never rust, corrode, or become brittle — stronger than any plastic alternative.

Every shape imaginable

Rectangle, cube, hex, pentagon, rimless, or paludarium. The configurator builds it to your exact dimensions.

Lifetime warranty

Built so confidently they back every tank with a lifetime guarantee — because they engineer them to actually last forever.

Solid hardwood stands

Majestic® stands use real hardwood and ¾” plywood. Zero particle board. Furniture-grade craftsmanship throughout.

Seamless Sump® filtration

A complete, modular HDPE sump system developed by working aquarium service professionals. Elegant and flood-smart.

The Build Specifications

Glass type
Precision-cut, beveled and polished low-iron float glass (never acrylic). Thickness scaled to tank volume and dimensions for structural safety.

Frame system
Patented marine-grade anodized aluminum. Held with aquarium-grade black silicone, 5× stronger than standard clear silicone. Salt and UV resistant.

Stand options
Majestic® solid hardwood (oak, cherry, painted), Lifetime® anodized aluminum, or welded steel tube — all with ¾” plywood top, no particle board.

Shapes available
Rectangle, square, cube, hexagon, pentagon, rimless, and paludarium (half-land / half-water).

Filtration
Seamless Sump® (HDPE, modular), H2Overflow® screen, Siphon Stopper® return nozzle, Stealthbox® external overflow box. All proprietary and patent-protected.

Warranty
Lifetime — on aquariums, stands, and canopies. One of the only manufacturers in the U.S. offering this level of confidence.

Starting price
From ~$682 for a 65-gallon framed tank. Complete packages (tank + stand + sump) range to $7,000+ for flagship 300-gallon builds. Free delivery on orders over $4,000.

Pros & Cons

What we love

Glass quality is genuinely exhibition-level
Patented aluminum frame is best-in-class for longevity
Configurator offers unrivaled customization depth
Seamless Sump® ecosystem is thoughtfully engineered
Lifetime warranty backs every claim they make
Hardwood stands are furniture-quality, not afterthoughts
Born from commercial service experience, not theory
Free shipping on orders over $4,000

Worth knowing

Custom builds require lead time — not a same-week purchase
Premium pricing vs. mass-market box-store options
U.S.-based shipping only (Neenah, WI)
The rabbit hole of customization can be delightfully overwhelming

The Experience of Ordering

The configurator at CustomAquariums.com is a joy to use — part spreadsheet, part creative sandbox. You pick your dimensions, your glass thickness, your frame style, your stand species and stain, your canopy design, and your filtration stack. At any point you can call (844) 244-8265 and reach actual aquarium engineers who have built and serviced these systems in the real world. There’s no script — just expertise.

Package specials offer 8–12% discounts when you bundle tank, stand, and sump together. The 300-gallon complete saltwater build, for example, starts at just over $4,400 — a figure that seems steep until you consider you’re purchasing a lifetime piece of American-made craftsmanship with a no-asterisk warranty. Comparable setups cobbled together from big-box stores and offshore manufacturers routinely cost more and last far less.

The Verdict

Custom Aquariums isn’t selling you a fish tank. They’re selling you a window into another world — one built with precision glass, an aluminum frame engineered to outlast you, and a filtration system designed by people who have spent decades actually keeping the water clean. If you dream it, they will build it. And it will be spectacular.

9.8

out of 10
Editor’s Choice

Design Your Aquarium →

9.8 out of 10 Editor’s Choice

Material, Frame, and Glass Comparison

Option	Verified attributes	Why it matters	Trade-offs
Hardwood cabinetry stand	Solid hardwood frames, veneer-plywood structural panels, no particleboard, six wood species, multiple stains/paints, custom décor matching.	Best for buyers who want the aquarium to read like built-in furniture rather than equipment.	The company’s canopy philosophy is intentionally open-top because it says fully capped wood deteriorates from evaporation; formal stand/canopy warranty is 1 year.
Welded steel stand	High-strength square tube steel, one-piece welded frame, oven-cured powder coating, painted 3/4″ plywood top, optional casters.	Strongest visual signal of industrial confidence; best fit for extra-heavy tanks.	More utilitarian unless wrapped or enclosed. Powder coating adds barrier protection and durability, but it still reads more workshop than furniture.
Anodized aluminum tank frame	Marine-grade anodized aluminum, more rigid and rust-resistant than plastic, designed to create stronger silicone-bond geometry; paired with polished, beveled edges and high-strength black silicone.	This is the builder’s signature structural story: a framed glass tank that is meant to feel safer long-term than brittle plastic-rim alternatives.	Buyers who want a purely borderless look will prefer rimless builds instead.
Ultra-clear low-iron glass	Available in all listed thicknesses, same basic strength as regular clarity at equal thickness, lower iron for clearer viewing, can be chosen panel by panel.	Best visual upgrade for front and side viewing panes; independent glass makers confirm lower green tint, better transparency, and higher light transmission.	Costs more, so the smartest premium spec is often selective rather than “ultra-clear everywhere.”
Tempered glass	Offered in multiple listed thicknesses; official FAQ says it adds major strength and must be drilled before tempering; independent glazing guidance confirms materially stronger, safer break behavior.	Good option where extra impact resistance or structural margin matters.	Adds lead time and eliminates later drilling/modification of the tempered panel.

Shooting at White House Correspondents’ Dinner – President Trump Rushed to Safety

The Truth News — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:43:47 +0000

Shooting at White House – President Trump Rushed to Safety

4/25/2026

Suspect in custody after shots fired at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

President Trump was rushed off the stage, and he and his Cabinet members are all safe.

https://goodshepherdmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Shooting-at-White-House-President-Trump-Rushed-to-Safety.mp4

Here’s the latest

• President Donald Trump said a suspect “armed with multiple weapons” charged a security checkpoint before shots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC. Trump was rushed off stage, and he and his Cabinet members are all safe.

• The suspect — who is in custody — will be charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said. Authorities have identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old from California, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

• A US Secret Service officer was shot in their protective gear and hospitalized. The officer has since been released from the hospital, according to USSS Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi.

• CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton when he saw a gunman opening fire just a few feet away. He was among the dozens of attendees who took cover as law enforcement swarmed.

What we know so far about gunman’s attack on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Armed commandos stand by as special guests are evacuated from the back of the Washington Hilton after shots were fired during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday.

Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

A suspected gunman is in custody after storming a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner –– forcing President Donald Trump, cabinet members and a ballroom full of guests to scramble to safety.

Authorities have identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, a California native, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives and “exchanged fire” with law enforcement officers when he was intercepted and taken into custody, interim Washington, DC, Police Chief Jeffery Carroll told reporters.

A motive has not been determined, and the suspect is expected to be arraigned in court on Monday. He faces two charges: using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.

Here’s what we know so far about the attack:

Carroll said the attacker appeared to be “a lone actor” and is believed to have stayed at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner took place. Police have secured the hotel room and are examining what’s inside.
A Secret Service officer who was shot during the attack has been released from the hospital. The officer’s ballistic vest “helped us avoid a potential tragedy,” a Secret Service spokesperson said.
Authorities said the suspect was not struck by gunfire but was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
According to public records, the suspect worked as a teacher and video game developer in Southern California. He studied engineering and is a graduate of the California Institute of Technology, according to materials shared with CNN.
Trump noted his security team was not aware of any threats prior to Saturday’s dinner.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton when he saw the gunman “clearly on the ground shooting” steps away from him. A police officer threw Blitzer to the ground after the assailant opened fire.
The attack has been condemned by lawmakers in the US and leaders across the world –– many expressing relief over Trump’s safety and praising the swift law enforcement response.

President Trump rushed from White House Correspondents’ Dinner after shots fired, suspect held

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, first lady Melania Trump and other top officials were evacuated from the head table in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton hotel at the annual event after apparent gunshots were heard at the venue Saturday night.

FBI secures alleged home of suspect in WHCD shooting, search warrant pending

The suspected home of the man accused in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting has been secured by the FBI and local law enforcement, Fox News has learned.

The suspect was identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, according to a law enforcement briefing to Fox News Digital.

A federal judge in the Central District of California is expected to sign a search warrant, the U.S. Attorney’s Office told Fox News.

Once the warrant is approved, the FBI will be able to search the suspect’s home. Obtaining the warrant could take several hours.

Torrance mayor responds after resident identified as suspect in WHCD shooting

The mayor of Torrance, California, issued a statement after a city resident was identified as the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.

The suspected gunman was identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, according to a law enforcement briefing to Fox News Digital.

“Tonight, our community joins the nation in condemning the violent incident that occurred in Washington, D.C., during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Mayor George Chen said in a statement.

“We are grateful to the federal law enforcement officers and first responders whose swift actions helped prevent further harm, and we wish the injured agent a full recovery,” he added. “We are aware of reports identifying the suspect as a resident of Torrance.”

Chen emphasized the suspect does not represent the city.

“While that connection is deeply troubling, one individual’s alleged actions do not define our city or the values of the more than 143,000 residents who call Torrance home,” he said. “Torrance is a community built on respect, diversity, hard work, and public safety.”

“The City of Torrance stands firmly against political violence, extremism and acts of hatred in any form,” Chen continued. “We reject attempts to sow fear or division, whether here at home or anywhere in our country.”

Chen said the city will continue working with law enforcement.

“In moments like this, we are reminded that our shared values are stronger than the actions of any one person,” he added.

Secret Service official says gunman ‘stopped at first contact’ after WHCD shooting

Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn praised law enforcement’s response after a California man allegedly opened fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, striking an agent.

The agent was shot in the vest after the gunman entered the Washington Hilton, rushed past a magnetometer and opened fire. The agent is OK.

“Tonight, a coward attempted to create a national tragedy,” Quinn said in a statement. “He underestimated the protective capabilities of the U.S. Secret Service, and was stopped at first contact.”

“The strength of our layered security posture was evident, with a myriad of countermeasures still ahead,” he added. “Grateful for the brave men and women of the Secret Service and our valued Law Enforcement partners.”

The suspected gunman was identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, according to a law enforcement briefing to Fox News Digital.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Saturday the suspect is charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.

FBI descends on suspect’s home as investigators race to build profile in WHCD shooting

Investigators are quickly building a profile of the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting as federal agents move in on his California home.

The suspected gunman was identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, according to a law enforcement briefing to Fox News Digital.

Jason Pack, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, said authorities can rapidly compile detailed information about the suspect.

“Right now, tonight, federal agents know his name,” Pack told Fox News. “That name is running through every database the government owns. Criminal history, military service, mental health flags, travel records, known associates, prior contacts with law enforcement.”

Pack said investigators can gather critical information within minutes.

“That process takes minutes, not days,” he said. “Within the hour, prosecutors were likely already on the phone with judges seeking warrants. Digital warrants for his phone, his email, his social media accounts, his search history. Physical warrants for every address associated with his name.”

FBI agents arrived outside the suspect’s home in Torrance early Sunday.

“Those residences are being secured right now,” Pack said. “Agents are establishing a perimeter, making sure nobody enters or leaves, and waiting for a warrant.”

He added that evidence inside the home could provide key insight into the suspect’s motive.

“What is inside that residence, whether it is a manifesto, weapons, materials, a journal, correspondence, will tell investigators more about motive than almost anything else,” Pack said. “The physical space a person lives in is a biography.”

Pack said investigators are already working to reconstruct the suspect’s movements leading up to the shooting.

“The timeline reconstruction has already started,” he said. “Agents are working backwards from the lobby of the Washington Hilton and they will not stop until they reach the moment this began in his mind.”

Suspect in WHCD shooting acted alone, had multiple weapons, DC police say

The man accused of opening fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday is believed to have acted alone and was found with multiple weapons, according to the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.

The suspected gunman was identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, according to a law enforcement briefing to Fox News.

DC police said they recovered two firearms and multiple knives.

A Secret Service agent was shot in the vest and is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting renews spotlight on Trump ballroom push

The shooting inside the venue hosting the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner has renewed attention on President Donald Trump’s push for a secure White House ballroom — an idea he argues could help reduce such risks.

Trump pointed to the incident to criticize the hotel as insufficiently secure, promoting a new ballroom with features like reinforced materials.

The proposal, however, faces legal and political hurdles. Courts are weighing whether the administration bypassed required approvals, while critics question the cost and potential impact on the historic complex.

The planned 90,000-square-foot space would seat about 650 guests and replace the East Wing, marking a major change to the White House footprint. Supporters frame it as a largely privately funded security upgrade, while opponents see it as an unnecessary overhaul.

While the White House has hosted countless ceremonial events, it has never had a dedicated ballroom. The new structure would fill that gap, replacing the historic East Wing with a space built to accommodate large-scale gatherings.

Secret Service chief praises response after gunman charges WHCD security checkpoint

U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran praised law enforcement’s response after a 31-year-old California man allegedly opened fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, striking a Secret Service agent.

An agent was shot in the vest after the gunman entered the Washington Hilton, rushed past a magnetometer and opened fire. The agent is OK.

“Tonight we saw exactly what our brave men and women do each and every day to protect our protectees,” Curran said in a statement. “It’s not easy, and I will tell you that they performed admirably. We got to see what they do. And that individual, when he charged a checkpoint, was apprehended.”

“It shows that our multi-layered protection works,”Curran continued. “And I’m grateful to our partners that help assist us with building these sites and protecting these sites.”

Homeland Security chief praises Trump’s leadership after WHCD shooting

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin commended President Donald Trump for showing “incredible composure and leadership” following a shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.

“Thankfully, President Trump, the First Lady, all members of the Cabinet, the media, and guests are safe,” Mullin said in a post on X. “@POTUS has displayed incredible composure and leadership tonight.”

“I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service and law enforcement personnel for their quick and heroic actions,” he added. “An investigation is ongoing, and we will provide updates as they become available.”

Trump was escorted from the Washington Hilton after shots were reported near a security screening area. One suspect has been taken into custody.

Pelosi calls WHCD shooting a ‘terrifying act of violence,’ praises law enforcement

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted to the shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, calling it a “terrifying act of violence.”

“It is a great relief that the President, First Lady and everyone in attendance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is safe following a terrifying act of violence inside the venue,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“The brave men and women of the United States Secret Service and local law enforcement are to be commended for their swift action to secure the scene and protect those present,” she added.

Pelosi also expressed concern for those affected.

“As someone whose family has suffered political violence, my prayers are with the injured officer and all those affected by the trauma of these horrible incidents,” she said.

Pelosi’s husband was attacked with a hammer at their San Francisco home in 2022.

Suspect identified in White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting

The suspected shooter involved in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been named, Fox News can confirm.

Cole Allen, 31, was identified via a law enforcement brief to Fox News. He is from Torrance, California.

Allen was potentially a guest at the Washington Hilton, according to law enforcement.

DC US attorney says suspect in WHCD incident faces federal charges, more possible

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Saturday that the individual who rushed toward the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is facing federal charges, with more likely to follow.

Pirro said the suspect, who has not been identified, is currently charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.

“Right now, the defendant is being charged with two counts — 924(c), using a firearm during a crime of violence, and a second charge under 111, which is assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon,” Pirro said during a news conference.

She said the suspect is expected to be arraigned in federal district court Monday and could face additional charges.

“But make no mistake, there will be many more charges based upon the information that we are learning in this very fluid situation,” Pirro added.

Secret Service in line of fire at WHCA shooting still unpaid due to Dem-led shutdown

The shooting near President Trump and several Cabinet members at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is intensifying scrutiny of the Democrats’ funding standoff in Congress, which has left the Department of Homeland Security — including the Secret Service — in a prolonged funding lapse.

The incident comes as the standoff stretches past 60 days, with Democrats blocking funding measures and rejecting multiple Republican-backed proposals to reopen the department. The dispute, centered on immigration enforcement policy, has raised concerns about resources for agencies including the Secret Service, FEMA and the Coast Guard, all of which fall under DHS.

The episode adds to a series of recent security threats involving Trump, underscoring the strain on federal protective services. The Secret Service, tasked with protecting the president, vice president, their families and other senior officials, has faced growing demands in recent years.

Last week, Secret Service Director Sean Curran warned lawmakers the agency is not adequately staffed to handle major upcoming events, including the FIFA World Cup, the 2028 Olympics and the next presidential cycle — highlighting mounting concerns about staffing and resources.

Trump praises law enforcement response after gunman rushes WHCD event

President Donald Trump praised law enforcement Saturday night after a gunman rushed toward the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

“He charged from 50 yards away, so he was very far away from the room,” Trump said during a news conference from the White House.

“He was moving,” Trump added. “He was really moving.”

Trump commended the responding officers for their quick reaction.

“The reaction time was great,” he said. “Boy, those guys — they had their guns drawn. By the time he was there, they were shooting. I thought they were very impressive. And if I didn’t, I’d let you know.”

Acting AG says charges coming soon after shooting near WHCD

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Saturday night that charges are expected to be filed soon following the shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

“This investigation is ongoing,” he said during the briefing at the White House. “I expect you will see charges filed shortly.”

“The charges should be self-evident given the conduct,” he continued. “But as you’ll hear, there will be multiple charges surrounding the shooting, around the possession of firearms and anything else that we can get on this guy.”

Trump delivers White House address after White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting incident

President Donald Trump delivered a statement from the White House briefing room following the shooting incident that led to the evacuation of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner earlier tonight.

“A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons,” Trump said, praising Secret Service and law enforcement for acting “very quickly” to stop the suspect.

Trump was rushed from the Washington Hilton after shots were reported near the screening area, with law enforcement later confirming a suspect was taken into custody.

Trump confirmed the shooter was taken down and said one officer was shot at close range but saved by a bulletproof vest. “I just spoke to the officer… he’s in great shape,” Trump said.

Adding to the surreal scene, many members of the press in the briefing room arrived directly from the Hilton and were still dressed in black tie attire for the president’s remarks.

Trump posted photos and video of the suspect on Truth Social to accompany his remarks.

Trump also framed the moment as striking at the heart of the purpose of the event, saying, “this was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties, with members of the press. And in a certain way, it did, because the fact that they just unified us to a room that was just totally unified, it was, in one way, very beautiful, a very beautiful thing to see.”

He said the surveillance video released on Truth Social was meant to show “the violence of this thug that attacked our Constitution,” but also “how quickly Secret Service and law enforcement acted on our country’s behalf.”

Trump went on to argue the incident showed a need for tighter security, saying the Washington Hilton is “not a particularly secure building” and tying that to his ballroom under construction at the White House, with “drone proof” protections and “bulletproof glass.”

He also linked the scare to a broader pattern of threats, saying, “this is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a would be assassin who sought to kill,” and urged Americans to “recommit with their hearts” to “resolving our differences peacefully.”

At several points, Trump returned to the idea that the dinner should not be canceled outright, saying, “we’re not going to let anybody take over our society,” and vowing the event would be held again “within the next 30 days,” “bigger and better and even nicer.”

The president added that he “fought like hell to stay,” but was ultimately told by security, “please, sir,” because agents still did not know of additional threats.

Speaker Johnson praises first responders after shooting outside WHCD

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., thanked first responders for quickly responding to the shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.

Johnson was attending the event at the Washington Hilton hotel with his wife, Kelly.

“Kelly and I were at the event tonight, and we’re thankful no innocent people were harmed and everyone is now safe,” Johnson said in a post on X.

“We’re grateful as always for the law enforcement and first responders who acted so quickly to bring the situation under control,” he added. “Praying for our country tonight.”

Scalise reacts after shooting near WHCD, praises law enforcement response

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who was shot in the hip by a gunman during a practice for the Congressional Baseball Game in 2017, reacted to the shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the brave members of law enforcement who acted quickly to protect all of us attending tonight’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” he said in a statement.

“This is an event meant to bring people together,” he added. “Violence has NO place in our country.”

White House Correspondents’ Dinner venue ‘Hinckley Hilton’ known for Reagan shooting history

Locals indelicately call the location of the White House Correspondents Dinner — the Washington Hilton Hotel — the “Hinckley Hilton” because of the shooting of President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, by a man named John Hinckley Jr., who fired six shots at Reagan in a matter of seconds.

One of the bullets ricocheted off the presidential limousine and struck Reagan in the chest, seriously wounding him. Three other people were also hit, including Press Secretary James Brady, a police officer and a Secret Service agent.

Secret Service agents pushed Reagan into the car and rushed him to George Washington University hospital, where he underwent surgery and survived.

Hinckley was arrested at the scene and was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Secret Service agent shot by gunman outside White House Correspondents’ Dinner, expected to be OK

A gunman entered the Washington Hilton hotel, rushed past a magnetometer and opened fire, striking a Secret Service agent in the vest, Fox News has learned. The agent is OK.

The suspect has been detained. The individual has not been identified.

Erika Kirk seen in tears backstage during White House Correspondents’ Dinner evacuation

An emotional moment unfolded backstage at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner as attendees awaited more information about the incident.

Erika Kirk was seen running through the backstage area in tears, saying, “I just want to go home,” according to a pool report.

Her late husband, Charlie Kirk, was murdered last year while touring for Turning Point USA on the Utah Valley University campus.

She was escorted out of the building through a rear exit as guests were being held and security assessed the situation.

Lawmakers react after incident at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Reactions from congressional lawmakers poured in Saturday night following a security scare at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said he was at the event and was pulled into a secure room by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La.

“I am at the #WHCD,” Moskowitz wrote in a post on X. “I want to thank law enforcement, Capitol Police. I personally want to thank Steve Scalise, who grabbed me into a secure room.”

Scalise was shot in the hip by a gunman during a morning practice for the Congressional Baseball Game in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2017.

Trump says White House Correspondents’ Dinner to be rescheduled in 30 days, orders evacuation

President Donald Trump said law enforcement has requested all attendees leave the White House Correspondents’ Dinner venue following the earlier shooting incident.

“Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do, immediately,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Trump said he will deliver a press conference from the White House briefing room in about 30 minutes and confirmed that the first lady, vice president and all Cabinet members are “in perfect condition.”

The president also said the event will be rescheduled within 30 days.

Trump to deliver statement after White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting incident

President Donald Trump is expected to deliver a statement in the White House briefing room following the shooting incident that disrupted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the update on X as Secret Service continues to assess the situation.

The president’s remarks are expected in approximately 30 minutes, or 10:15 p.m. Eastern Time.

Posted by Jasmine Baehr

Breaking News4 hours ago

Secret Service confirms suspect in custody after shooting near Correspondents’ Dinner screening area

The U.S. Secret Service, in coordination with the Metropolitan Police Department, is investigating a shooting incident near the main screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, officials said.

“The president and the first lady are safe along with all protectees,” Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.

One individual is in custody, according to officials.

The condition of those involved is not yet known, and law enforcement is continuing to investigate.

Trump praises Secret Service, says ‘shooter has been apprehended’ after Correspondents’ Dinner scare

President Donald Trump said the suspect involved in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner security scare has been apprehended, praising Secret Service and law enforcement for their response.

“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON,’ but will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement,” he added.

Trump said a final decision on whether the event will fully resume is expected shortly.

Trump expected to return to White House Correspondents’ Dinner after shooting suspect neutralized

President Donald Trump never left the White House Correspondents’ Dinner venue and remained nearby following the security scare that briefly disrupted the event, Fox News can confirm.

Trump was moved to a secure holding area as a precaution and “wants the show to go on,” according to Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich.

Sources familiar with the situation told Fox News an individual attempted to get through security screening with a gun but was stopped by Secret Service before entering the ballroom. The suspect has since been taken offsite.

Attendees from the head table were moved down the hall as agents worked to determine whether there were any additional threats. Officials have since indicated there are no ongoing threats, and the building is not being evacuated.

Staff are now working to reset the head table as the dinner prepares to resume.

Head table evacuated as Trump, First Lady escorted out of White House Correspondent’s Dinner

Chaos erupted at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when gunshots were heard and President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the Washington Hilton ballroom Saturday night.

Video from inside the event showed attendees diving under tables and taking cover as panic spread through the room.

Fox News’ John Roberts reported from the ballroom that shots were fired and that he had heard the suspected shooter was engaged by Secret Service.

Fox News anchor Bret Baier said he also heard shots fired, but noted they did not appear to originate from inside the ballroom.

Sources told Fox News the individual never made it inside the ballroom, was taken into custody and removed from the scene.

President Trump was seen being quickly escorted out of the room by security and White House officials tell Fox News Digital both he, the First Lady and Karoline Leavitt are safe at this time.

It remains unclear what prompted the incident.

President Trump, First Lady arrive at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were announced at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night, making a long-anticipated entrance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Vice President JD Vance is also in attendance and was announced before the Trumps made their entrance.

The night’s program is getting underway as guests settle in for speeches, roasts and what’s expected to be a closely watched appearance.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at White House Correspondents’ Dinner with wife Jeanette

Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night alongside his wife, Jeanette Christina Dousdebes Rubio, as red carpet arrivals continued at the Washington Hilton.

Rubio, dressed in a black tuxedo, appeared composed as he entered the venue, while his wife drew attention in an elegant strapless gown.

The appearance comes as Rubio remains at the center of ongoing foreign policy tensions, including developments related to Iran, as top administration officials gather for the annual event.

Bret Baier, wife Amy arrive at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier arrived at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night alongside his wife, Amy Baier, as red carpet arrivals wrapped up at the Washington Hilton.

Baier, host of “Special Report,” wore a classic black tuxedo, while Amy stood out in a strapless metallic floral gown paired with a statement necklace.

Trump departs White House for Correspondents’ Dinner

President Donald Trump departed the White House Saturday evening en route to the Washington Hilton for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he is set to attend for the first time as commander in chief.

Trump’s appearance marks a notable shift after skipping the event during his first term, with the president expected to join journalists, lawmakers and celebrities for the annual gathering.

The dinner, a longstanding Washington tradition, is known for its mix of speeches, glamour and comedic roasts.

Taylor Lorenz spotted wearing mask years after pandemic at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

“Independent” journalist Taylor Lorenz was seen arriving at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night wearing a black face mask, drawing attention on the red carpet years after pandemic-era restrictions were lifted.

Lorenz, a controversial media figure, has previously faced criticism after a 2024 post referred to former President Joe Biden as a “war criminal.”

She joined other journalists, lawmakers and high-profile guests at the Washington Hilton for the annual event, where President Donald Trump is expected to attend later in the evening.

Karoline Leavitt attends White House Correspondents’ Dinner ahead of maternity leave

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt arrived at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, appearing on the red carpet just a day after wrapping her final workday before maternity leave.

Leavitt, who is expecting her second child, a baby girl, wore a long-sleeved, sheer black shimmering gown as she joined administration officials, journalists and other guests at the Washington Hilton.

Leavitt, the youngest press secretary in American history, is also already a mother to son Nicholas or “Niko,” born in July of 2024.

Protesters rally outside White House Correspondents’ Dinner over Iran war

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Washington Hilton on Saturday night as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner got underway, with demonstrators holding signs reading “No war on Iran.”

Roughly 75 protesters were seen outside the venue, voicing opposition to the war in Iran as journalists, lawmakers and high-profile guests arrived for the annual event.

The demonstration unfolded just steps away from the red carpet, adding a note of political tension to the evening as President Donald Trump is set to attend the dinner for the first time as commander in chief.

The United States launched Operation Epic Fury against the Iranian regime on Feb. 28.

Corke shares White House Correspondents’ Dinner ‘bingo card’ predictions on ‘The Big Weekend Show’

Fox News correspondent Kevin Corke previewed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner with a tongue-in-cheek “bingo card” on The Big Weekend Show, sharing moments he expects could play out during the night.

The card included potential references to “fake news,” jabs at the media, a possible teleprompter glitch and even a “Hilton chicken roast,” a nod to the dinner’s long-running traditions.

The other panelists also shared their picks for the night during the segment.

This will be the first time President Donald Trump has attended the storied annual event as commander in chief.

Trump Education Secretary Linda McMahon arrives at correspondents’ dinner in leopard print gown

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon arrived at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night wearing a leopard print gown as guests continued to make their way down the red carpet at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.

McMahon was among a number of administration officials and media figures attending the annual event, which brings together journalists, lawmakers and high-profile guests for an evening of speeches and roasts.

FLASHBACK: Obama tried to make Trump a punchline at 2011 dinner before rise stunned Washington

President Donald Trump will attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday, marking his first appearance at the annual event as commander in chief after skipping it throughout his first term.

The decision puts Trump back at a Washington ritual long tied to his fraught relationship with the press and political establishment.

His return also revives memories of the 2011 dinner, when President Barack Obama and comedian Seth Meyers mocked Trump from the dais in a moment that later became a widely discussed part of Trump’s political story.

“Donald Trump is here tonight,” Obama said at the 2011 dinner. “Now, I know he’s taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald.

“And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter — like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?” he continued.

Trump had publicly called for the release of Obama’s birth certificate, which the State of Hawaii did release that year.

The exchange underscored longstanding tensions between Trump and the Washington establishment that predated his entry into politics. Speculation mounted that the jabs helped fuel Trump’s eventual decision to launch a presidential run, culminating in a stunning upset victory in 2016.

Trump denied that Obama’s 2011 jokes prompted his candidacy, telling The Washington Post in 2016 that “there are many reasons I’m running, but that’s not one of them.”

“Donald Trump has been saying that he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising since I just assumed he’d be running as a joke,” comedian Seth Meyers added when he took the podium that night.

Trump told Fox News’ “The Five” earlier this year he was treated “rudely and crudely” during the dinner, which he said influenced his decision not to attend while he was first in office.

“The press was so nasty, I just – so I didn’t do it,” said Trump.

He once again denied it was the 2011 dinner that sparked his interest in running for office.

“There is this theory: I was there while Barack Hussein Obama was speaking, and he was hitting me a little bit. Actually, it was very nice, and I was actually – I loved it. I really loved it,” said Trump.

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital’s Ashley DiMella.

Jacqui Heinrich arrives at White House Correspondents’ Dinner with fiancé Brian Fitzpatrick

Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich arrived on the red carpet Saturday night alongside her fiancé, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., as guests began filing into the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C.

Heinrich was among the early arrivals at the Washington Hilton, where journalists, lawmakers and celebrities gathered for the annual event.

President Donald Trump is expected to attend the dinner later in the evening, marking his first appearance at the event as commander in chief after skipping it during his first term.

Heinrich and Fitzpatrick were engaged last summer after the Pennsylvania congressman proposed in Provence, France.

Trump to headline 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner for the first time as president

President Trump is attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday for the first time as commander in chief after boycotting the annual event last year and each year during his first term.

The dinner will take place Saturday, April 25, at the Washington Hilton.

“The White House Correspondents Association has asked me, very nicely, to be the Honoree at this year’s Dinner, a long and storied tradition since it began in 1924, under then President Calvin Coolidge,” Trump posted on his Truth Social last month, adding that it would be his “Honor to accept their invitation.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association’s president, Weijia Jiang, said the organization was “happy” with the president’s decision to attend.

“For more than 100 years, the journalists of the White House Correspondents’ Association have enjoyed an evening with the president,” Jiang said in a statement last month. “We’re happy the president has accepted our invitation and look forward to hosting him.”

The president had skipped the event in years past, saying that decision was due to the press being “extraordinarily bad” to him.

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The Streisand Effect: Why Hiding Information Backfires

The Truth News — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 08:15:42 +0000

The Streisand Effect: Why Hiding Information Backfires

Streisand effect, phenomenon in which an attempt to censor, hide, or otherwise draw attention away from something only serves to attract more attention to it. The name derives from American singer and actress Barbra Streisand’s lawsuit against a photographer in 2003, which drew attention to the photo she was suing to have taken off the Internet.

Key Takeaways

The Streisand Effect happens when trying to hide information makes it more popular instead.
When people try to hide something, it often attracts more attention and curiosity.
To avoid the Streisand Effect, be open and honest if there’s a problem.

The Streisand Effect describes a situation in which a person or organization’s attempts to suppress information leads to greater attention to the information than it would have received otherwise. Not surprisingly, the term was named after singer Barbra Streisand. Before it was known as the “Streisand Effect,” however, there was a long and fascinating history of failed cover-ups that provide an interesting glimpse into the human psyche and our need to get to the bottom of things.

Origins of the Streisand Effect

Mike Masnick, founder of the website Techdirt, coined the term “Streisand Effect” in 2005, after the singer and actress sued the photographer Kenneth Adelman in 2003 for $50 million. Adelman had taken thousands of photos for his online database for the California Coastal Records Project, a resource that provided pictures of California’s coastal erosion to scientists and researchers, and one of these photos happened to show her mansion in Malibu.

Before Streisand sued, the image in question had been downloaded only six times; afterward, it received over a million views and was reprinted countless times. Streisand ultimately lost the lawsuit and had to pay Adelman’s legal fees.2 Streisand’s concern for her privacy was not unreasonable—she had been stalked before. But in this case, she would have been better off just leaving things alone. So, what causes this effect to play out as it does? We’ll explore the causes, provide some real-life examples, and even provide some guidance on how to avoid it in your own life.

Streisand’s lawsuit was filed against photographer Kenneth Adelman, the founder of the California Coastal Records Project, for which he photographed the coastline of the state from a helicopter and posted the photos to the Internet. Adelman indicated that the images were free for nonprofit use and had been used by government entities for scientific research. Among more than 12,000 photographs of California’s coast was one photograph in which Streisand’s mansion appeared. Streisand, who had in the past been harassed and stalked by fans, sued for $50 million, claiming that the photo violated her privacy and showed how to access her residence.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, the photograph had been downloaded only six times, including twice by Streisand’s lawyers. The lawsuit was highly publicized, and a flurry of interest and activity followed. In the month after the filing, the photo was viewed more than 400,000 times and reposted on news sites and elsewhere on the Internet. Thus, Streisand’s attempts to have the photo suppressed made it exceptionally more visible than it would otherwise have been. Streisand lost the suit and was ordered to pay Adelman’s legal fees for the case. The photo remains widely published on the Internet.

The phenomenon was not dubbed the “Streisand effect,” however, until two years later. In a post on the Techdirt blog, founder Mike Masnick describes a cease and desist order that the Marco Beach Ocean Resort, Marco Island, Florida, issued to a website named Urinal.net. The order indicated that the website had violated federal laws for posting information about one of the hotel’s urinals, which the website claimed could be seen from the hotel’s lobby. In the concluding statement of his post, Masnick asks:

How long is it going to take before lawyers realize that the simple act of trying to repress something they don’t like online is likely to make it so that something that most people would never, ever see…is now seen by many more people? Let’s call it the Streisand Effect.

The phenomenon existed before Streisand’s lawsuit. It is described by the Chinese idiom yù gài mí zhāng, which loosely translates to “trying to cover things up only makes them more evident.” The advent of the Internet, however, contributed to the effect’s proliferation. In 2012 a U.K. high court ordered five Internet service providers to ban access to The Pirate Bay, a Swedish file-sharing site, and the subsequent media coverage of the ruling caused visits to the site to increase by more than 10 million. In another case, from 2013, France’s domestic spy agency, Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI), contacted the editors of Wikipedia requesting the revision of an article about Pierre-sur-Haute, a French air force base. The DCRI claimed that the article contained classified information. The Wikimedia Foundation refused the request, stating that they did not have enough information about the supposed violation. Later the DCRI allegedly forced a Wikipedia volunteer to delete the entry entirely or face arrest (the article was soon restored to the site by another volunteer). News of the saga spread across the Internet, and the Pierre-sur-Haute article subsequently became the most-viewed entry on the French version of Wikipedia.

Scholars have noted that censorship often backfires when the public perceives an attempt by a powerful person or organization to repress free speech. It can incite public outrage, especially if the story involves an underdog. Moreover, attempted censorship can spur curiosity. The banning of books and websites, for instance, often drives further interest in them. People tend to want to judge for themselves what is objectionable about something that has been singled out for suppression.

Understanding the Streisand Effect

With the Streisand Effect, if someone tries to hide, remove, or censor information, it can backfire. In fact, it can have the unintended consequence of drawing more attention to the thing they are trying to suppress.

As Cara R. Stewart, founder and CEO of Altalunas International, says, “It’s a classic example of having a legitimate concern but choosing an ineffective or counterproductive way to address it. Barbra Streisand’s concern about her privacy was understandable… However, the tool she chose to manage this—filing a lawsuit—was not only ineffective but actually worsened the situation.”

Moreover, the effects can be even more insidious. “There is also the risk of the erosion of trust in institutions or authorities responsible for the censorship,” says Carly Dober, psychologist and founder of Enriching Lives Psychology. “When people discover that information is being withheld or manipulated, they may become skeptical of the motives and credibility of the censors. This can foster a culture of distrust and encourage individuals to seek alternative sources of information, which may not always be reliable or accurate.”

Factors Contributing to the Streisand Effect

There are several factors that contribute to the Streisand Effect. First, psychologically, when people discover that someone—especially someone famous or well-known—is trying to hide or censor information, people become curious and rebellious. “This is driven by a fundamental human instinct to seek out forbidden or restricted knowledge, amplifying interest and dissemination,” explains Dober. Second, people are also motivated by psychological reactance, where one asserts their autonomy over the suppression of information by seeking out the restricted information.

“When people perceive that they are being denied access to information, their desire to obtain that information intensifies,” says Dober, “driven by a sense of defiance and a need to restore their freedom of choice.”

While the Streisand Effect existed prior to Barbra Streisand’s lawsuit in 2003, the internet, and more specifically, social media, has exacerbated the effect even more. Online communities and social media platforms encourage the rapid spread of content and enable information to go viral.

“When users encounter attempts to suppress information, they are likely to share it widely as an act of resistance, bolstered by a collective sense of injustice,” says Dober. “The social validation and reinforcement from peers further encourage individuals to participate in spreading the censored content. Additionally, the internet culture of digital activism fosters an environment where combating censorship is seen as a moral or ethical duty.”

This all combines to create a powerful set of factors that contribute to people’s responses, and makes the Streisand Effect a reality.

Real-Life Examples of the Streisand Effect

While the Streisand Effect existed before it was named, it has become increasingly likely to happen as more and more people have taken to social media. Here are some examples:

In addition to the above, similar attempts at censorship have been failing long before the existence of social media. Just ask any teenager if they are more interested in a particular band, movie, or TV show that adults claim is inappropriate for them.

Impact and Implications of the Streisand Effect

The Streisand Effect can have long-lasting consequences for individuals and organizations that attempt to suppress information. For individuals, the attention can lead to increased scrutiny.

“This phenomenon can significantly damage reputations meticulously built over the years,” observes Stewart. Dober concurs, adding, “This damage is not easily undone, as the initial act of suppression can create a lasting impression of dishonesty or untrustworthiness. For individuals, this can affect personal and professional relationships, career prospects, and public perception.”

For organizations, the losses can be great as well. “The Streisand Effect can severely damage brand reputation and erode trust with consumers and stakeholders,” says Dober. “This can lead to a loss of customer loyalty, decreased sales, and a tarnished public image. Additionally, efforts to suppress information can result in increased media scrutiny and regulatory attention.” Dober adds that it can take a long time to recover one’s reputation from this sort of error.

For society as a whole, the Streisand Effect has implications for free speech. Because attempts at censorship often fail, it shows the enduring resilience of freedom of speech in the digital age. “This phenomenon can also lead to greater public awareness and dialogue about important issues, promoting accountability and democratic values,” Dober observes.

“However, the widespread sharing of censored information can also lead to the dissemination of misinformation if [the censored information is] not properly contextualized,” she says.

Strategies to Mitigate the Streisand Effect

There are many strategies to mitigate or avoid the Streisand Effect. These include:

Respond quickly: As Stewart says, “A rapid response can prevent the issue from escalating, but it’s equally important to ensure your reactions are thoughtful and well-considered.”
Practice transparency: Stewart explains that you should be transparent about acknowledging the problem and the steps you will take to address it. “This approach shows that you are not only aware of the issue,” says Stewart, “but are also actively working towards a solution…. This approach doesn’t just mitigate damage; it can enhance a reputation, demonstrating a commitment to ethical practices and responsiveness….”
Be polite and professional: “It’s easy to become defensive when under fire,” claims Stewart, “but the goal is to acknowledge concerns and focus on resolving the issue constructively.”
Refrain from litigiousness: Suppressing information via a lawsuit can attract media attention, and by extension, curiosity from the public. “Instead of resorting to lawsuits,” Dober says, “individuals should consider alternative dispute resolution methods, such as mediation or negotiation, to resolve issues privately. By avoiding high-profile legal battles, individuals can prevent drawing additional attention to the information they wish to remain private.”
Practice emotional regulation: Developing coping mechanisms, like emotional regulation, can prevent people from reacting impulsively when information they’d like suppressed comes out. “Therapy can help individuals develop coping mechanisms for dealing with stress and anxiety related to potential public exposure,” says Dober.
Develop a strong support network: Your support network should include friends, family, and even professional advisors who can offer emotional support, advice, and practical assistance if a crisis strikes. “This network can help individuals navigate complex situations without resorting to actions that might trigger the Streisand Effect,” Dober observes.

Emotional regulation techniques, such as mindfulness and stress management, can provide a clearer perspective on how to handle sensitive information and public scrutiny more effectively.

International Journal of Communication 9(2015), 656–671 The Streisand Effect and Censorship Backfire

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US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson dies aged 84

The Truth News — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 03:06:36 +0000

US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson dies aged 84

US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson died aged 84 on Tuesday morning surrounded by relatives, according to a statement released by his family.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Civil Rights leader and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Honorable Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr,” the family said, adding that he died “peacefully”.

The cause of his death has not been released, but Jackson had been diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and was in hospital late last year.

Tributes poured in for the prominent activist, who twice ran to be the Democratic presidential nominee, including from the first black US president, Barack Obama.

Jackson is survived by his wife Jacqueline and their children: Santita, Jesse Jr, Jonathan, Yusef, Jacqueline and Ashley.

Jackson’s family said in their statement that his “unwavering commitment to justice, equality and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity”.

“A tireless change agent, he elevated the voices of the voiceless from his presidential campaigns in the 1980s to mobilising millions to register to vote – leaving an indelible mark on history,” they added.

Alongside working with Martin Luther King Jr and running for president in 1984 and 1988, Jackson is remembered as the founder of a non-profit organisation focused on social justice and civil rights, the Rainbow PUSH coalition.

Calling Jackson a “true giant”, Obama said in a statement that Jackson’s “two historic runs for president” had “laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office of the land”.

Obama added that his wife Michelle “got her first glimpse of political organising at the Jacksons’ kitchen table when she was a teenager”.

“For more than 60 years, Reverend Jackson helped lead some of the most significant movements for change in human history,” the Obamas also said.

“From organising boycotts and sit-ins, to registering millions of voters, to advocating for freedom and democracy around the world, he was relentless in his belief that we are all children of God, deserving of dignity and respect.”

Jackson was admitted to hospital last November, and doctors said he had been diagnosed with a rare degenerative condition called PSP in April 2025, revising an earlier diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease that Jackson had said was made in 2015.

Both diseases affect the brain, nervous system and muscle control. Many people with PSP are initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s because a number of the symptoms overlap, according to the American Parkinson Disease Association and the group CurePSP.

Born in 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson became involved in politics at an early age. He rose to prominence in the 1960s as a leader in Martin Luther King Jr’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was with King when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968.

Over the course of his career, Jackson built a movement to bring America’s increasingly diverse population together, with a message that centred on poor and working-class Americans.

After his presidential runs, Jackson later positioned himself as an elder statesman within the Democratic Party.

His son Jesse Jackson Jr is a former US congressman.

Getty Images

Jackson was remembered by politicians and friends as an agent of change and a transformative leader

Shortly after his death was announced, politicians and other public figures took to social media to mourn the loss of Jackson.

US President Donald Trump said he knew Jackson “long before becoming president”.

“He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts,'” Trump said. “He was very gregarious – Someone who truly loved people!”

Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, a former secretary of state, also shared tributes, saying they were friends with Jackson for “almost 50 years”.

“Reverend Jackson championed human dignity and helped create opportunities for countless people to live better lives,” they said.

House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X that Jackson “was a legendary voice for the voiceless”.

The Democrat added: “For decades, while labouring in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the struggle for liberty and justice for all.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the civil rights leader “never stopped demanding that America live up to its promise”.

“He marched, he ran, he organised and he preached justice without apology,” Mamdani said.

King’s daughter Bernice said Jackson had “devoted his life to lifting people in poverty, the marginalised, and those pushed to society’s edges”.

Civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton, who worked closely with Jackson during the civil rights movement, said Jackson was a “consequential and transformative leader who changed this nation and the world”.

“He told us we were somebody and made us believe. I will always cherish him taking me under his wing, and I will forever try to do my part to keep hope alive,” Sharpton said.

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Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. (1941-2026)

Jesse Jackson speaking during an interview in July 1

Courtesy Library of Congress (LC-DIG-ppmsc-01277)

Long before he became a minister, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Operation Breadbasket, Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), and founder of the Rainbow Coalition, Jesse Louis Jackson impressed his family and close friends as a person destined for greatness. Born Jesse Burns in Greenville, South Carolina, on October 8, 1941, to Helen Burns, a 17-year-old unwed high school student, and Noah Robinson, her older married neighbor, young Jesse took the surname Jackson from his adopted father, Charles Jackson, who later married Burns. Insecure because of the circumstances of his birth, Jackson decided to become a father figure and a leader of his people.

Tall and imposing at 6’4”, Jackson became a star high school quarterback and earned a football scholarship at the University of Illinois in 1959. After one year at Illinois, he transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&T) University in Greensboro, North Carolina, partly because he was not allowed to play quarterback. At A&T, Jackson used his oratorical skills and charismatic personality to become the student body president. Encouraged to test his leadership skills, Jackson led his first march to downtown Greensboro in 1962. Jackson pledged Omega Psi Phi Fraternity while at A&T. Under the guidance of A&T President, Dr. Samuel Proctor, Jackson enrolled at the Chicago Theological Seminary to train for the ministry. Jackson was ordained a Baptist minister in 1968, although he left the Seminary two years earlier to work full-time in the civil rights movement.

Jackson’s introduction to the Movement came in 1965 when he traveled to Selma, Alabama, to join in the campaign for voting rights. While there, Jackson met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the man who would launch his career as a national civil rights leader. Through King’s influence, Jackson quickly established himself prominently within King’s organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. When SCLC launched its first northern campaign in Chicago in 1966, Jackson was put in charge of its Operation Breadbasket, which used boycotts and selective buying campaigns to win contracts for Black businesses and jobs for Black workers. During the years Jackson headed Operation Breadbasket (1966 to 1971), the campaign generated over three thousand jobs for Southside Chicago residents and increased the area’s income by $22 million. Despite its success, Jackson and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Dr. Martin Luther King’s successor at SCLC, clashed. In 1971, Jackson left the organization and founded Operation PUSH, where he continued his campaign of economic empowerment.

By the early 1980s, Jackson had acquired a national reputation as a racial justice activist. That reputation was enhanced when, in 1983, he traveled to Syria and made a dramatic personal appeal to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad to secure the release of a captured American pilot, Navy Lt. Robert Goodman, who had been shot down over Lebanon. In June 1984, Jackson traveled to Havana to meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro to negotiate the release of 22 Americans being held by Castro’s government.

In 1984, following the success of his Syrian mission, Jesse Jackson mounted the second major effort by an African American (after Shirley Chisholm in 1972) to seek the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. He and his followers adopted the term “Rainbow Coalition” to describe the broad coalition of groups of color, working poor, gays and lesbians, and white progressives that Jackson hoped would propel him to the nomination and eventually the White House. Despite controversial anti-Semitic remarks made during the campaign, Jackson ran a surprisingly strong race, winning primaries in five states, including Michigan. Jackson garnered 21% of the primary vote but gained only 8% of the delegates and ultimately lost the nomination to former Vice President Walter Mondale.

Jackson mounted a second effort in 1988, this time winning more than seven million primary votes across the nation in another failed attempt to win the nomination. After winning the South Carolina primary, finishing second in the Illinois primary, and winning the Democratic caucus in Michigan, Jackson briefly emerged as a leading contender. Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis recaptured the lead with wins in the Colorado and Wisconsin primaries, forcing Jackson to drop out of the race.

Jesse Jackson did not make another bid for the presidential nomination and, since 1992, has functioned as a power broker within the Democratic Party. In 1990, he won the largely ceremonial position of District of Columbia’s statehood senator, a platform from which he argued for statehood for the nation’s capital. In 1997, Jackson launched the Wall Street Project, which encouraged African Americans to become stockholders to use their leverage to force changes in corporate culture and behavior. Two years later, Jackson engaged in personal diplomacy once again when, during the Kosovo War, he traveled to Belgrade to meet with Yugoslav (now Serbian) president Slobodan Milosevic, where he secured the release of three U.S. prisoners of war. In 1999, he brokered a cease-fire in war-ravaged Sierra Leone.

Both his supporters and critics described Jackson as bold, defiant, and controversial. He has received praise for inspiring the poor with speeches punctuated by catchphrases such as “I am somebody” and “keep hope alive.” Critics, however, blamed Jackson for mounting blatantly self-promoting campaigns that exploited racial grievances and inflamed racial outrage. The revelation that Jackson, married since 1962, fathered a child in 2001 with Rainbow Coalition staffer Karin Stanford, sullied his well-crafted public image as a moral leader. Nevertheless, Jesse Jackson remained enormously popular both in the United States and abroad. Rev. Jesse Jackson died on February 17, 2026, at the age of 84, closing a career that reshaped modern civil rights activism and Black political life.

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