Former St. Cloud City Councilman Jeff Johnson, a Republican candidate for governor in Minnesota, suspended his campaign on Monday after his 22-year-old daughter was savagely stabbed to death.

The Republican Party of Minnesota confirmed Johnson was dropping out and stressed that the group is “heartbroken by the tragic loss of Dr. Jeff Johnson’s daughter, who was killed in a violent crime Saturday night in St. Cloud.”

“There are no words that can adequately express the sorrow we feel for Jeff and his family,” continued the Minnesota GOP. “The loss of a child is unimaginable, and our thoughts and prayers are with them as they grieve this devastating tragedy.”

The City of St. Cloud Police Department indicated that officers responded on Saturday evening to a report of a medical emergency at the apartment of Johnson’s daughter, Hallie Marie Tobler, where they found her dead with multiple stab wounds.

‘Join us in lifting up the Johnson family.’

Dylan Tobler, her 23-year-old husband, was also found at the scene with life-threatening injuries that police believe to have been self-inflicted. Although initially taken to St. Cloud Hospital for treatment, police indicated Dylan Tobler — who is now in stable condition — will later be transported to the Stearns County Jail, “where he will be held for court on charges related to the homicide.”

RELATED: Thug who grinned in arrest photo after boy was murdered just got his sentence — and it should wipe smile right off his face

Stephen M. Katz/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Last month, Dylan Tobler pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection to a June 2025 incident in which he choked his wife, reported the Duluth News Tribune.

By Tuesday, Johnson’s campaign page had been stripped down to its header.

The former councilman, who served for two terms in the 2010s, announced his candidacy for governor in March 2025, vowing to tackle Minnesota’s fraud and crime problems, keep businesses from fleeing the Gopher State, work with federal agencies to combat illegal immigration, and stand up to radicalism from the left.

“Quite frankly, Minnesota has been operating in full crisis mode under Gov. Tim Walz for years,” Johnson said at the time in an interview with the St. Cloud Times.

The Minnesota GOP asked for residents of the state “to join us in lifting up the Johnson family during this incredibly painful time.”

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War Secretary Pete Hegseth has made it his mission to slash through red tape and streamline defense production. But in order to do that, Hegseth says the Pentagon needs to take a look in the mirror.

Blaze News traveled with Hegseth as he visited defense contractors like Anduril and General Dynamics during his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour Monday, hammering the importance of overcoming burdensome production delays. In order to embolden the hardworking men and women who build America’s arsenal, Hegseth told Blaze News the Pentagon needs to take the first step.

‘There’s mazes of requirements.’

“A lot of the hang-up has been us,” Hegseth told Blaze News. “So we’ve got to look at ourselves first. The way we do business — we’ve been impossible to deal with.”

“A bad customer who, year after year, changes our mind about what we want or what we don’t want, and then we make little, small technological changes, which makes it more difficult for them to produce what they need to produce on time. So we have to fix our own house first: provide clarity, simplify the system, allow more people to access it, give that steady demand signal.”

RELATED: ‘Reckless and seditious’: Hegseth issues brutal demotion of Democrat senator over ‘illegal orders’ video

Whether it’s building warships or acquiring the latest technologies for autonomous underwater vehicles, Hegseth acknowledged how often these projects often fall far behind schedule and go way over budget. In an attempt to combat this, Hegseth noted several DOW deals with defense companies like Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin that facilitate investment because “they know we’re going to be buying in the future.”

“That’s groundbreaking stuff. Our department’s never done that. … That’s just good business. We haven’t operated … that way before.”

RELATED: Putting God back in ‘degraded’ US Chaplain Corps: Hegseth axes pagan codes and New Age guides

Like all other government agencies, Hegseth also pointed to bureaucracy and regulations as major hindrances for these defense companies.

“There’s mazes of requirements that this department has traditionally put on different systems and platforms that are impossible to navigate, and by the time you navigate them, you’re five years behind the actual technology,” Hegseth told Blaze News.

“We’re going to companies and saying tell us what you can do based on the parameters of what kind of capabilities we’re looking for. … Let’s tailor it accordingly.”

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Roughly six weeks past the deadline to publish all of its files on child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Justice Department released over 3 million additional pages in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

While the documents provide new insights into Epstein, his degeneracy, and his international network of affluent allies, they are rife with redactions. Lawmakers have, however, been afforded the opportunity to review the unredacted files in person at the DOJ after giving 24 hours’ notice.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who with Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.) rushed to inspect the files at the first available opportunity in hopes of identifying “the men who Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women to,” revealed on Monday that he came across “the names of at least six men that have been redacted that are likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files.”

‘Give the DOJ a chance to say they made a mistake and over-redacted.’

While Massie indicated that it was prudent to identify the men from the House floor or in a committee hearing — where he would be protected from civil lawsuits over perceived defamation or libel — he told reporters that “at least one is a U.S. citizen, at least one is a foreigner, and the other three or four have names I’m not sure if they’re foreign or U.S.”

“One is pretty high up in a foreign government,” added Massie.

Khanna, addressing reporters jointly with the Kentucky Republican, chimed in to note that “one of the others is a pretty prominent individual.” The Democrat suggested there may be more questionably redacted names, stressing they had only scratched the surface with their two-hour review.

RELATED: ‘Game’s up, mate’: Starmer refuses to resign over appointment of disgraced Epstein ally as US ambassador

Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

The Kentucky Republican noted, “I would like to give the DOJ a chance to say they made a mistake and over-redacted and let them unredact those men’s names.”

‘It wasn’t unredacted until tonight.’

The DOJ seized upon the opportunity to make some adjustments.

Massie noted later on Monday that the DOJ had unredacted both “an FBI file that LABELS two individuals as co-conspirators” and “a file that lists several men who might be implicated.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that the DOJ unredacted former Victoria’s Secret CEO Lex Wexner’s name from a 2019 FBI document identifying him as a possible co-conspirator in Epstein’s sex-trafficking case. He noted that Wexner’s name appears “thousands of times” elsewhere in the Epstein files and stated, “DOJ is hiding nothing.”

“This is significant because Kash Patel testified to Congress that FBI had no evidence of other sex traffickers,” Massie said in response. “This is FBI’s own 2019 document listing Wexner as coconspirator in child sex trafficking. It wasn’t unredacted until tonight.”

The DOJ standards recommend against identifying unindicted co-conspirators unless they have been charged with the same conspiracy by way of unsealed criminal complaint or information. The document Massie referred to alleges that Wexner was a co-conspirator of Epstein.

Wexner stated in July 2019 that he had long since severed any connection with Epstein and “would not have continued to work with any individual capable of such egregious, sickening behavior as has been reported about him.”

“When Mr. Epstein was my personal money manager, he was involved in many aspects of my financial life. But let me assure you that I was NEVER aware of the illegal activity charged in the indictment,” added Wexner.

Department of Justice

Blaze News has reached out to the Wexner Foundation for comment.

‘They’re trafficking girls all across the world.’

The Epstein Files Transparency Act permits the DOJ to redact portions of records that:

“contain personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy”; depict child pornography; “would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary”;”depict or contain images of death, physical abuse, or injury of any person”; or”contain information specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order.“

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat who also reviewed the documents on Monday, concluded that there are “lots of co-conspirators,” reported CNN.

“I mean, it’s disgusting,” said Moskowitz. “There are lots of names, lots of co-conspirators, and they’re trafficking girls all across the world.”

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A video of Democratic Texas state Rep. Gene Wu has resurfaced on the internet this week in what one large social media account called a “mask off” moment for the lawmaker.

In a December 31, 2024, episode of “Define American with Jose Antonio Vargas,” Wu, an immigrant who was born in China, openly urged minority racial groups to unite against their “same oppressor.”

‘Because we are the majority in this country now.’

In the video, entitled “In This Texas District, 1/3 of Residents Are Undocumented,” Wu was asked about different racial groups’ relationship to each other and particularly the relationship between Asians and Latinos.

“It’s not just Latinos. It’s not just Asians. It’s not just African-Americans. It’s everybody. Right? We, our country and the forces that be, the powers that be, have spent tremendous time, effort, and money to make sure that those groups are never united, that they always see each other as enemies, as competitors, without ever realizing that they share one thing in common: that their oppressors all are the same,” Wu responded.

“The oppression comes from one place,” he quickly added.

RELATED: Exclusive: GOP lawmaker wants Congress to take — and pass — a basic civics exam

Without explicitly saying who these “oppressors” are, Wu made it easy to read between the lines: “I always tell people the day the Latino, African-American, Asian, and other communities realize that they share the same oppressor is the day we start winning. Because we are the majority in this country now. We have the ability to take over this country and to do what is needed for everyone and to make things fair.”

“Shame on him,” Elon Musk said in response to the clip of Wu, who was first elected to Texas House District 137 near Houston in 2012.

The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh pointed out the rhetorical double standard between Republicans and Democrats, referencing a more recent controversy in which President Trump shared a meme some decried as racist: “So I’m supposed to be outrage[d] about an Obama monkey meme while Democrat elected officials are labeling the entire white race ‘oppressors’ and openly plotting to conquer and subjugate us? Trump can post all the memes he wants. I really don’t care at all.”

The resurfaced video has since garnered nearly 14 million views on X.

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Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas is looking to hold lawmakers to a higher standard, Blaze News learned.

Hunt introduced a bill Monday that would create a new constitutional amendment requiring members of Congress to pass a basic civics test before taking their oath of office, according to bill text obtained exclusively by Blaze News. Hunt, who is running for Senate, noted his Congressional Civics Act would simply insist elected officials pass the same civics test foreigners are required to take in order to become naturalized citizens.

‘When history is forgotten, it is destined to repeat itself.’

“As leaders, we swear an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic — an oath I take seriously,” Hunt told Blaze News.

“We must ensure that those entrusted with the highest level of American leadership fully understand that oath.”

RELATED: Trump blasts mass migration from ‘failed’ foreign countries in fiery rebuke: ‘Minnesota reminds us’

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Although naturalized citizens have a near perfect pass rate, just one in three Americans are able to pass the same test, according to a national survey conducted by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. Notably, applicants need to get only 12 out of the 20 multiple choice questions correct, totaling just 60%.

“This bill would require American representation to demonstrate their knowledge of the Constitution and American history,” Hunt told Blaze News.

“That understanding is essential to protecting the foundation of American values,” Hunt added. “When history is forgotten, it is destined to repeat itself.”

RELATED: Exclusive: GOP Senate candidate Wesley Hunt pushes bill barring education benefits for illegal aliens

Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images

If the amendment is ratified, the exam would consist of 25 questions drawn from a pool of 100 questions that cover constitutional literacy and American history. The passing standards would be set by Congress for each 10-year census term.

Until the amendment is ratified, the legislation requires that members pass the civics exam before being assigned to a committee, starting in the 120th Congress. The bill would also provide for the public release of test results for all members who manage to successfully complete the exam.

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​Wesley hunt, Texas, Texas senate race, John cornyn, Ken paxton, House republicans, Republican primary, 2026 primary, Donald trump, Citizenship test, Civics exam, American values, Constitution, Oath of office, Politics 

According to BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock, if you missed Super Bowl 60 this weekend, you didn’t miss much.

Whitlock believes that the “Super Bowl has fallen,” and it’s not just because the game between the Patriots and the Seahawks featured a slow loss.

“The entire Super Bowl halftime, the agendas related to the National Football League — the entire thing has fallen on its face,” he says, pointing out that perhaps the worst part was the halftime performance put on by Bad Bunny, which was entirely in Spanish.

“Bad Bunny will forever be remembered as the worst Super Bowl ever. … Nothing happened in this Super Bowl, other than Bad Bunny’s ridiculous Super Bowl halftime deal. And it will be forever remembered as the worst Super Bowl halftime and the worst Super Bowl ever,” Whitlock says.

However, he says, leftists appear to believe that what they witnessed was an incredible and brave performance.

“I get it. The leftists are all over social media right now, ‘Oh, it was amazing, the vibe, oh, the vibe was incredible,’” Whitlock mocks, pointing out that none of them could understand a “word that Bad Bunny said,” calling the artist a “Spanish-speaking mumble rapper.”

The show also featured Hispanic men and women drinking and “gyrating.”

“This was an embarrassment. … They’re just gyrating all over each other while Bad Bunny mumble raps in the background. And you have white liberals, and liberals everywhere, because they hate Donald Trump, and because they want to troll Donald Trump, this is seen as a positive,” Whitlock says.

“Here’s what the leftists want you to believe: that there is some sort of love that can be born from hate,” he continues. “They want you to believe that love can be founded on hate.”

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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A St. Louis mother is facing multiple felony charges after police say she fired a gun inside a Kirkwood, Missouri, sushi restaurant amid an argument with staff last week, KTVI-TV reported.

Kirkwood police told the station the shooting took place just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

‘You’re going to get it.’

Police said Aaliyah N. Moorehead, 31, told officers she believed restaurant staff were rude to her and her family when they arrived, KTVI reported, adding that Moorehead was with her 9-year-old child.

Moorehead also said she used a translation feature on her AirPods to determine that the cooks made racial and derogatory comments in Spanish about her and her family, the station said.

Police said Moorehead also got upset over what she described as an issue with her order, KTVI said. A server offered to correct the order, but Moorehead began swearing at the server and was asked to leave, the station noted.

Moorehead then threw a bowl of soup at the server, hitting him and others nearby, authorities told KTVI.

The server moved a chair between himself and Moorehead, the station said, adding that she grabbed the chair and threw it.

Moorehead then took out a 9mm Glock handgun, threatened the server, and fired a shot in his direction, police told KTVI, adding that Moorehead’s 9-year-old was walking between Moorehead and the server at the time.

Police told KMOV-TV that Moorehead said, “You’re going to get it,” before firing the shot.

The bullet missed the server, went through a refrigerator, and struck a wall, KTVI said, adding that no one was injured.

RELATED: Unruly restaurant patron takes Taser from off-duty cop working security — and shoots cop with it. But troublemaker runs out of luck when officer pulls his gun.

Police said the restaurant manager told officers the suspect drove away in a white SUV, and officers located the vehicle soon after and detained those in the car, KTVI said.

After reviewing the restaurant’s security video, police identified the SUV’s occupants as Moorehead, her 9-year-old child, and another adult woman, KTVI said.

Police told KMOV the entire incident was captured on surveillance video and that Moorehead admitted to firing the gun.

The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Moorehead with first-degree assault, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, endangering the welfare of a child, and first-degree property damage, KTVI said.

Moorehead was still behind bars Tuesday morning at the St. Louis County Justice Center; jail records do not show a court date.

KTVI said Moorehead is being held on a $150,000 cash-only bond.

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