“I essentially suggested the idea that we do some sort of event or debate. And this was right after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, so I also thought it would breed some level of bipartisanship and maybe stop us from being so polarized,” Marcus Emmanuel, a first-year student political science major, told Fox News Digital.

“We’ve been talking with the Young Democrats on our campus, and they’ve been very open to having a debate, which is very exciting. They’ve been really looking forward to working with us,” Reese Cooper, president of UT-Tyler’s TPUSA chapter, told Fox News Digital.

SHOCK AND RESOLVE: STUDENTS REFLECT ON CHARLIE KIRK’S DEATH, FUTURE OF CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT

The president of the Young Democrats at University of Texas at Tyler (UT-Tyler) initiated the idea to collaborate with Turning Point USA for an event with hopes of fostering bipartisanship in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Kirk was killed while speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.

Kirk built a following by touring the country to debate college students on culture-war issues such as gender ideology, racial divisions and the merits of Christian and American values in general.

He left behind a wife, Erika, and two young children. Ever since his death, Turning Point USA — the organization he founded — has beencatapulted into prominence and received overwhelming support.

Emmanuel said TPUSA should not be legitimized and hopes to persuade people to join their side after the debate.

“I kind of just want to reference it by saying that the goal isn’t to legitimize what TPUSA stands for. But rather, it’s more of an acknowledgment that the faction in society that agrees with the ideology is too large to isolate or ignore,” he added.

YEARS OF CAMPUS ATTACKS ON CONSERVATIVE ACTIVISTS RESURFACE AFTER CHARLIE KIRK’S MURDER

Charlie Kirk was killed while speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

He continued, “The only way in which you can combat it is by engaging in dialogue with them. So my goal for the debate is to go about discrediting the message through facts and logic.”

Emmanuel said the vice president of the TPUSA chapter at UT-Tyler,Jonathan Roncancio, is in his general friend group. They had a conversation in the library about the TPUSA chapter recently being launched on campus.

“Our hope with Turning Point is to just educate and activate people, as well as create a community on the college campus,” Roncancio told Fox News Digital.

He added, “Our goal is to create a conservative community where people can come and discuss ideas. We really just want to make a free market of ideas that people can use and debate anything that they want to debate. We don’t want to just welcome one idea. Our goal was to create discussion and debate and just host good discussions.”

DAVID MARCUS: PROGRESSIVE MADNESS KILLED CHARLIE KIRK, A ONCE-IN-A-GENERATION LEADER

Charlie Kirk built a following by touring the country to debate college students on culture war issues such as gender ideology, racial divisions and the merits of Christian and American values in general. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Emmanuel said that the date of the event is tentative, though expected to occur some time in November.

“I thought that the temperature was way too high, so I wanted to kind of use it as an opportunity to also turn down the temperature and for both sides to realize that the other side is human, even if there’s disagreements between us,” Emmanuel said.

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“I don’t think the president of the United States is doing an effective job at kind of turning down the temperature or telling both sides to turn down the temperatures,” he said.

Joshua Q. Nelson is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

Joshua focuses on politics, education policy ranging from the local to the federal level, and the parental uprising in education.

Joining Fox News Digital in 2019, he previously graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Political Science and is an alum of the National Journalism Center and the Heritage Foundation’s Young Leaders Program. 

Story tips can be sent to joshua.nelson@fox.com and Joshua can be followed on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

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Four corporations — Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef — anchor the U.S. beef supply chain, with pricing power that reaches from pasture to plate. As a result, the gap between what producers are paid for cattle and what consumers spend on beef has remained wide, a reflection, economists say, of how market power is distributed along the supply chain.

Fox News Digital reached out to all four companies for comment but did not receive a response as of publication.

TRUMP ADMIN EYES ARGENTINE BEEF IMPORTS AS DOMESTIC PRICES SOAR TO RECORD HIGHS

Some critics argue the real problem isn’t about supply, it’s the corporate giants controlling America’s meat industry. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

The frustration extends beyond farm country – Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., says the dominance of multinational meatpackers is hurting both producers and consumers.

“Four corporations control 85% of the meat sold in the United States. One of these corporations is Chinese-owned and one is Brazilian-owned. American farmers are being squeezed and American consumers are being gouged,” Massie told Fox News Digital.

Massie, who raises cattle on his Kentucky ranch, warned that expanding beef imports from Argentina would only worsen those structural problems.

“Flooding the market with Argentinian beef is not the answer to these problems. An America First solution to rising beef prices is to pass my PRIME Act, which would empower American farmers to sell directly to consumers without interference from global corporate middlemen,” Massie said.

Under current federal law, beef processed at small, state-inspected facilities can’t be sold across state lines, even if it meets the same health standards as federally inspected meat. Massie’s PRIME Act would remove that barrier, a change supporters say would let local ranchers reach more consumers and compete with the big packers.

GOP LAWMAKERS WARN TRUMP’S ARGENTINA BEEF PROPOSAL COULD RATTLE US RANCHERS

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins recently unveiled a plan aimed at strengthening the U.S. cattle industry. (Ty Wright/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Economists agree the beef market is highly consolidated, but say the forces shaping prices go well beyond any one trade deal.

Glynn Tonsor, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, told Fox News Digital that strong consumer demand continues to drive beef prices higher, regardless of supply fluctuations.

“There’s nothing that forces me or you or anybody else when we go into the grocery store to pay more for beef. People are choosing to,” he said. “The consumer desire for beef is strong and, regardless of the supply-side situation, that has the effect of pulling prices up.”

He also noted that the large-scale structure of the U.S. meatpacking industry, often criticized by ranchers and lawmakers, has economic benefits for consumers.

“I would argue that those economies of scale benefit consumers,” Tonsor said. “The ability to operate at a cheaper cost per head and, ultimately, per pound produced gives us the ability to offer beef and every other item we’re talking about at a cheaper price. Anything we do that loses those economies of scale actually hurts consumers in the form of higher prices.”

FROM CATTLE TO CRUDE: HOW TRUMP’S TARIFFS ARE RATTLING THE LONE STAR STATE

The White House has previously said that importing beef will help address the rising food costs in the U.S. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

Derrell Peel, a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, said that even if U.S. imports from Argentina increase, the impact on overall prices would be negligible.

“Most of what we import is lean, processed beef trimmings used for ground beef,” said Peel, who specializes in livestock marketing. “We’re not talking about the kind of beef that affects steak prices. Even if we doubled imports, it would be such a small share of the total supply that we wouldn’t detect any real impact.”

Peel added that there’s no quick way to ease pressure on cattle prices, since it takes roughly two years to bring animals to market and several years to rebuild herds.

“The fact of the matter is there’s really nothing anybody can do to change this very quickly,” he said. “We’re in a tight supply situation that took several years to develop, and it’ll take several years to get out of it.”

BEEF PRICES HIT RECORD HIGHS AS NATIONWIDE CATTLE INVENTORY DROPS TO LOWEST LEVEL IN 70 YEARS

Economists say there’s no quick way to ease pressure on cattle prices or beef. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, the White House defended the plan, saying it’s aimed at balancing relief for consumers with long-term support for U.S. cattle producers.

“The president loves our ranchers, and he also loves American consumers, and he wants to do right by both,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.

Leavitt said Trump’s immediate goal is to lower beef prices by increasing supply through additional imports, while a separate, long-term plan will focus on strengthening the domestic cattle industry.

She pointed to a three-part plan announced by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, which includes expanding grazing access, easing regulations for new ranchers, cutting inspection costs and improving “Product of USA” labeling to ensure consumers know when they’re buying American-made beef.

Amanda covers the intersection of business and geopolitics for Fox News Digital.

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“I agree with their assessment,” Dr. Priya Banerjee, a board-certified forensic pathologist, said of the autopsy performed by Dr. Edward Kilbane, of the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. “There’s nothing definitive at autopsy to say why he died and if it was before or after the body entered the bayou.”

She declined to speculate about what may have happened and said the answer Cutting’s family is seeking “hinges on investigation.”

A Houston police spokesperson told Fox News Digital she would look into the case last week.

HOUSTON POLICE DISCOVER 16 BODIES IN BAYOUS THIS YEAR AS MAYOR DISMISSES SERIAL KILLER SPECULATION

Kenneth Cutting Jr. in this undated family photo. He was last seen alive on June 28, 2024, and later washed up in Houston’s Buffalo Bayou on July 1 of that year. His cause and manner of death were undetermined after an autopsy, and the toxicology report found no drugs in his system. (Courtesy of the Cutting family)

The official autopsy lists Cutting’s cause and manner of death as undetermined. Although he had fluid in his lungs, Dr. Banerjee said there’s no way to know whether it was present before his death, making the assertion that he had accidentally drowned impossible to confirm medically.

Food particles in his throat but an empty stomach were consistent with normal decomposition, Dr. Banerjee said. It happens naturally as the muscles relax.

“I think his electronic footprint is more important,” she said.

DROWNED 63-YEAR-OLD ILLINOIS MAN’S DEATH DEEMED A HOMICIDE: COOK COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER’S OFFICE

Kenneth Cutting Jr., left, took this selfie image at a bar in downtown Houston shortly before he vanished on June 28, 2024. (Courtesy of the Cutting family)

Cutting was last seen alive on June 28, 2024, according to his family. Although he lost his cellphone earlier in the evening, his roommates had it in their possession after he went missing, relatives said. It was later given to police for a forensic analysis, but his father, Kenneth Cutting Sr., said detectives came back with no answers.

Surveillance video reviewed by Fox News Digital places Cutting at Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar in downtown Houston roughly between 8 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. He was with two roommates — and he shouted at one of them to “f— off” as he stormed away from the venue.

They later reunited, however, but for reasons that remain unclear, Cutting never made it home.

DEMOCRAT MAYOR’S ‘GASLIGHTING’ AMID SERIAL KILLER FEARS CALLED OUT BY GRIEVING FAMILY

Houston fire and police personnel recover a body from White Oak Bayou near the Heights in Houston, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025 (Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

The roommates sent his father a 2 a.m. text message stating he’d gone “crazy” and demanded to be let out on Interstate 10 in Houston. He was later found dead in the Buffalo Bayou, which is part of the city’s 2,500 miles of waterways.

Kevin Gannon, a retired NYPD detective who monitors water deaths around the country, said Cutting’s death doesn’t fit the pattern of the controversial “Smiley Face Killers” theory — but it still seems suspicious.

“I don’t think this young man drowned, though it’s possible,” he told Fox News Digital. “Believe me, this is a tough one.”

FORMER DETECTIVE SAYS STRING OF HOUSTON DEATHS MAY BE LINKED TO ALLEGED ‘SMILEY FACE’ KILLER NETWORK

The Bayou running through Piney Point Village on Friday, April 18, 2025, in Houston. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Cutting’s father agrees.

“Police told me that they think it was an accidental death, and I said, I don’t think my son fell in the bayou and drowned,” Cutting Sr. told Fox News Digital last week. “First of all, he knew how to swim. Second of all, he shouldn’t have been nowhere near that bayou.”

MISSING NEW ORLEANS BOY, 12, DIED AFTER ALLIGATOR ATTACK, DROWNING: AUTHORITIES

The Sims Bayou Greenway near the Houston Botanic Garden and the Glenbrook Park is shown in Houston, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

He said his son didn’t appear to be blackout drunk in the surveillance video and noted that the toxicology report found no drugs in his system.

“Houston police need to do further investigation,” said Lauren Freeman, Cutting’s cousin. “They need to ping his phone the night he went missing, to see where his location was.”

Houston leaders have been publicly downplaying concerns of a potential serial killer with 16 dead in the city’s bayous so far this year, including five discovered in a one-week span last month.

HPD Police Chief Noe Diaz listens as Mayor John Whitmire comments on a recent number of bodies found in Houston bayous during a news conference in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

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But Mayor John Whitmire’s explanation, in which he blamed homelessness and substance abuse, prompted Cutting’s family to blast the excuse as “gaslighting” and call for thorough investigations into all of the deaths.

Whitmire slammed misinformation and “wild speculation” online and from political candidates surrounding the cases at a news briefing on Sept. 23.

“We do not have any evidence that there is a serial killer loose in Houston, Texas,” he said, calling the number of deaths “alarming” and urging patience from the public.

“Undetermined means kick back to the investigators for more information so that the medical examiner can make a better informed decision,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and criminal justice professor at Penn State Lehigh Valley. “You treat it like a homicide until proven otherwise.”

The post ‘He knew how to swim’: Family rejects ‘accident’ as Houston bayou death mystery deepens appeared first on My Blog.

On Oct. 23, CBP officers working at the Laredo Bridge 2 Port of Entry stopped two southbound vehicles towing box trailers for inspection.

Agents said they noticed irregularities in the trailer walls.

DHS MARKS ‘ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENT DAYS’ OF OPERATION MIDWAY BLITZ WITH SEVERAL ARRESTS

Over 400 firearms were found in two hidden compartments in trailers, officials said. (HSI Laredo )

A secondary inspection revealed false compartments packed with an arsenal: roughly 400 firearms of various calibers, high-capacity magazines, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

HSI officials said the guns were headed into Mexico, where cartels fuel ongoing violence.

DASHCAM VIDEO SHOWS DEADLY FREEWAY CRASH INVOLVING SUSPECTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER

Photos shared to Fox News by HSI Laredo show firearms carefully packed in the sides of a trailer. (HSI Laredo)

The drivers were identified as Emilio Ramirez-Cortez, a lawful permanent resident, and his son Edgar Ramirez-Diaz, a U.S. citizen. Both were arrested on charges of federal firearms smuggling and turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service pending an initial court appearance.

In this photo provided by HSI Laredo, firearms are packed into the walls of a trailer headed for Mexico. (HSI Laredo )

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ICE said the investigation is ongoing and that additional charges or suspects may be identified later on.

ICE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.

The post ICE, CBP seize 400 firearms hidden in fake trailer walls at southern border crossing appeared first on My Blog.

“If you hit me in my face, I’m not going to punch you back in your face. I’m going to go across your neck,” Jones said on “OutFront,” making a slashing motion across her neck.

“We can go back-and-forth, fighting each other’s faces. You’ve got to hit hard enough where they won’t come back,” she continued.

ERIC SWALWELL REJECTS MICHELLE OBAMA’S ‘WHEN THEY GO LOW, WE GO HIGH’ MESSAGE, VOWS TO ‘BURY’ REPUBLICANS

State Rep. Jolanda Jones speaks during an emergency town hall meeting she called to address student safety at the University of Houston on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 in Houston. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Jones, a state representative running to fill a U.S. House seat in Houston left vacant after the death this year of Rep. Sylvester Turner, had caught host Erin Burnett’s attention when she told Axios this week that when Republicans go low, “I’m going to the gutter.”

Jones’ broader point was that Democrats had to stop fighting nicely, particularly on the subject of redistricting.

“For the same way, I went to New York and spoke with Gov. Kathy Hochul, and said, ‘If they’re going to try to wipe us out in Texas, we need to wipe out every Republican in New York, in California, in Illinois,'” she said.

TEXAS STATE DEMOCRAT APOLOGIZES FOR COMPARING GOP REDISTRICTING PLAN TO THE HOLOCAUST

Michelle Obama speaks during Higher Ground’s “IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson” podcast at Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center on Aug. 9, 2025, in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

“No one can make me feel bad about fighting for the people that I represent, because the people that I represent need someone who’s willing to go in the ring and fight for them, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” she said.

Jones claimed Democrats are losing key voting blocs, including Black voters and low-income voters, because those constituents want them to “fight.”

Prompted by Burnett’s mention of Obama’s mantra, Jones insisted President Donald Trump has changed the political landscape so much that the approach no longer works.

“I’ve never subscribed to that [belief],” she said.

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Video

“Because in the hood that I come from, when they go low, if you go high, they’re going to take your feet out from under you, and you will not recover from that,” she said.

Jones insisted Democrats must fight like never before, warning viewers that the country is “under attack.”

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When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Jones’ campaign provided the following statement to Fox News Digital: “The interviewer asked about the phrase, ‘When they go low, we go high.’ Representative Jones responded with a simple fighting metaphor — nothing more, nothing less. Anyone attempting to read more into it is mistaken.”

Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.

The post Texas Democrat vows to 'go across your neck,' makes throat-slashing gesture while rejecting 'go high' mantra appeared first on My Blog.

Enrique Gomez-Urbina, 21, of Mexico, was arrested by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and is charged with first-degree murder, according to the Austin Police Department.

He has an immigration detainer pending the homicide investigation, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Two of Gomez-Urbina’s “associates,” Jesus Llamas-Yanez, 48, of Mexico, who is wanted by federal authorities in Mexico for a weapons charge, and Javier Roman Hernandez, of Mexico, are being extradited back to Mexico.

Split of Austin, Texas and murder suspects (Jay Janner/American-Statesman/USA Today Network; Austin Police Department; DHS)

PREVIOUSLY DEPORTED HONDURAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH KILLING TEEN WHO REJECTED HIS SEXUAL ADVANCES

On Oct. 6, a local tire shop employee found a woman’s body in a wooded area behind the business with “apparent trauma,” according to police.

The woman, later identified as Mary Gonzales, was allegedly shot to death, according to the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office.

Authorities said the night before, they pulled over Gomez-Urbina about a mile away from the scene after he failed to stop at a stop sign, FOX 7 Austin reported.

Inside his car, police allegedly found opened beer bottles, a Glock handgun and ammunition, according to the report.

The woman was found dead earlier this month behind a tire shop in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/American-Statesman/USA TODAY NETWORK)

VENEZUELAN MAN WANTED FOR RUSSIAN ROULETTE TORTURE ATTACK CAPTURED BY ICE AGENTS IN NORTH TEXAS

Surveillance footage showed a car matching Gomez-Urbina’s near the body about an hour before he was stopped by police, FOX 7 reported.

Modelo bottles and a spent cartridge case, from the same ammunition found in Gomez-Urbina’s car, were also found at the scene.

It is unclear where the two illegal immigrants entered the U.S., and how long they were in the country illegally.

KENTUCKY TEEN DIES PROTECTING MOTHER FROM ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT’S VIOLENT ALLEGED ASSAULT IN FAMILY APARTMENT

U.S. Marshals Service officials told the men tried to run after the crime, but were later caught.

It is unclear when and where Gomez-Urbina illegally entered the U.S.

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He is being held in the Travis County Jail on $254,000 bond.

Hernandez entered the U.S. using the Customs and Border Protection CBP One app, according to officials.

“President [Donald] Trump and [Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem will not allow criminal aliens to walk freely on U.S. streets,” an ICE official told Fox News Digital. “ICE will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing alien offenders from the U.S.”

Alexandra Koch is a Fox News Digital journalist who covers breaking news, with a focus on high-impact events that shape national conversation.

She has covered major national crises, including the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods.

The post Illegal immigrants arrested after woman found shot to death in Texas woods: police appeared first on My Blog.

The Austin Police Department (APD) confirmed one victim has serious injuries but remains in stable condition.

Just after 12:05 p.m., police responded to reports of a shooting at the library, with a 911 caller noting the sound of a gunshot, according to officials.

The suspect, described by authorities as a thin Black male carrying two black bags, was arrested just before 1:30 p.m. in South Austin.

ACTIVE SHOOTER REPORT PROMPTS MASSIVE POLICE RESPONSE IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN BUSINESS DISTRICT

At least one victim was taken to a hospital after a reported shooting at the Austin Central Library in Texas. (Getty Images stock photo)

Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) had their first unit on scene within three minutes and 50 seconds, police said.

“Immediately, first responders from the Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County EMS responded to the scene,” Austin Police Department Assistant Chief Lee Rogers said at a media briefing Saturday.

“Early indications — it was a confusing scene. There were just so many callers, as we can expect.”

12-YEAR-OLD MINNEAPOLIS CHURCH SHOOTING SURVIVOR SHOT IN HEAD RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL

Austin Police Department Assistant Chief Lee Rogers provided a media briefing following the incident Saturday. (Facebook/Austin Police Department)

A shelter in place warning was issued but has since been lifted, police said.

“This was NOT an active shooter incident, but rather an isolated incident with one suspect and one victim,” APD officials wrote in an X post.

When asked whether witnesses reported how many shots were fired, APD Assistant Chief Rogers said he did not yet have specific details about the shooting.

MICHIGAN CHURCH SHOOTER’S FAMILY REACTS TO VIRAL FUNDRAISING EFFORT BY LATTER-DAY SAINT MEMBERS

A shelter in place warning was issued but has since been lifted, police said. (Andrew Stinson via X)

“I’m grateful to our Austin Public Library employees and our first responders for their immediate action to the shooting at our Central Library,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson posted to X.

“Public spaces and city-owned facilities should be a safe place for everyone. My office has been in regular communication with Austin Police and the City Manager’s office. A suspect has been apprehended. The investigation remains active and ongoing.”

The Austin Fire Department confirmed to Fox News Digital it responded with EMS.

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Watson, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the APD did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Alexandra Koch is a Fox News Digital journalist who covers breaking news, with a focus on high-impact events that shape national conversation.

She has covered major national crises, including the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods.

The post One hospitalized after suspected shooting at Austin public library, prompting massive police response appeared first on My Blog.