Hawaii Democrat Politicians Finally Busted For Treating COVID Cash Like Personal Piggy Bank

Sylvia Luke

UPDATE: Gov. Green Urges Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke To Quit So State Can Pretend This Never Happened While Prosecutors Name Former Rep Ryan Yamane The Biggest Crook In The Bunch

A grand jury just handed down indictments against Democratic Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, former state Rep. Ryan Yamane, local businessman Tobi Solidum and a supporting cast of Democrat characters, charging one of the state's highest ranking officials with the kind of corruption that makes regular taxpayers wonder why they bother voting at all.The charges read like a greatest hits album of political greed:

Sylvia Luke faces criminal conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery by a public servant and falsifying candidate committee reports.

Ryan Yamane faces criminal conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery.
Tobi Solidum faces conspiracy to commit bribery and three counts of bribery upon a public servant.

Ford Fuchigami faces criminal conspiracy to commit bribery, use of false statements or entries and obstruction of justice.

Leo Asunción faces falsifying candidate committee reports, use of false statements or entries and obstruction of justice.

These felony surprises arrived Friday afternoon courtesy of the Attorney General’s probe into an “influential” lawmaker who federal prosecutors claim pocketed $35,000 from a federal bribery suspect back in 2022, a mystery that has entertained Hawaii for over a year. The new charges mark yet another high note in a political scandal that already sent two of Luke’s old colleagues to prison.

The written indictment carefully avoids saying anyone actually handed over $35,000 in cash but strongly hints that Solidum, a businessman hungry as a wolf for government money to fund COVID testing, promised Luke $35,000 as the first half of a cool $70,000 total during a January 20, 2022 dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse. They also chatted about union support for her campaign. “By next week we’ll have 35, so it will be halfway to our 70,” Solidum told Luke, according to the indictment.

Ryan Yamane 

This represents a dramatic plot twist for Luke, who before becoming lieutenant governor spent more than two decades as a state representative including a decade as chair of the House Finance Committee. In that role she ruled the state budget with an iron fist and built a reputation for following every rule and making sure everyone else did too. Apparently the iron fist got a little rusty once the steaks arrived.

Yamane allegedly collected thousands from Solidum while working hard to lock down funds for those COVID testing contracts. In one text message Solidum told Yamane: “have 1500 and wanted to pick up another 1k here. Mel will leave cash in Manila for you. If we’re looking at the most culpable individual factually, we believe that is Ryan Yamane,” Deputy Attorney General David Van Acker announced in court.

Solidum also supposedly slipped money to Fuchigami including a $7,000 check on January 30, 2022 while Fuchigami worked for the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Two days later the pair plus Yamane sat down to talk emergency appropriations for the health department. Van Acker asked the court to set Luke’s bail at $100,000 given the seriousness of the claims even while admitting she was no flight risk. The judge cut it to $80,000.

Luke turned herself in Friday evening and posted bail like a true public servant. Democrat Gov. Josh Green had been pushing Attorney General Anne Lopez for weeks to finish the investigation yesterday. He also worked overtime to put distance between himself and Luke, even canceling a planned trip to Washington, D.C. in February so he would not have to leave the state under her watch.

On Friday afternoon he called for Luke, already on administrative leave, to resign. “The Lieutenant Governor needs to consider formally resigning to address this matter and so that the state of Hawaii can move forward,” he said.

Yamane had served as Green’s director of the Department of Human Services until he suddenly quit once the investigation started breathing down his neck. Solidum is a local businessman, lobbyist and longtime consultant to the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii. In that position he helped steer tens of millions of dollars in COVID testing contracts during the pandemic including a mobile test site at the Honolulu airport. Court records show his consulting business collected more than $7 million for that work which overcharged the state for tests while an entity linked to his stepdaughter Kristen Pae received a $1 million dividend.

Prosecutors asked Judge Ronald Johnson for a no bail warrant for Solidum which was granted. They claim he left the country in 2025 and now lives in the Philippines after selling off real estate and moving large amounts of money offshore.

Asunción is a former chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission who quit that job last year. He also served as Luke’s campaign treasurer. Fuchigami was appointed by Green in 2023 as deputy director of the Hawaii Department of Transportation airports division and currently serves as airports administrator. From 2019 into 2021 he held DOT positions that gave him power over COVID relief funds and contracts. Later he worked as budget chief for Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz on the Senate money committee.

Eye witnesses say Fuchigami and Solidum regularly attended secret fundraising parties that mixed state officials including airport staff with contractors eager for state business.

Businessman Milton Choy, his relatives and Solidum poured more than $34,000 into those events according to data gathered by the New York Times and Civil Beat. In 2015 Luke herself was among the politicians who walked away richer from similar gatherings. Friday’s charges grew from a document first made public by Civil Beat last year that detailed the alleged $35,000 deal. The document explained how Rep. Ty Cullen, Luke’s former vice chair on the House Finance Committee, cooperated with the FBI after his own bribery arrest and described a bribery suspect delivering $35,000 to an “influential” lawmaker for campaign help.

The state opened its investigation under heavy public pressure on Lopez after she first refused because the feds already had the case. She changed her mind in January. At a short press conference Friday Lopez praised her office’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Division created by the Legislature in 2022 to chase corruption, fraud, white collar crime and human trafficking. “From the outset of this investigation, I have repeated that we have a commitment to following the facts to where they lead, no matter how long it takes to get there,” Lopez said. The division “has been working tremendously hard over the last six months to get us here.” She took no questions. U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson claimed last year the $35,000 arrived in a paper bag but the indictment never mentions any bag or that amount actually changing hands.

Asked about the difference Attorney General spokeswoman Toni Schwartz replied: “The indictment has the information we can release at this time.” The 30 page indictment covers February 2020 to April 2022. It details how Solidum wrote a check to Fuchigami to sway budget decisions in 2022 and handed cash and checks to Yamane in 2020. It states Luke agreed to take the $70,000 Solidum promised “with the intent to use the power of her elected position” to fund COVID testing by the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii. Those sums from one source blow past Hawaii’s individual contribution limits.

Solidum may have planned to gather the money from other people in the classic bundling move that lets donors buy influence without breaking the letter of the law. In the same talk he mentioned a fundraiser, the usual stage for that kind of cash collection. In early 2022 Solidum was chasing more state money to keep the expensive community testing sites of the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii running. He told Cullen a couple days earlier at the Elk’s Club in Waikīkī that “he was out ‘like $11,000,000,’” according to the indictment. Solidum wanted an emergency appropriation and invited Cullen to dinner with Luke at Morton’s.

Luke was “running for LG now,” Solidum said. “All I gotta do is give her more money.” On January 20, 2022 Cullen ate dinner with Luke, Solidum and Solidum’s stepdaughter Kristen Pae in a private room at Morton’s Steakhouse in Ala Moana Shopping Center while secretly recording for the FBI.

Pae handed Luke two $5,000 checks from her and Solidum written to the campaign. Luke took the money but waited years to report the $10,000 in contributions until Civil Beat asked about them. She has insisted she never accepted $35,000 from any single person. Earlier this year Luke claimed she tried to return the money after Cullen’s arrest because she felt “uncomfortable” keeping it. She has since confessed to multiple campaign finance mistakes and the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission found even more. At that January 20 meeting Solidum told Luke $70,000 was “what we committed so we gonna follow through that commitment,” according to the indictment. He also hinted at lining up labor union support for her.

Solidum then asked Luke to lean on the state Disease Outbreak and Control Division under the health department to free up more money for the mobile testing labs. The next day Luke had Rep. Linda Ichiyama, who chaired a House committee on the pandemic response, set up a meeting about emergency appropriations. At the January 25 meeting Luke talked about sending emergency money to the health department so it could pay for more COVID testing. Later that month on January 30 Solidum wrote the $7,000 check to Fuchigami who then worked for the Senate Ways and Means Committee. They met days later to discuss the emergency appropriation.

The bill that pushed funding for the COVID testing and that Luke and other lawmakers approved was introduced by Yamane. Yamane and Solidum had been texting for a couple years already.

In a February 18, 2020 exchange Solidum said he wanted to give Yamane money that included multiple checks and cash. They met later that day near a parking spot that looks like the basement of the State Capitol. The indictment lists many other times Solidum arranged payments to Yamane including an August 2021 event hosted by Yamane. In November that year Yamane shared information with Solidum about a rival COVID company. In February 2022 Yamane sought amendments to a bill that added funds for the testing sites. They also texted on February 8, 2022 about Cullen and English being charged by the feds. “Might not be good to be seen with me,” Yamane wrote.

Prosecutors further claim Fuchigami lied when he said he never received money from Solidum.

David Van Acker i

The indictments came after a day of grand jury testimony that started Friday morning as high profile witnesses walked in with their lawyers. Cullen, free from federal prison in 2024 after 11 months on bribery charges, showed up early with attorney Birney Bervar and said nothing on the way out. Other witnesses included Tony Baldomero from the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission, Pae with heavyweight defense attorney Tommy Otake, and Cathy Ross of the Hawaii Department of Health with attorney Eric Seitz.

Ross is a former deputy health director whose division handled procurement and contracts. As of February she still worked for the state as a human resource specialist. The health department ultimately handed millions in COVID testing contracts to the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii while the City and County of Honolulu did the same to keep the mobile labs going.

Solidum arranged those contracts. The kidney nonprofit then sold overpriced COVID tests to Hawaii residents for as much as $166 each when the national median was $62 for insured patients. Solidum has ignored every attempt by Civil Beat to reach him. Over the life of the Kidney Foundation testing program Solidum’s company GeoPolicy Development Group collected more than $7 million in consulting fees from the foundation’s for profit subcontractor Capture Diagnostics. An entity tied to Solidum also received a $1 million dividend for investing in Capture Diagnostics according to court records. Soon afterward trusts linked to his stepdaughter bought million dollar properties in Kakaʻako and Kāneʻohe. In the end Hawaii’s political class has once again reminded everyone that when public servants gather around a steak dinner the public usually ends up paying the bill. This is particularly true when the Democrats are dining on the steaks.

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FBI nabs 4th most wanted in merely 5 weeks

A fugitive on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters List has been returned to the Southern District of Florida to face federal charges for allegedly stealing more than $32 million in federal COVID 19 relief funds.

Elaine Escoe, 41, was charged by indictment in 2025 with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and multiple substantive counts of wire fraud and money laundering. After a federal arrest warrant was issued in May 2025, Escoe failed to appear for her court appearance and fled to Jamaica.

Jamaican authorities captured Escoe after receiving a tip. “This Most Wanted Fraudster allegedly obtained tens of millions in COVID-19 relief, stealing critical resources from legitimate businesses during a national crisis,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “She fled the country believing she could escape justice but ultimately could not. Those who exploit taxpayer-funded programs will be held accountable by this Department of Justice, no matter how long it takes or where they attempt to hide.”

She was returned to South Florida today through the coordinated efforts of the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service Regional Security Office at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, the Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF), and the JCF Jamaica Fugitive Apprehension Team.

“Elaine Angene Escoe’s arrest and return to the United States demonstrates that no one is beyond the reach of American justice,” Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division said. “This Most Wanted Fraudster faces charges stemming from a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud taxpayer-funded COVID-19 relief programs. The Fraud Division will continue to vigorously prosecute those who steal from the American people.”

According to court records, Escoe and her co conspirators submitted or caused the submission of fraudulent applications seeking more than $32 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG), and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds. The applications falsely represented the existence, payroll, revenue, and operations of purported businesses to qualify for and maximize federal relief funding. “The historic success of the ‘Most Wanted Fraudster’ list continues as the FBI and our partners just captured our fourth Most Wanted Fraudster in 5 weeks, and yet another high value target returned to the U.S. by this FBI,” FBI Director Kash Patel said.

“Elaine Angene Escoe, on the run since May of 2025, was captured in Jamaica while living under a fake identity of ‘Harley Newman,’ and returned to the United States today to face justice. She is charged for her alleged involvement in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, connected with a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $32 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

Escoe brings the number of high value targets returned by the FBI to over 30 just since June.To support the fraudulent applications, the conspirators created fake tax documents, fabricated bank records, and other false financial records that lenders and program administrators relied upon in approving loans and grants.

“Led by President Trump, Vice President Vance, and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, the FBI and our partners continue to see an unprecedented level of success taking down the worst of the worst alleged fraudsters,” Patel said. “In just weeks, we have captured four subjects on three different continents charged with a combined nearly $1.8 billion in fraud, collectively on the run for over 3,500 days, each hiding overseas, now returned and all in custody in 1.5 months. Under this administration, fraud is no longer tolerated, and those who steal from American taxpayers have nowhere to hide.”

Some applications were submitted on behalf of businesses controlled by the conspirators, while others were submitted for third parties in exchange for substantial kickbacks sometimes as much as 50 percent of the loan proceeds. The fraud proceeds were subsequently laundered among the conspirators.

“Elaine Escoe allegedly helped orchestrate a sprawling scheme that fraudulently obtained more than $32 million from programs created to keep American businesses and workers afloat during the pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said. “After being charged, she failed to appear in court and fled to Jamaica. Defendants cannot escape accountability simply by leaving the country. Thanks to the determined work of our federal, state, and international partners, she is back in South Florida and will now face the charges against her. This coordinated effort demonstrates that we will pursue fugitives wherever they go and bring them back to face justice.”

Escoe is the last remaining defendant charged in the scheme. Following a December 2025 trial, Alfred Davis, Cher Davis, and Latoya Clark were convicted by a federal jury. James McGhow and Gino Jourdan previously pleaded guilty. Alfred Davis was sentenced to 235 months’ imprisonment, Cher Davis to 87 months, Clark to 70 months, Jourdan to 46 months, and McGhow to 42 months.FBI Miami’s West Palm Beach Resident Agency is investigating the case, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.

On June 4, the FBI announced the creation of the Most Wanted Fraudsters List. The list included Herb Kimble, a fugitive in a $1.2 billion telemedicine and durable medical equipment scheme, who, on June 8 just four days later was apprehended in the Philippines and was soon after charged as part of the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.

On June 8, Escoe was added to the Most Wanted Fraudsters List, and she was apprehended less than two months later.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole of government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

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Illegal alien who murdered restaurant owner gets to spend serious time in the Iron Bar Hotel

An illegal alien will spend 20 years in prison after admitting to murdering a beloved Nashville restaurant owner in what open borders enthusiasts are calling a beautiful tapestry of cultural enrichment gone slightly awry.

Ulises Martinez, a 26 year old illegal alien from Mexico, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to second degree murder after he slammed his truck into 42 year old Matt Carney during an attempted robbery two years ago. The case drew national attention as President Donald Trump pointed to it as an example of a migrant crime wave during his 2024 presidential campaign, somehow managing to notice the pattern while the rest of the media was busy blaming climate change.

The incident took place on June 19, 2024, outside of Smokin Thighs, a popular Nashville chicken restaurant owned and operated by Carney that began as a food truck.

Carney was locking up his restaurant when he walked outside to find two men stealing tools from his truck. After Carney confronted them, the men, both illegal immigrants, rammed into him with their truck, throwing him onto the sidewalk, before taking off in a spontaneous celebration of diversity. Olivia Lehing, who witnessed the scene, said she was driving when she saw a truck send a body “into the air” and then drive “very fast” away from the scene.

Carney died from injuries sustained during the incident several weeks later. Martinez was on the run for several weeks before he was arrested on July 18, hiding out in a Nashville motel while no doubt planning his next contribution to the local economy.

Smokin Thighs closed down in October 2024 after almost ten years in business. “Places like this do not just exist everywhere and in every neighborhood,” former Smokin Thighs manager Landon Allen told The Tennessean. “When he was taken from us, it all died with him.”

In addition to the murder charge, Martinez pleaded guilty to evidence tampering and two counts of theft. Martinez, who required an interpreter throughout the proceedings, is expected to be deported after serving the 20 year sentence assuming the country still has borders by then.

Carney’s widow reportedly supported the plea deal in a display of the kind of grace rarely extended to law abiding Americans.

Martinez’s immigration status was first reported by conservative media outlet, The Daily Wire, with ICE saying that he unlawfully entered the country at an unknown date and location.

The other scumcrumpet in the vehicle with Martinez, was 31 year old Adrian Diaz-Aguirre. He had previous criminal convictions and has been deported four times, proving once again that the third time is not always the charm.

Just months before Carney’s murder, a Nashville judge let Martinez go free after he was accused of stealing a white van, a red truck, and tools from a white truck, proving that even judges with all that schooling, can be a dumb as a rock.

Nashville Judge Jim Todd dismissed all three charges during a preliminary hearing in March 2024, claiming police had failed to show probable cause in what progressive legal scholars are calling a courageous defense of the right to steal vehicles without interruption. Great move, judge.

Trump discussed the incident during an August campaign rally in Montana. “Look at what’s happening to our cities. Our cities are being overrun,” Trump said. “On July 4th, a 42-year-old Nashville man died after he tried to stop an illegal alien from stealing tools out of his truck. The illegal alien did a number on this man that nobody could even believe. The police officers said [it was] one of the most vicious crimes they’ve ever seen.”

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Bombshell Memo Shows Biden Planned To Leave Trump With Even More Massive Immigration Crisis

In a shocking development that will stun only those who still believe the previous administration ever cared about borders or the word temporary, Sen. Eric Schmitt obtained a document showing the Biden White House planned protections for Guatemalans, Ecuadorians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans in a final desperate bid to hand President Trump an even bigger immigration clusterfrack.

The Supreme Court delivered a significant victory to President Trump's immigration policies ruling 6 to 3 that the administration can terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Syrian migrants. Fox News Legal Editor Kerri Urbahn highlights the majority opinion.

A newly uncovered Biden White House memo from the administration's final days revealed plans that could have expanded Temporary Protected Status to more than 3 million illegal aliens while acknowledging that previous court challenges had blocked many of President Donald Trump's efforts to end the protections.

TPS is meant for foreign populations experiencing crises like political unrest or natural disasters and while Trump has tried to end the temporary provisions for Haitians, Nepalese, Salvadorans, and Sudanese people lawsuits from pro migrant advocates have halted most attempts.

"My investigation uncovered that the Lame Duck Biden White House tried to keep millions of illegal aliens in our country by abusing the 'Temporary' Protected Status program," Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) who acquired the memo told Fox News Digital on Friday. "After the American people voted for President Trump’s promise to end the TPS scam, the Biden administration tried to subvert the will of the American people. This was mass amnesty-by-decree. America is for Americans, and it is our home—it is not a permanent refugee camp," he said.

The memo argued that "granting TPS will potentially protect many vulnerable people from President-elect Trump's planned mass deportations... They argue that these protections are likely to hold in court, and they are prepared to litigate efforts to terminate or slow down the implementation of TPS for specified nations by the Trump Administration."

In other words the outgoing team decided the best parting gift for the nation that just rejected them was to load up the country with millions more people and then dare the new president to try cleaning it up through years of activist court battles.

"[P]rior federal litigation brought by advocates during the first Trump administration was successful in halting [its] efforts to terminate TPS, though that was due in large part to [its] failure to produce a factual record in support of termination, which is something that could be rectified," the memo went on. Schmitt said he obtained the memo from Archivist of the United States Edward Forst through his authority as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution.

"Biden tried to turn TPS into a 3.1-million-person deportation shield, protect Tren de Aragua members, and trap President Trump in years of litigation," he said, adding the move directly betrayed the will of the people who ousted liberal Democrats from power the prior election."

The most disturbing part, Biden's ‘Senior Advisors’ recommended "he create 2.1 million NEW TPS designees in the last few weeks of his presidency, despite admitting TPS applications take 6 months," Schmitt added. "Luckily, that never happened and we have been deporting Ecuadorians and Guatemalans."

Schmitt noted that one week after the January 2025 memo which he said was erroneously dated 2024, Biden extended TPS protections for nearly 1 million noncitizens meaning its transmission still led to a concrete mass migration action. Because when the American people demand an end to the scam, if you're on the left, you simply ignore them and stamp another million temporary forever statuses just for good measure.

The memo reminded Biden he gave TPS protections to Afghans, Cameroonians ,Ethiopians, people from Burma, Lebanese, Ukrainians, and Venezuelan, nationals and repeatedly extended protections for Haitians. Apparently temporary means until the next Democrat is ready to extend it again.

"The previous Administration unsuccessfully attempted to terminate TPS designations for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, El Salvador, Nepal, and Honduras. Courts issued preliminary injunctions blocking the Trump Administration's actions," it read. "Your administration took actions to resolve this litigation by either re-designating Haiti or rescinding the terminations."

The memo noted that Trump had said during the 2024 campaign he intended to revoke TPS protections for Haitians and predicted his incoming administration would likely seek to rescind additional TPS designations. How dare Trump try to enforce the temporary part of Temporary Protected Status.

A chart in the memo estimated potential new TPS eligibility for roughly 1.5 million Guatemalans 600,000 Ecuadorians 464,000 Nicaraguans 455,000 Venezuelans and smaller populations from Ukraine Sudan and Afghanistan figures Schmitt said totaled more than 3.1 million people. Just a modest little expansion of the permanent temporary refugee program.

The memo said Biden’s senior team had also received requests for varying types of new TPS related actions before Trump would take office from Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard "Dick" Durbin (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Alex Padilla (D CA).

"In addition, some stakeholders are requesting that your Administration designate nationals from new countries, most notably Ecuador and Guatemala, for TPS," it stated. While the proposals outlined in the memo were never fully implemented the document offers a rare glimpse into the immigration options Biden advisers presented as Trump prepared to return to the White House promising mass deportations. 

In classic fashion the outgoing team nearly succeeded in turning America into an even larger permanent refugee camp and then dared anyone to notice that temporary somehow always means forever. a shocking development that will stun only those who still believe the previous administration ever cared about borders or the word temporary.

Sen. Eric Schmitt obtained a document showing the Biden White House planned protections for Guatemalans, Ecuadorians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans in a final desperate bid to hand President Trump an even bigger immigration mess.

The Supreme Court delivered a significant victory to President Trump's immigration policies ruling 6 to 3 that the administration can terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Syrian migrants. A newly uncovered Biden White House memo from the administration's final days revealed plans that could have expanded Temporary Protected Status to more than 3 million noncitizens while acknowledging that previous court challenges had blocked many of President Donald Trump's efforts to end the protections.

TPS is meant for foreign populations experiencing crises like political unrest or natural disasters and while Trump has tried to end the temporary provisions for Haitians, Nepalese, Salvadorans, and Sudanese people lawsuits from pro migrant advocates have halted most attempts. Because nothing says temporary quite like inviting the entire third world to move in forever and then suing anyone who notices.

Corruption much?

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Attacker yells something like "Al Lou's Snackbar" stabs a Jew and Asian in NYC's upper West Side

Lincoln Square Synagogue

Two men, one of whom was visibly Jewish, were stabbed outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan's West Side.

The NYPD's initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor, or perhaps another case of anti-Semitism catching on among the fashionable Left. To their credit, investigators are also evaluating the stabbings as a potential hate crime, a refreshing change from pretending every attack on Jews is just an unfortunate coincidence.

The Lincoln Square Synagogue at 200 Amsterdam Avenue on the corner of West 69th Street in Manhattan's Lincoln Square neighborhood has stood since 1970, designed by Hausman & Rosenberg. On Thursday, it became the latest reminder that New York's promises of tolerance seem to apply to everyone except Jews.

Eyewitnesses allege that the suspect shouted something that sounded sort of like "Al Lou's Snack bar" during the attack, according to the Anti-Defamation League in a post on X.

Police said a 57 year old man was stabbed in the back, while a 50 year old man was stabbed in the chest because they are Jewish.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who coincidentally is also Jewish, announced that 51 year old Raul Morales had been arrested in connection with both attacks and that "no other people are being sought," in a post on X early Friday morning.

She added that one victim is Asian and the other is Jewish, and that the NYPD is investigating whether the attacks qualify as a hate crime.

At the same time, Tisch said the initial investigation suggested the attacker's mental health "may have been a factor," just like it is with all Muslims who believe that killing people for being Jewish is the right thing to do to please Allah. The thing is, if Allah has created the world and thus created the Jews, then how dies he call himself perfect? I certainly wouldn't hire Allah as a project manager, that's for sure.

"At this time there is no known link between Morales and either of the victims, nor between the victims and each other," she said.

That explanation has become almost routine whenever someone attacks Jews. The script practically writes itself. Mention mental health, avoid uncomfortable questions, and hope everyone moves on before anyone notices the growing pattern. Has nobody on the freaking left read the Islamic war manual they call the Koran?

New York Mayor and proud anti-Semite, comrade Zohran Mamdani responded on X, writing, "I have been briefed on today’s horrifying stabbings on the Upper West Side, where an Asian man and a Jewish man were attacked."

"According to witness and victim statements, the perpetrator yelled 'Allahu Akbar' during both attacks. I am relieved that both victims are in stable condition."

"The NYPD’s initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor. They are also evaluating these stabbings as potential hate crimes," he added, using taqiyya to keep things on the down-low.

That statement might carry more weight if New Yorkers had not spent months watching politicians and activists normalize anti-Israel rhetoric while insisting there was absolutely no connection between demonizing the Jewish state and rising hostility toward Jewish people. Apparently, the Left believes words have immense power, except when those words are directed at Jews.

Governor Kathy Hochul (D) also responded on X, saying she was "Disgusted by what appears to be another senseless attack on New Yorkers simply because they’re Jewish."

"The strength of New York has always been our ability to live together across every faith and background," she said, referring to the past.

Hochul pulled out an index card and read it: "Our hearts are also with the second victim. Asian New Yorkers, like Jewish New Yorkers, have endured waves of hate-fueled violence in recent years. Hate rarely stops with one group."

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, was considerably less diplomatic. He directly blamed jihadi Mayor Mamdani for fostering the climate that made such violence more likely.

In a post on X, Danon wrote, "Zohran Mamdani, your incitement is putting Jewish lives in danger in New York, home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel."

"You have spent months fueling hatred, demonizing Israel and legitimizing hostility toward Jews. Now take responsibility for the consequences," he added.

"Stop the incitement. Before more people get hurt."

Yeah, sure. Like Mamdani is going to actually stop anti-Semitic violence when his constituency is comprised of blue and pink-hair commies, socialists, and brother Islamists who now accept anti-Semitic rhetoric as cocktail conversation.

Whether investigators ultimately conclude the attack was driven by mental illness, anti-Semitism, or both, one fact remains impossible to ignore. Jewish New Yorkers continue to find themselves targeted with alarming frequency, while too many public officials seem more comfortable explaining away the violence than confronting the toxic ideology that keeps producing it.

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Socialist NYC Mayor Celebrates Tax On Rich People's Second Homes As City Braces For More Empty Buildings And Unemployed Doormen

In a development that surprised only those who sleep through city council meetings, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated the Kathy Hochul backed levy on second homes worth more than $5M and immediately reminded everyone why no one should ever hand a socialist the keys to the tax code.

New York City mayor comrade Zohran Mamdani is facing heat on social media after his post celebrating the state’s new pied-à-terre tax on New Yorkers with a second home."If you have a second home in New York City worth more than $5 million, check your mailbox when you’re back in the five boroughs, because you've got mail," Mamdani posted on X, touting the tax on specific second properties introduced by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul that he supported going into effect soon.

"Today, we sent notification letters to property owners, letting them know that our new pied-à-terre tax is coming soon," the anti-Semitic comrade continued. "The best city in the world deserves the best parks, libraries, and schools in the world. That's only possible when we all pay our fair share."

As of Friday morning, Mamdani’s post had been viewed over 10 million times and conservatives on social media blasted the mayor and warned that the exodus of wealthy New Yorkers will only continue under this new plan.

Here are just some of the comments posted on X:

"Never elect a politician who: (1) sees your money as his slush fund, (2) loves Karl Marx, or (3) uses French words like ‘pied-à-terre’ to disguise new, confiscatory taxes he wants to impose to redistribute wealth," Republican Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).

"Socialism - Florida’s best real estate agent," Republican Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL).

"NYC’s pied-à-terre tax hasn’t even started and brokers already say owners are calling to sell," GOP strategist and attorney Mehek Cooke posted. Apparently, owners who can afford a luxury pied-à-terre are smart enough to get out of the cauldron on the stove before it starts to boil.

"Empty units don’t tip [doormen] or pay supers. You’re not taxing the rich. You’re firing the working class that depended on them." Communists are too busy virtue signaling to realize this fact.

"More incitement," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton posted. "Communist @NYCMayor celebrates a confiscatory tax targeted at a select few."

"What will the excuse be when literally nothing improves after all these tax increases?" New York City Republican Councilwoman Vickie Paladino posted. "Will they just demand even more, or will they tell us to ignore our own eyes as they insist they’ve actually fixed everything? Both? "

"The condescension towards the people who already pay a ton of property taxes to NYC," Washington Free Beacon investigative reporter Chuck Ross posted.

Critics, including billionaire Ken Griffin whose luxury New York City home was featured in Mamdani's controversial video announcing the tax, argue the tax will only drive more wealthy New Yorkers out of the state and bring jobs and investments with them.

And while comrade Mamdani is a communist cum jihadi, he loves himself some capitalism, as does his family, in spite of their spouting the opposite.

Mahmood Mamdani, the father of Zohran, is a Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and a professor of political science where he preaches communist ideas, anthropology, and African studies at Columbia University. He makes somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000; probably more.

Mira Nair, his mommy, is an independent filmmaker, director and producer and while she doesn't receive a fixed salary, her income from directing and producing fees, royalties, residuals, grants and her production company (Mirabai Films) rakes in a lot of capital, bringing he capital estimated to be between $20-$40 million or more. While this is unverified, it's likely quite a reasonable estimate. In addition, she and her professor hubby own a 5-bedroom, four-bathroom villa on two acres in the tony Buziga Hill neighborhood and for the past 8 years have rented it out as an Airbnb for roughly $330-$350 per night.

Zohran Mamdani publicly acknowledged that he lived in a rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, Queens with his semi-ordinary wife in a one-bedroom apartment.

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Obama Center Finally Delivers on Promise of Transformative Change by Bankrupting Local Plumber and Firing His Union Crew

In a stunning display of hope and change that somehow skipped over the people who actually built the thing, a Chicago plumbing subcontractor has suspended operations and laid off 25 union workers after getting stiffed for nearly $4 million on the Obama Presidential Center.

Adamson Plumbing owner Mike Owen says his company suspended operations, laid off 25 union workers amid a nearly $4 million payment dispute tied to the Obama Presidential Center.

Weeks after the Obama Presidential Center’s star-studded opening in Chicago, a subcontractor who previously claimed his company was stiffed for nearly $4 million has shut down operations and laid off 25 union workers. Mike Owen, the owner of Chicago-based Adamson Plumbing Contractors, told Fox News Digital that the financial fallout forced the company to abandon about half a dozen other construction jobs and left it on the verge of collapse.

Owen described the shutdown as a painful decision he believed was necessary to save the company from bankruptcy. "Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in our industry wants to do," he said. "It’s a hard thing to do, especially when you know you can finish them and the company can still make money. But we were put in a pretty bad corner."

Adamson, which performed its work on the center under the name Marsh-Adamson, has since filed a $1.72 million mechanic’s lien against the property, escalating the payment dispute into a legal fight.The company is one of several subcontractors to report financial trouble after working on the center, which was promoted as a transformative economic opportunity for small and minority-owned businesses.

A previous investigation by Fox News Digital identified several subcontractors including Black-owned firms the project was specifically intended to support that said they were owed money or had absorbed losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions. The largest dispute involves the Concrete Collective, which is seeking more than $40 million in additional payment.

Before the center opened, Owen said the project had left his company with $3.9 million in losses tied to delays, rework, labor overruns and changing project demands. He said he spent months negotiating with Lakeside Alliance, the project’s construction manager, before going public after failing to reach a resolution. Against the backdrop of that larger dispute, Owen said the breaking point came around the time of the Obama Presidential Center’s opening celebration.

Owen said Adamson and Lakeside Alliance reached an agreement under which Adamson would provide two journeyman plumbers to perform last-minute "housekeeping" work on campus at premium nighttime rates. In return, Owen said, Adamson was supposed to receive part of its outstanding payment days before the center opened on June 19.

An email shows a Lakeside representative telling Owen that $100,000 would be released through Adamson’s May payment application. Adamson completed the requested work, but the payment did not arrive on time, according to Owen, who said it was the company's breaking point and left him with no choice but to suspend operations on June 25.

"We negotiated it in good faith," he said. "Against my better judgment, I agreed [to do the work]. Not getting that large sum of money just kind of pulled the brakes on the train. It was just the final death blow to the company," he added.

"Rather than try to stretch it out and go bankrupt, I just decided the responsible thing was to shut it down. We’ll regroup, and we’ll see where we’re at come September." Owen said that the promised $100,000 retainage payment and around $35,000 for change orders payments have since arrived from Lakeside Alliance more than two weeks after he suspended operations and laid off 25 workers. Owen said the money helped reduce the company’s debt to one supplier but did not reverse the shutdown."It’s almost like too little, too late."

"It probably would have just prolonged the inevitable at this point," he said. "We’re still deep in the hole of what they owe us." Owen said Adamson has now moved out of its building and that he is working from home while turning the dispute over to his attorneys and determining whether the company has a future.

Owen has escalated his nearly $4 million payment fight.Documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show that Marsh-Adamson filed a $1.72 million mechanic’s lien against the Obama Presidential Center property, alleging it remains owed money for plumbing work performed on campus.

A mechanic’s lien is a legal claim filed against a property by a contractor or supplier alleging that it has not been fully paid for completed work. The lien is considerably lower than the approximately $3.9 million Owen says Adamson lost over the course of the project. Owen said the lien covers the amounts he believes are most readily documented, including unpaid fees, logged change orders and labor overruns supported by company records. "It doesn’t mean that I’m not going to pursue the $3.9 million in change that we lost overall," Owen said. "I’m still working with my legal team on that $3.9 million figure because I feel that it’s only right that we still hold ownership at the presidential center accountable."

Owen said he had initially avoided filing a lawsuit or lien while attempting to negotiate a resolution."I’m not a litigious person, but at the same time, our legal system is there to protect the small guy," he said. "I’m just going to have to fight this out legally from here on out, and these aren’t cheap costs."

Last week’s payment will be deducted from the $1.72 million, he said. Lakeside Alliance, a joint venture led by Turner Construction and four Black-owned Chicago construction firms, served as the project’s construction manager. The other firms are UJAMAA Construction, Powers & Sons Construction, Brown & Momen and Safeway Construction.In a previous statement, Lakeside said approximately 475 contractors worked on the center.

In its latest response, the alliance pointed to the project’s scale and said "contractual closeout continues long after the doors have opened" on major projects of such complexity." Lakeside Alliance remains committed to working through all outstanding matters to successfully close out the project," a spokesperson said.

Lakeside Alliance did not directly address Owen’s allegations, the layoffs or the $1.72 million lien. The Obama Foundation, former President Barack Obama’s private nonprofit organization that oversees the construction, said Lakeside was responsible for managing and paying subcontractors and that the foundation had no outstanding disputed charges with the alliance.

While it did not directly address Adamson’s allegations, the foundation said its financial support for firms working on the project exceeded industry standards. "Our commitment began with a 15-day payment cycle, which is largely unheard of in major construction projects," the foundation said in a statement, adding that it sometimes accelerated payment timelines or advanced payments months before work was completed.

The center has also faced scrutiny over its soaring price tag and promised taxpayer protections. Construction costs, initially projected at approximately $350 million, had climbed to $830 million by 2021 and have since reportedly surpassed $1 billion.Meanwhile, just $1 million has been deposited into a promised $470 million reserve intended to protect Chicago taxpayers if the center encounters financial trouble.

Those questions have drawn added scrutiny because the Obama Foundation secured the 19.3-acre Jackson Park site through a 99-year lease requiring a one-time $10 payment. Owen said the ordeal has left him financially and emotionally drained and uncertain whether he will ever restart Adamson Plumbing.

"This entire process really drained me out financially and emotionally," Owen said. "So that’s where I’m at — just kind of in a holding pattern." Owen said the opening ceremony which featured performances by Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, John Legend and U2’s Bono and The Edge, among others only sharpened his anger. Against that celebratory backdrop, he said, the struggles of the workers who built the center went largely unrecognized.

Owen argued that Chicago’s proud protest culture had been conspicuously absent and that the reaction would have been markedly different if the project were associated with figures such as Elon Musk or Ken Griffin, the Chicago billionaire whose name adorns the neighboring Griffin Museum of Science and Industry."There would be holy hell to pay," Owen said. "They would be picketing. They would be storming the castle."

Owen also singled out Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, questioning why the pro-union governor had not addressed the layoffs or payment disputes. "But he hasn’t said anything publicly about the union companies at the presidential center getting stiffed," Owen said. "And it bothers me."

Owen said he was not accusing former President Barack Obama of personal responsibility but believes the foundation should publicly acknowledge the subcontractors’ complaints and help seek a resolution. "It’s become perfectly obvious to me that the ownership group there — they truthfully just don’t care," he said. "I don’t know any other way to say it." Owen said contractors had held out hope that their disputes would be resolved once construction ended. "But I think a lot of us out there, the main subcontractors, all still had this feeling that it was going to be worked out in the end — until it wasn’t," he said.

Now, with Adamson’s future uncertain, Owen said the project has left him facing a personal turn he never saw coming."I mean, the only leverage I have now is just to continue speaking out and see where it goes," he said. "But my career, it’s funny, I’m going to have to go find a job, which is fine. It’s just that I did not anticipate the completion of this project would take this turn."

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Israel Announces Plan To Surround Hamas Prisoners With Crocodiles In What Experts Call The Most Humane Form Of Deterrence Yet

Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman reclassified crocodiles from wild animals to “cultivated wild animals,” opening the door for them to be used to guard the country’s prisons holding Hamas operatives, a decision that has already sent progressive animal rights activists into a frenzy of pearl clutching over the welfare of the reptiles rather than the terrorists.

The regulation implemented Wednesday allowed crocodiles to be bred by government officials as long as they are held “in conditions determined by the [Nature and Parks Authority] director, to prevent their interference with nature,” the Times of Israel reported.

Finally, a government agency doing something useful with the environment instead of just lecturing people about plastic straws. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who pitched the idea last year, celebrated the change online.

“Ministers Ben-Gvir and Silman are collaborating and surrounding the prisons with crocodiles!” Ben-Gvir posted on Facebook Thursday, adding an AI-generated image of himself with a pet crocodile and the caption, “You filthy terrorist, thinking about making a run for it? Think twice.”

Ben-Gvir and Silman have taken inspiration from Trump’s “Alligator Alcatraz” that used the Everglades’s natural alligator population to deter its inmates from escaping, according to NewsNation. Because nothing says justice like borrowing a page from the most successful border security innovator in recent history.

Ben-Gvir hopes that Nile crocodiles will be placed at Ketziot Prison, which hosts many prisoners from Hamas. Nile crocodiles are one of the most dangerous animals in the world, the other is jihad.

SeaWorld notes that Nile crocodiles can grow up to 20 feet long, half the length of a typical school bus, and can weigh over 1,500 pounds. Not only do Nile crocodiles prey on hippos, zebras, or wildebeest, and they are one of the only known reptile species to actively hunt humans. In other words, the perfect match for a group that has demonstrated a similar enthusiasm for hunting humans.

Neta Drori, the Environmental Protection Ministry’s legal adviser, wrote to Silman in June that there is no known precedent of using crocodiles to protect prisons, and noted that crocodile breeding in the past has led to the animals escaping and terrorizing local populations. As if the real terror were the crocodiles and not the people they would be guarding.

“With regard to the use in the United States, it was noted that this was a short-lived trial that was discontinued. It apparently took place in an area where crocodiles already occur in the wild, and there is therefore no basis for comparison,” Drori wrote. “Although Prison Service officials said they are aware of and prepared to ensure the animals’ physical welfare, among other things based on their experience with dogs, the organization apparently has no expertise in raising dangerous wild animals such as crocodiles,” Drori added, concluding that despite the reclassification of the crocodile, Israeli law requires legislative approval of the decision to add crocodiles to the country’s prisons.

Silman has rejected Drori’s opinion, citing testimony from senior officials that the bureaucratic framework allows her and Ben-Gvir to implement the crocodile plan. A rare moment of government officials actually cutting through red tape to do something effective.

The Nature and Parks Authority is expected to meet soon and discuss the legality of Silman and Ben-Gvir’s plan. “The minister is acting contrary to her own legal adviser, contrary to the legal opinion of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, contrary to the authority’s plenum, and contrary to the law. In other words, there is no legal basis for this,” an official told the Jerusalem Post.

Sources confirm the official then returned to worrying about the emotional trauma the crocodiles might experience while staring down hardened terrorists, however they also agree that Middle East food is delicious.

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