Local SWAT team stopped Trump shooter, not Secret Service counter snipers: report

According to Rep. Clay Higgins’ preliminary findings, a Butler County SWAT officer fired the initial shot that stopped Thomas Matthew Crooks. The Butler County coroner was also unaware the FBI quickly released Crooks’ body for immediate cremation.

Representative Clay Higgins is a member of the congressional investigative task force looking into the assassination attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks against President Trump. Rep. Higgins was also doing independent research prior to his appointment to the congressional committee, and he released his preliminary report findings today.

There are some remarkable revelations in the six-page PDF. One detail outlines how it was a Butler County SWAT officer who fired the initial shot that stopped Thomas Matthew Crooks after eight shots fired. The feds did not initially stop the assassin, the locals did. Another detail highlights how the Butler County coroner was not aware the FBI quickly released the body of Crooks for immediate cremation.

The 9th shot fired on J13 was from a Butler SWAT operator from the ground about 100 yards away from the AGR building. Shot 9 hit Crooks’ rifle stock and fragged his face/neck/right shoulder area from the stock breaking up. The SWAT operator who took this shot was a total bad***; when he had sighted the shooter Crooks as a mostly obscured by foliage moving target on the AGR rooftop, he immediately left his assigned post and ran towards the threat, running to a clear shot position directly into the line of fire while Crooks was firing 8 rounds. On his own, this ESU SWAT operator took a very hard shot, one shot. He stopped Crooks and importantly, I believe the shot damaged the buffer tube on Crooks’ AR. I won’t be certain of this until I can examine Crooks’ rifle, but I’m 99% sure based upon reliable eye-witness ESU tactical officers who observed Crooks’ rifle before the FBI harvested it as evidence. This means that if his AR buffer tube was damaged, Crooks’ rifle wouldn’t fire after his 8th shot. (Clay Higgins Report, pdf – page 4)

(Page 5, Higgins Report)

Reprinted with permission from Conservative Treehouse.

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International

France records more deaths than births for the first time in 80 years

Published on September 17, 2025

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Andreas Wailzer

France is facing serious economic and cultural problems due to its demographic crisis, Population Research Institute warns, and massive immigration is only harming the country further.

France recorded more deaths than births in 2024, revealing the coming population crisis.

According to a report by the Population Research Institute (PRI), births were lower than deaths in France for the first time in 80 years. The European country recorded 650,000 births versus 651,000 deaths, in what PRI calls a “historic demographic turning point.

“Declining fertility since 2010 and rising deaths as baby boomers age have pushed the nation into natural population decline,” the report states. “Unlike Germany and Spain, which offset losses more through immigration, France has no clear strategy. With fertility falling across Europe and immigration debates intensifying, France faces a future of economic strain, cultural uncertainty, and a population now shrinking from within.”

“France has long paid subsidies to families willing to have children,” said Steven Mosher, population expert and president of PRI. “But these monthly payments have done little to raise the birth rate in France or, for that matter, in any of the two dozen or so European countries which have tried them.”

“Only sheltering young couples willing to have children from all taxes will create the kind of financial incentives needed to boost the birth rate,” he continued. “Bringing in massive numbers of immigrants to replace the current population—which seems to be the French approach—is a ‘solution’ that creates more problems—cultural, social, political, and religious—than it solves.”

While population collapse in France appears to be imminent, its fertility rate of 1.62 children per woman is still the highest in the European Union, compared to the European average of 1.4. The European countries with the lowest birth rate are Malta (1.06), Spain (1.12), and Lithuania (1.18).

South Korea currently has the lowest birth rate in the world, standing at only 0.75 children per woman. PRI warns that the Asian country “faces a looming population crisis.”

“With one in five South Koreans already over 65, the country risks economic decline and social strain,” the report states.

Automotive

Michigan could be a winner as companies pull back from EVs

Published on September 16, 2025

Todayville

From The Center Square

By Elyse S. Apel

Federal deregulation and tax credit cuts are reshaping the auto industry, as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. scale back electric vehicle production and redirect billions into hybrids and traditional gas-powered cars.

Yet, the Michigan automotive industry could see increased investments from those same companies as they reallocate that funding.

While both Ford and GM previously announced ambitious targets to expand electric vehicle fleets over the next decade, they are now cutting back on electric vehicle production.

That comes in response to federal deregulation of gas-powered vehicles, tax credit cuts, and the prospect of slowing consumer demand.

In August, Ford stated it was canceling plans to build a new electric three-row SUV. Instead, it is turning its focus to hybrid vehicles, including a massive $5 billon investment into a new “affordable” hybrid truck.

GM announced similar plans earlier this month. It will be cutting back electric vehicle production at Kansas and Tennessee plants, anticipating a decline in demand once federal tax credits end Sept. 30.

This all could have a real impact on the electric vehicle industry across the nation and experts are already anticipating that.

A new forecast by Ernst & Young Global Limited now predicts a five-year delay in electric vehicles making up 50% of the new car marketshare. While previous forecasts predicted America would reach that mark by 2034, the new forecast pushed that back to 2039.

“The U.S. faces policy uncertainty, high costs, and infrastructure gaps,” said Constantin M. Gall, the company’s global aerospace defense and mobility leader.

Clean energy advocacy groups are decrying this move away from electric vehicle initiatives, largely blaming the Trump administration.

“The transition to electric vehicles now faces significant roadblocks,” said Ecology Center in an April report. “The Trump administration has rolled back key policies supporting clean transportation.”

It also pointed to a nationwide deregulation of the gas-powered vehicle industry for allowing those to remain “dominant” over electric vehicles.

“These actions prioritize fossil fuels over clean energy, threatening progress toward a sustainable transportation future,” the report stated.

While bad news for electric vehicle supporters, the Michigan automotive industry could be a winner as companies re-shift focus back to gas-powered and hybrid vehicles.

With billions of dollars previously allocated to federal pollution fines and electric vehicle costs now available for investment, GM now plans to increase production at a Detroit-area plant by 2027.

The Michigan-based company also recently announced plans to invest billions into another Michigan plant in Lake Orion Township.

For similar reasons, Ford’s CEO Jim Farley told analysts that the company anticipates monetary savings “has the potential to unlock a multibillion-dollar opportunity over the next two years.”

While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has long been a proponent for the electric vehicle industry, she did recently emphasize her support for all Michigan-based manufacturing, no matter the type.

“We don’t care what you drive – gas, diesel, hybrid, or electric – as long as it’s made in Michigan,” she said following the GM Orion announcement. “Together, let’s keep bringing manufacturing home, growing the middle class, and making more stuff in Michigan.”

Elyse Apel is a reporter for The Center Square covering Colorado and Michigan. A graduate of Hillsdale College, Elyse’s writing has been published in a wide variety of national publications from the Washington Examiner to The American Spectator and The Daily Wire.