#FreeCole update: Jerry Falwell, Jr. & Liberty University offer help

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Cole Withrow’s life was thrown into disarray over a simple mistake: he forgot his gun in his car and drove to school. When he realized his mistake he tried to make it right by asking his parents to come and get it. The school decided to call police on the honors student. What did Liberty University and Jerry Falwell Jr. do when they saw the story?

Transcript of interview is below:

GLENN: Yesterday we told you about 18 year old Cole Withrow. He is an Eagle Scout. He's weeks from graduation. He shows up at his school on Monday and he realizes that he left his shotgun in it because he had been out hunting over the weekend. He had been out shooting I'm sorry, not shooting but skeet shooting over the weekend. And he realizes that his shotgun is in the vehicle as he locks the truck up. He's like, oh, crap. So he goes right to the office and he makes a phone call. And he's calling from the office and he says, "Hey, Mom, can you come? My truck is locked. I have the key. Would you come and get my shotgun. I left it there over the weekend. I shouldn't have it in the truck. Could you come go could you come and get it for me?" Well, he tries to do the right thing, but he's overheard by somebody in the office and so they immediately say, "Oh, my goodness, there's a shotgun and this crazy kid has it. He just called his mom and I just saw a crazy mom of Islamic terror and she was crazy and she was dismissing things, I know these guys are probably not Islamic terrorists because Islamic terrorism doesn't really exist. These guys are probably Christians, and Christians are spooky and she's got a gun!" So she

PAT: That was the thought process right there. I think that was the thought process.

GLENN: Thank you very much. Well, that's what I do.

PAT: I know.

GLENN: And so anyway, next thing you know, cops are there and they arrest him. Now, this is an Eagle Scout. They arrest him. And then the school expels him for a year. And then the school won't budge. Nevermind the vastly different, you know, treatments, adults who work for the school, you know, when they get when they're in the exact same situation, they get suspensions.

Well, somebody happened to be noticing a T shirt that this kid was wearing. He was wearing a T shirt that said Liberty University and so the chancellor of Liberty University who happens to be a friend and an unbelievably decent and gracious man, Jerry Falwell, Jr., called him up. Well, I called the chancellor up and asked him to be on the program today. Jerry, how are you, sir? Are you there? How are ya?

FALWELL: I'm here. Can you hear me?

GLENN: I can. I can. So yesterday you called Cole up?

FALWELL: Well, I was in North Carolina. A dear family friend of my wife's, we were there for her funeral and I was watching the late news at the hotel room, saw the story about Cole that you just described and saw the Liberty T shirt, called found on Facebook and saw that his sister was a graduate of Liberty. So I reached him through Facebook, ended up talking to him late at night at the hotel room, found out that his dream was to attend Liberty University but couldn't afford it. So he was going to go to a state college and I found out he was an honors student, an Eagle Scout, just the type of student that we're looking for here at Liberty. And so we have a special fund for kids that are outstanding and like Cole and so it wasn't a hard decision for me to make to award him a scholarship and to make sure that he's able to go to Liberty for four years and graduate. And so I think it was just one of those things, it was meant to be. I'm not in that part of the country very often and but I couldn't believe how unreasonable and politically correct the administrators were. I mean, the kid is asking permission to take the gun home, he's an Eagle Scout, an honor student, never has caused any trouble. Where's the common sense? I mean, you don't call the police unless you're trying to make a point and unless you don't support the Second Amendment and you're trying to prove a point, but they

GLENN: They are not even proving a point. They are trying to strike terror in the hearts of all of the students that are currently enrolled in any of our public schools. They are trying to strike terror that when you say the word "gun," you flinch. And so everybody, they are making such a point that guns are bad, guns are evil, and you are automatically bad and evil if you have one.

PAT: And let's say there's a legitimate concern that they fear for their safety. Could you not have someone at the school escort him to make sure he doesn't go retrieve the gun and then bring it back in until his mom gets it and takes it home? I mean, there's reasonable things you could do there without calling the police and having him arrested and then expelling him from school.

GLENN: Now chancellor, I just want to ask you a question. I mean, it sounds you know, he's an honor student and an Eagle Scout and everything else, but may I ask you this question: Did you check? Because if he's a Christian, he's bound to be a terrorist, you know.

STU: (Laughing.)

FALWELL: Well, that's another reason we gave him a scholarship I could sense that he's a humble and great Christian kid and he I just thought he would be a perfect fit and Liberty and we're excited how it all came together. But it's but Liberty recently loosened our concealed carry policy in response to what happened at Sandy Hook, you now can we're one of only a few dozen colleges in the country now where you can, if you have a concealed carry permit, you can carry in our buildings. And we just believe we're only an hour and a half from Virginia Tech and if something like what happened there happened here, I believe I believe the answer is to make sure as many responsible people as possible have guns, at least there's a chance then that somebody will be there who, somebody good who has a gun and can stop the crazy people from doing what they do. And it's just, I think the answer to gun violence is putting guns in the hands of the right people.

GLENN: I have to tell ya, let me may I embarrass you here for a second? I think Liberty University is one of the best universities in the country. I think its faculty and its staff are unbelievable, its campus is unbelievable. What you are doing to try to raise up another generation of lawyers and legal experts that understand the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and can really, truly argue it is remarkable.

Now let me tell you, at the height of me being slaughtered by the press and when really, because I'm a Mormon, I was getting hammered by a lot of Christians, Jerry Falwell gave me an honorary doctorate, which I have I want you to know I've been drilling people's teeth for ever since and it's great.

STU: (Laughing.)

GLENN: But he gave me an honorary doctorate and asked me to speak

PAT: Made some good cash on the side.

GLENN: Oh, it's great, especially with the healthcare, universal healthcare that's coming.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: It's going to be great.

PAT: It's worked out nicely.

GLENN: Anyway, he stood up and took an awful lot of heat and invited me to give the commencement address one year and he is an extraordinarily brave man and a real true Christian leader and it is an honor, sir, to know you.

FALWELL: Well, we were honored to do that and to have you here, Glenn, and we it's the least we can do. You're on the front lines every day fighting for our country and we appreciate it. And you've got to come back soon. We've totally rebuilt the campus since you were here.

GLENN: It's beautiful.

FALWELL: And it's just exploding with growth, and it's gone far beyond our wildest imaginations just in the last few years and so I hope you can visit again soon.

GLENN: I would love to come visit again. I will tell you this: I'm a little concerned because you have Christians with guns now on campus.

PAT: (Laughing.)

GLENN: And God only knows what will happen then. I also want to thank you and can I announce this, Joe? David Barton and I are doing a museum and we have some of the most amazing pieces of American history that you will ever see. Some things have not been seen, some of them, you know, in a hundred years, and they are all really important pieces of history and they tell the story of America the way David and I think it should be told. And we were we didn't want this to be a self guided tour and we certainly didn't want a bunch of museum people telling it. We wanted this to appeal to families and youth, and we also wanted to make sure that 20 somethings knew our history really, really well and so the first thought was we should reach out to Liberty University and ask if they would supply the students that David and I could teach and show the history and they'll conduct these tours. And so at Jerry's expense, he is sending all of these people out to do a fundraiser for Mercury One, our charity, to put this museum together and they are the students from Liberty are going to be explaining liberty in our museum this week of Fourth of July, and I thank you so much for that, Jerry.

FALWELL: We're glad to do it. The students are excited about it and we also are looking, we've got 85,000 online adult students now in addition to our 13,000 here on campus and we are we're creating an American history course that we're going to provide to high school students free of charge, college students free of charge because so many colleges and high schools that don't teach American history anymore and we actually are going to award credit for this free course so that if they can't get history at their school like the school up in Maine where the, I forget the name of it, but the donor did a survey and found that there's not even a single American history course in the curriculum, if you're in a school like that, you can take this course and get credit for it and complete the rest of your courses there and that goes hand in hand with what you're trying to do. I think it's so important for our young people to learn American history.

GLENN: So when does that start?

FALWELL: We're actually creating the course right now. It will be this fall before we can offer it.

GLENN: Would you please do me a favor. When you have it all ready, would you let me know and I want to expose that on TheBlaze in the news, I want to I'd love to do a whole show on this and show what you guys are teaching, and I'd like to help you in that in any way I possibly can. I think that's absolutely fantastic.

FALWELL: Well, we deeply appreciate it and hope to have you back here soon, Glenn.

GLENN: You got it. Thank you very much. Well, if you can I know I'm a doctor I'm a doctor now, but if you could make me maybe a chiropractor next time or...

FALWELL: Our new medical school opens Fall of 2014. So maybe you can

GLENN: Maybe you could give me a specialty in, like, podiatry or something. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it, chancellor Jerry Falwell from Liberty University.

The Deep State's NEW plan to backstab Trump

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cheered, believing we’d taken back the reins of our country. But we missed the bigger battle. We failed to recognize the extent of the damage caused by eight years of Barack Obama and decades of progressive entrenchment. The real war isn’t won at the ballot box. It’s being waged against an insidious force embedded deep within our institutions: the administrative state, or the “deep state.”

This isn’t a new problem. America’s founders foresaw it, though they didn’t have a term for “deep state” back in the 1700s. James Madison, in Federalist 48, warned us that combining legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet today, that’s exactly where we stand. Unelected bureaucrats in agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice hold more power than the officials we vote for. They control the levers of government with impunity, dictating policies and stifling change.

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege.

We’ve felt the consequences of this growing tyranny firsthand. During COVID-19, so-called experts ran our lives, crushing civil liberties under the guise of public safety. Our intelligence agencies and justice system turned into weapons of political warfare, targeting a sitting president and his supporters. Meanwhile, actual criminals were given a pass, turning American cities into lawless war zones.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816 that “the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.” Today, we see Jefferson’s prophecy fulfilled. The deep state exercises unchecked power over our freedoms, and information itself is controlled by the fourth branch of government: the legacy media.

Even when we win elections, the deep state doesn’t concede defeat. It switches to survival mode. Trump’s first term proved this. Despite a historic mandate to dismantle the bureaucracy, the deep state fought back with everything it had: leaks, investigations, court rulings, and obstruction at every turn. And now, with the possibility of Trump returning to office, the deep state is preparing to do it again.

Progressives are laying out their attack plan — and they’re not even hiding it.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) recently boasted about forming a “shadow cabinet” to govern alongside the deep state, regardless of who’s in the White House. Nickel called it “democracy’s insurance policy.” Let’s be clear: This isn’t insurance. It’s sabotage.

They’ll employ a “top down, bottom up, inside out” strategy to overwhelm and collapse any effort to reform the system. From the top, federal judges and shadow officials will block Trump’s every move. Governors in blue states like California and New York are gearing up to resist federal authority. During Trump’s first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. Expect more of the same starting January 20.

From the bottom, progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union will flood the streets with protesters, much as they did to oppose Trump’s first-term immigration reforms. They’ve refined their tactics since 2016 and are prepared to unleash a wave of civil unrest. These aren’t spontaneous movements; they’re coordinated assaults designed to destabilize the administration.

Finally, from the inside, the deep state will continue its mission of self-preservation. Agencies will drag their feet, leak sensitive information, and undermine policies from within. Their goal is to make everything a chaotic mess, so the heart of their power — the bureaucratic core — remains untouched and grows stronger.

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move. Progressives never see themselves as losing. When they’re out of power, they simply shift tactics, pumping more blood into their bureaucratic heart. We may win elections, but the war against the deep state will only intensify. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force; and force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege. The deep state has shown us its plan: to govern from the shadows, circumventing the will of the people. But now that the shadows have been exposed, we have a choice. Will we accept this silent tyranny, or will we demand accountability and reclaim our nation’s heart?

The battle is just beginning. We can’t afford to lose.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Drone mystery exposes GLARING government incompetence

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

The drone issue is getting way out of hand.

Earlier this month, Glenn first reported on the mysterious drones stalking the night sky over New Jersey, but the situation is increasingly concerning as the sightings have escalated. Not only have drones been seen across the Northeast Coast, including over New York City, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but recently, they have been spotted over the night skies of San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

It doesn't take an expert to identify the potential dangers and risks that dozens of undetectable, unidentified six-foot or larger drones pose to national security. Yet, our government's response has been one of unimaginable incompetence, leaving us to speculate on the origin and intention of these drones and wonder in astonishment at the government's ineptitude. Here are three examples of the government's lackluster response to the mystery drones:

Iranian Mothership and Missing Nuclear Warheads

- / Stringer | Getty Images

After several weeks of hubbub, New Jersey Representative, Jeff Van Drew gave an interview on Fox News where he claimed that the drones originated from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States. This theory has since been disproven by satellite images, which show that all Iranian drone carriers are far from U.S. shores. Another theory suggests that drones may be equipped with sensors capable of detecting nuclear material and that they are looking for a nuclear warhead that recently went missing! With these apocalyptic theories gaining traction in the absence of any real answer from our government, one can't help but question the motive behind the silence.

Pentagon's Limp Wristed Response

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

In a recent press conference, national security spokesman John Kirby responded to reporters demanding answers about the government's lack of transparency, which has caused increasing public anxiety. He insisted that the drones did not pose a threat and were not assets of a foreign power, such as from Iran or China--even though he is still uncertain about their identity and origin. He also claimed that many of the sightings were simply misidentifications of normal aircraft.

This lackluster answer has only further inflamed national anxieties and raised even more questions. If the government is unsure of the identity of the drones, how do they know if they are a threat or if they aren't foreign assets? If they aren't foreign, does that mean they are U.S. assets? If so, why not just say so?

The Pentagon has also stated that they are leaving it up to local law enforcement to spearhead the investigation after concluding that these drones pose no threat to any military installation. This has left many feeling like the federal government has turned a blind eye to a serious issue that many Americans are very concerned about.

Where's Pete Buttigieg?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

We are in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, and with the finish line in sight, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg probably figured nothing else could go wrong on his watch—but boy was he wrong. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg is in charge of the FAA, the agency responsible for managing all air traffic across the nation. One would think that mysterious, 6-foot-long, seemingly intractable drones are invisible on radar and flying above major cities would pose a serious threat to the myriad of legal aircraft that traverse our skies. Yet, Buttigieg has been silent on the issue, adding another failure to his resume which includes: malfunctioning airplanes, the train derailment in Ohio, and the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, just to name a few.

Glenn: How Alvin Bragg turned hero Daniel Penny into a villain

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty.

America no longer has a single, shared understanding of justice. Two Americas now exist, each applying justice differently depending on who you are and where you live. One America, ruled by common sense and individual courage, praises heroes who stand up to protect others. The other, driven by political agendas and corrupted institutions, punishes those same heroes for daring to act.

This stark division couldn’t be clearer than in the case of Daniel Penny, the Marine whose trial in New York City this week drew strong reactions from both sides across the divided line of justice.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare.

Penny was on a subway train last year when Jordan Neely — a man suffering from severe mental illness and reportedly high on drugs — began threatening passengers, saying, “I’m going to kill you all.” The fear on that subway car was palpable, but nobody moved. Nobody, that is, until Penny did what needed to be done. He took action to protect innocent lives.

In the America many of us used to believe in, Penny’s response would be heralded as heroic. His actions mirrored the courage of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who, on September 11, 2001, rallied others with the words, “Let’s roll,” to prevent further tragedy. But in New York, courage doesn’t seem to count anymore. There, the system turns heroes into villains.

Penny subdued Neely using a chokehold, intending only to restrain him, not kill him. Tragically, Neely died. Penny, filled with remorse, told the police he never meant to hurt anyone. Yet, instead of being recognized for protecting others from a clear and present threat, Penny stood trial for criminally negligent homicide.

In Alvin Bragg’s New York, justice bends to ideology. The Manhattan district attorney has made a career of weaponizing the law, selectively prosecuting those who don’t fit his narrative. He’s the same prosecutor who twisted legal precedent to go after Donald Trump on business charges no one had ever faced before. Then, he turned his sights on Daniel Penny.

A jury may have acquitted Penny, but what happened in New York City this week isn’t justice. When the rule of law changes depending on the defendant’s identity or the prosecutor's political motives, we’re no longer living in a free country. We’re living in a state where justice is a game, and ordinary Americans are the pawns.

The system failed Jordan Neely

It’s worth asking: Where were activists like Alvin Bragg when Neely was suffering on the streets? Jordan Neely was a tragic figure — a man with a long history of mental illness and over 40 arrests, including violent assaults. The system failed him long before he stepped onto that subway train. Yet rather than confront that uncomfortable truth, Bragg’s office decided to target the man who stepped in to prevent a tragedy.

This isn’t about justice. It’s about power. It’s about advancing a narrative where race and identity matter more than truth and common sense.

It’s time to demand change

The Daniel Penny case — and others like it — is a wake-up call. We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty. Americans must demand an end to politically driven prosecutions, hold DAs like Alvin Bragg accountable, and stand up for the principle that true justice is blind, consistent, and fair.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare. It’s time to choose which America we want to live in.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

CEO Brian Thompson's killer reveals COWARDICE of the far-left death cult

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Early on the chilly morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was walking through Midtown Manhattan on his way to a company conference. Suddenly, a masked and hooded figure silently allegedly stepped onto the sidewalk behind Thompson, drew a 3-D printed, silenced pistol, and without warning fired multiple shots into Thompson's back before fleeing the scene on an electric bicycle. After a multiple-day manhunt, a 26-year-old lead suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an employee.

This was not "vigilante justice." This was cold-blooded murder.

As horrific as the murder of a husband and father in broad daylight in the center of New York City is, the story only gets worse. Even before the murder suspect was arrested, left-wing extremists were already taking to X to call him a "hero" and a "vigilante" who "took matters into his own hands." Even the mainstream media joined in on the glorification, as Glenn pointed out on air recently, going out of the way to show how physically attractive the murder suspect was. This wave of revolting and nihilistic fanfare came in response to the findings of online investigators who surmised the murder suspect's motives to retaliate against healthcare companies for corruption and denied coverage. The murder suspect supposedly underwent a major back surgery that left him with back pain, and some of his internet fans apparently viewed his murder of Thompson as retribution for the mistreatment that he and many other Americans have suffered from healthcare companies.

The murder suspect and his lackeys don't seem to understand that, other than depriving two children of their father right before Christmas, he accomplished nothing.

The murder suspect failed to achieve his goal because he was too cowardly to try.

If the murder suspect's goals were truly to "right the wrongs" of the U.S. healthcare system, he had every tool available to him to do so in a constructive and meaningful manner. He came from a wealthy and prominent family in the Baltimore area, became the valedictorian at a prestigious all-boys prep school, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in engineering. Clearly, the murder suspect was intelligent and capable, and if he had put his talent into creating solutions for the healthcare industry, who knows what he could have accomplished?

This is the kind of behavior the far-left idolizes, like communists on college campuses who wear shirts that celebrate the brutal Cuban warlord, Che Guevara. Merchandise celebrating the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect is already available, including shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even Christmas ornaments. Will they be sporting his face on their T-shirts too?

This macabre behavior does not breed creation, achievement, success, or life. It only brings death and risks more Americans falling into this dangerous paradigm. But we still have a chance to choose life. We just have to wake up and take it.