INTERNACIONAL
Mace delivers blistering impact statement, shakes hand of trans threat suspect’s father after bond is denied
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., praised a South Carolina judge Friday after bond was denied for the 19-year-old transgender activist accused of threatening to assassinate her. She also shook the hand of the suspect’s father.
Samuel Theodore Cain, who identifies as transgender and uses the name «Roxie Wolfe» online, was arrested May 15 by state agents for allegedly posting graphic threats targeting Mace and her children. Cain remains in custody, and a trial date has not been set.
The judge cited the seriousness of the threats during a hearing.
«Mr. Cain, I do believe that you are a credible threat, and I’m going to put you in on a no bond,» the judge said. «The only condition bond I’m going to put on you right now is no contact with the victim.»
EXCLUSIVE: NANCY MACE UNLOADS AFTER ARREST OF TRANS ACTIVIST WHO ALLEGEDLY THREATENED TO ‘ASSASSINATE’ HER
Samuel Theodore Cain is escorted by a prison guard at the Greenville County Detention Center in Greenville, S.C., Friday, May 16, 2025. (WHNS)
Mace flew in from Washington, D.C., to deliver a victim impact statement in court Friday morning and speak to reporters afterward.
«I come before you today not just as a victim, but as a sitting member of the United States House of Representatives who has been the target of a direct and credible threat on her life,» she told the judge.
She described how the threats forced her to change her routine, seek shelter and request increased law enforcement patrols for her home and congressional offices.
«This meant I was vulnerable. My staff was vulnerable. And my children were vulnerable,» she said. «Threats like these are acts of terror meant to shake the foundations of democracy.»
REP. NANCY MACE’S ALLEGED ATTACKER PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO INCIDENT ON CAPITOL GROUNDS
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., right, thanks the father of Samuel Cain after he apologized to her for Samuel’s actions before a bond hearing at the Greenville County Magistrate’s Court in Greenville, S.C., May 16, 2025. (Ken Ruinard/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Outside the courthouse, Mace reflected on Friday’s bond hearing and finally seeing Cain in person.
«My first thought was, he’s huge,» she said. «This guy was well over 6 feet, over 200 pounds. I’m 5-foot-6, 115 pounds. He’s twice my size. It was scary.
«As a mom, this was heartbreaking. All I could think about was his family. And my kids. My kids live in fear about being murdered.»
She said she was surprised but thankful for the judge’s ruling.
«I’ve seen how women are treated in this state. I hope this gives women hope,» she said. «If there’s a mentally ill man coming after us, we need to stand up for our rights. That’s what I saw the judge do today.»
After the hearing, Mace approached Cain’s family and shook the hand of his father.
«I shook the hand of a father whose son threatened to kill me, not out of forgiveness, but out of grace,» she later posted on X. «Strength is about standing your ground and we can be humble with humanity.»
«I want to thank Samuel Cain’s family,» she said during her remarks for the media. «Their humility meant a lot to me. As a mom, it meant something to see them show up. We’re all human. But threats like this have to come with consequences.»
Mace said the threats were discovered by Capitol Police and were serious enough that her staff and law enforcement begged her to get to a safe location.
«This was serious. Nobody knew where he was,» she said. «Law enforcement told me to go inside immediately. That’s how real it was.»
She described the toll the threats have taken on her daily life.
Rep. Nancy Mace (Getty Images)
«I face threats every day. This is the second person this year. But I receive death threats from trans activists and trans people every single day. And not a single U.S. attorney in the state of South Carolina or anywhere in the country has taken them seriously.»
She warned that continued inaction could be deadly.
«One day, someone’s going to pull the trigger. Someone’s going to get a bullet. Someone’s going to die.»
She also highlighted a broader pattern of violence and called out what she sees as a lack of accountability from Democrats.
«This case isn’t just about one man’s threats. It’s about a culture that tolerates violence against elected officials, especially women who speak up,» Mace said. «We do not accept terror. The normalization of threats against public servants corrodes democracy from within.
«Not one Democrat has spoken up to say it’s wrong,» she added. «Only Democrats blame the victim.»
On social media, Mace shared a photo of Cain in an orange jumpsuit.
«This is not Roxie Wolfe, this is not a woman, and threatening my life is not a joke. Look at his smirk,» she posted.
Mace ended her statement in court with a final plea for justice.
«I pray this young man finds God, who alone can change hearts of stone into hearts of flesh,» she said. «Letting him walk away sends the message that threatening to kill a member of Congress is just another day without consequence. It is not. It is criminal. And it must be treated as such.»
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Rep. Mace’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Crime,Politics,South Carolina,In Court,Police and Law Enforcement
INTERNACIONAL
US assets in Middle East positioned for ‘highly kinetic’ war, ex-Pentagon official warns
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The U.S. is in position for a «highly kinetic» campaign against Iran after launching one of its largest recent military buildups in the Middle East, a former senior Pentagon official has claimed.
Dana Stroul, now research director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, made the assessment Sunday as Washington and Tehran prepare for a second round of indirect nuclear talks in Oman.
«The US military is ready for a sustained, highly kinetic campaign should President Trump order it, and also prepared to defend allies and partners in the Middle East from Iran’s missiles,» Stroul told Fox News Digital.
«The US military can rapidly reposition assets from all over the world and deploy overwhelmingly lethal force in a short period of time to one theater,» she said before highlighting how there is «no ally or enemy capable of what we have seen from the US in this current buildup.»
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S IRAN BUILDUP MIRRORS 2003 IRAQ WAR SCALE AS TENSIONS ESCALATE
The world’s largest warship, U.S. aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, on its way out of the Oslofjord at Nesodden and Bygdoy, Norway, September 17, 2025. (NTB/Lise Aserud via Reuters)
Describing how the current posture differs from the June 2025 strikes on Iranian-linked nuclear targets, Stroul said the U.S. has expanded its offensive and defensive capabilities.
«Two US aircraft carriers and their accompanying vessels and air wings were stationed in the Middle East last summer during the 12-day war and the US operation Midnight Hammer,» she explained.
«The addition of the Ford is really important, it expands US offensive capabilities if we go to war with Iran,» she said.
While in June 2025, the US carried out limited but highly targeted strikes against Iranian nuclear infrastructure to degrade key facilities without triggering a regional war, now, Stroul said the force posture is broader and more sustained.
The US has also «increased the number of guided-missile destroyers, fighter aircraft, refuelers, and air defense systems» in the region, she explained.
TRUMP SAYS IRAN HAS 15 DAYS TO REACH A DEAL OR FACE ‘UNFORTUNATE’ OUTCOME
An F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41, prepares to make an arrested landing on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 10, 2024. (U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Daniel Kimmelman/Reuters)
The deployment of aircraft carriers such as the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln has assumed heightened strategic importance.
The USS Gerald R. Ford was recently tracked transiting the Strait of Gibraltar eastward, while the USS Abraham Lincoln is operating in the Arabian Sea.
«They will both be in the Middle East CENTCOM theater,» Stroul explained before clarifying that there could be «one in the eastern Mediterranean and the other in the Arabian Gulf.»
«There would probably be a combination of reasons for that based on availability, readiness, proximity to the Middle East.
«The Ford was heading home and directed to turn around,» she added.
While the specific destinations of the carriers have not been publicly disclosed for operational security reasons, their presence alone signals escalatory leverage and deterrence.
WITKOFF WARNS IRAN IS ‘A WEEK AWAY’ FROM ‘BOMB-MAKING MATERIAL’ AS TRUMP WEIGHS ACTION
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi, US President Donald Trump’s Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff and U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner meet ahead of the US-Iran talks, in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on February 06, 2026. (f Oman, on FebruarOman Foreign Ministry/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The military buildup comes as indirect diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran continue, with Oman once again serving as a mediator Feb. 26.
Stroul argued that Iran’s leadership is trying to balance brinkmanship with negotiation.
«Iran’s leaders are playing a weak hand by combining saber-rattling about their own capabilities, staging preparations and exercises to signal readiness,» she claimed.
«They are attempting to slow this down by pursuing negotiations. No one should be under any illusions about the reality of US dominance — Iran is completely outmatched in conventional terms,» Stroul said.
BUILT FOR WEEKS OF WAR: INSIDE THE FIREPOWER THE US HAS POSITIONED IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Armed NOPO special police units are on the scene as Iranians take to the streets in the downtown Enghelab (Revolution) Square in Tehran, Iran on June 24, 2025, to celebrate the ceasefire after a 12-day war with Israel. (NEGAR/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
«Israel dominated Iranian airspace in one day last year, targeted many of Iran’s security leaders, took out half of its missile arsenal, and the US significantly set back its nuclear program,» Stroul said.
Iran’s long-cultivated network of proxies across the region — including Hezbollah, Shiite militias in Iraq, and elements in Syria — has also been weakened after sustained Israeli military pressure.
«Iran’s long-cultivated network of proxies across the region is degraded after more than two years of Israeli operations, and they declined to enter the war and support Iran’s defense last summer,» Stroul explained.
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«No matter what Iran’s leaders say, Iran is not able to rebuild a decades-long project in a few months.»
«That said, the US military is in a position to execute whatever orders President Trump gives,» she said. «It is not a question of military readiness, but a political decision.»
iran,middle east,wars,donald trump,ali khamenei,pentagon defense,pentagon,us navy,military
La larga y sinuosa ruta de Christopher Beha desde un ateísmo bien fundamentado hasta una fe cristiana aún más cultivada comienza con una imagen poderosa: un ángel se le aparece. No es Clarence, el atolondrado amigo de Jimmy Stewart en ¡Qué bello es vivir!, sino una aparición exigente y persistente.
En su profunda reflexión sobre la fe y la filosofía, Why I Am Not an Atheist (Por qué no soy ateo), explica que el espíritu le dijo que confiara en Dios. “Esto no fue un sueño”, escribe sobre la primera visita, ocurrida a mediados de los años noventa, cuando tenía 15 años. “Estaba despierto —tan seguro de eso como de que ahora estoy despierto mientras escribo estas palabras— y una presencia aterradora se comunicaba conmigo”.
Las visitas continuaron durante años. Beha creció en una familia católica y amante de los libros en el Upper East Side de Nueva York, que lo envió a Princeton. Fue editor de Harper’s Magazine y es autor de cuatro libros anteriores, cuyos temas abarcan desde novelas sobre complicaciones emocionales hasta un repaso por los clásicos, mostrando así su versatilidad literaria.
Unos años después de que el imperioso querubín le indicara que debía acercarse a Dios, Beha comprendió que todo podía explicarse desde la ciencia. Había experimentado parálisis del sueño, un estado en el que permanecía despierto pero inmovilizado, acompañado de alucinaciones.
“Había sufrido un padecimiento físico bastante común y, en vez de buscar una causa racional, me refugié en la superstición”, escribe. “En realidad me había convencido de que Dios me enviaba un mensaje”.
Como alguien que también presenció algo inexplicable (una santa fallecida que abrió los ojos en una cripta en Italia), me resultaba más atractivo el Beha adolescente, colmado de asombro religioso. Pero al final del libro, regresa al ángel con una visión ampliada. Fue a la vez un milagro y algo real. “Sé lo que ‘causó’ esas visitas, desde un punto de vista material, pero también sé lo que provocaron después: un viaje de toda la vida en el que todavía sigo”.
Entre esos extremos se despliegan varios cientos de páginas que componen ese trayecto, casi todas centradas en los filósofos mayoritariamente ateos del canon occidental. No es una peregrinación tradicional, sino una odisea intelectual. Beha debate con los grandes maestros: Descartes, Kant, Locke, Mill, Hobbes, Camus, Nietzsche y muchos más, pero empieza cuestionando a los “nuevos ateos” como Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens y similares, a quienes considera ya superados.
Hace algunos años, el periodista Michael Kinsley describió el libro de Hitchens God Is Not Great con una frase memorable: “Hitchens es un ateo de aldea a la antigua, parado en la plaza tratando de discutir con los buenos ciudadanos que van camino a la iglesia”.
Beha no es de los que lanzan piedras ni busca peleas. Tiene una devoción casi obsesiva por las grandes mentes. Es el tipo de persona que habrías querido como compañero de habitación antes de la era de la inteligencia artificial. O tal vez no. Ha leído todo y hasta escribió una memoria al respecto, The Whole Five Feet, en la que narra el año que dedicó a leer los 51 volúmenes de los Harvard Classics. Solo mirar esa lista agota a la mayoría.
Él escaló esa montaña para que otros no tuvieran que hacerlo. Pero, a veces, en su nuevo libro se pierde en las nubes. Un ejemplo, al tratar a Immanuel Kant, el filósofo alemán: “Kant aquí invoca dos binarios que ya hemos discutido. El primero es el que existe entre la verdad a priori y a posteriori; el segundo, entre análisis y síntesis”.
Beha es sincero, honesto y resulta agradable en la página. Su historia personal resulta más interesante que la intelectual. Empezó a dudar de su fe a los 18 años, tras casi perder a su hermano gemelo en un accidente de auto. Sufrió depresión y un cáncer que puso su vida en riesgo, abusó del alcohol y las drogas. Fue ateo durante mucho tiempo.
El libro es una larga réplica a “Why I Am Not a Christian”, el célebre ensayo del polímata británico Bertrand Russell, quien calificaba la creencia en Dios como “una concepción indigna de hombres libres”. Russell fue una de las figuras que empujaron a Beha a años de escepticismo comprometido.
No le resultaba suficiente el agnosticismo tibio de los espiritualmente errantes, una condición que el comediante católico Stephen Colbert comparó alguna vez con ser “un ateo sin agallas”. Beha se entregó por completo.
El argumento de Russell es conciso, refuta cada una de las razones principales a favor de la fe. El de Beha no lo es. Descompone la visión atea en dos categorías y dedica la mayor parte del libro a detallarlas e incluso simpatizar con ellas. Una es el “materialismo científico”, que sostiene que solo existe el mundo material. La otra es el “idealismo romántico”, que él define como la creación de la propia realidad.
Durante sus largos años en el desierto de la incredulidad, Beha intentó encajar en alguna de esas narrativas, buscando “hacer significativa una vida sin Dios”.
Al final, el ateísmo le resultó insuficiente, igual que a algunos revolucionarios franceses que transformaron brevemente la catedral de Notre-Dame en el árido Templo de la Razón. La religión de la no-religión puede parecerse a la cerveza sin alcohol: ¿para qué?
Beha no pretende convencer a quienes ya han renunciado a Dios. Solo quiere explicar qué lo llevó a regresar a la fe de sus padres, “escuchando la voz susurrante en el alma”. No hay una conversión fulminante, ninguna luz cegadora. Más bien, su vida, a menudo miserable, mejora con la mujer adecuada, una confesión católica, la asistencia regular a misa. Y esa mujer —“ella era la razón por la que creía en Dios”— ni siquiera es creyente. Es episcopaliana no practicante.
Si Beha no logra necesariamente ganar su debate con Russell, al menos hay que reconocerle que cumple la exigencia de los seres conscientes: reflexionar a fondo sobre el misterio de lo que somos en un universo incognoscible.
“No creo que alguna vez vea las cosas con claridad; no en esta vida mortal”, concluye. “Lo mejor que podemos esperar es estar mirando en la dirección correcta, orientados del modo adecuado”.
Fuente: The New York Times
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