Raw Story

A Philadelphia journalist was found shot multiple times in his home early after 911 calls reported gunshots and screams, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Josh Kruger had been shot multiple times and collapsed in the street outside his home. He later died after being rushed to the hospital. Police say someone entered Kruger's home and shot him at the base of the stairs, before fleeing.

No arrests had been made as of Monday morning and police still don't know a motive. There were no signs of forced entry, they said.

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“Either the door was open, or the offender knew how to get the door open,” police said, according to the Inquirer. “We just don’t know yet.”

Kruger had posted on Facebook about two weeks ago that someone came to his house searching for their boyfriend — “a man I’ve never met once in my entire life" -- and threatened him. According to his post, the person called themselves “Lady Diabla, the She-Devil of the Streets.”

READ MORE: Mike Lindell's vote fraud gizmo could send 'enraged partisans' marching on election offices: report

Kruger's freelance journalism covered the city's most vulnerable residents, including the homeless, people in addiction, and LGBTQ community, the Inquirer reported.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The United Auto Workers expanded its strikes against Ford and General Motors on Friday, calling on nearly 7,000 additional members in Michigan and Illinois to walk off the job as the union looks to ramp up pressure on the companies to deliver stronger wage and benefit proposals.

The union opted not to expand its walkouts against Chrysler parent company Stellantis, citing progress in recent bargaining sessions on cost-of-living adjustments, the right to strike over plant closures, and other issues.

"Sadly, despite our willingness to bargain, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress at the table," UAW president Shawn Fain said in a video update posted to social media on Friday. "To be clear, negotiations haven't broke down. We're still talking with all three companies, and I'm still very hopeful that we can reach a deal that reflects the incredible sacrifices and contributions our members have made over the last decade."

"But I also know that what we win at the bargaining table depends on the power we build on the job," said Fain. "It's time to use that power."

Friday's walkouts brought the total number of UAW members on strike at the Big Three U.S. car manufacturers to roughly 25,000—nearly double the number of workers who walked off the job on the first day of the strikes two weeks ago.

Survey data released earlier this week showed public support for the strikes has grown since their launch earlier this month. Last week, UAW members walked out at every General Motors and Stellantis parts distribution facility in the U.S.

As part of its "stand-up strike" strategy, the UAW is expected to continue steadily expanding its walkouts at strategic locations throughout the country in an effort to give negotiators more leverage to pursue the union's demands at the bargaining table.

"We will not be intimidated into backing down by the companies or scabs," Fain said Friday. "Our cause is just. Striking for a better future, to protect our communities, and to defeat corporate greed is not just our right, it's our duty."

"We will win. Our strategy is working," said Fain. "Our solidarity is the most powerful force in the world. When we stand together, united in the cause of social and economic justice, there's nothing we can't do."

Chris Christie keeps trying to make his "Donald Duck" nickname stick to Donald Trump.

The former New Jersey governor slapped that sobriquet on the ex-president Wednesday at the second Republican presidential debate, which the GOP front-runner skipped –or ducked, as Christie said by way of explaining the nickname.

“If you keep doing that, no one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore," Christie said. "They’re going to call you Donald Duck.”

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The joke landed with a thud, but Christie tried to make the name stick by posting a meme of Donald Duck with Trump's distinctive hair and styling Friday.

— (@)

His joke met with scorn and ridicule on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, where users responded with a slew of unflattering photos mocking Christie's weight.

"This is beneath you," said X user "Jeff," @Football_expert.

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"Christie calling Trump 'Donald Duck' is so hilariously old-timey," said comic writer Marc Deschamps. "You’re making a reference to a 100-year-old cartoon character when 'Donald Chump' was RIGHT THERE. Amazing."

"The best KFChris McChristie could come up with was Donald Duck," said the Old School Republicans account. "I don’t think an aide thought it up, it’s so dumb that it could only come from the mind of the most unpopular Governor in the history of the United States."

A Proud Boys member who served as the far-right group’s “tool” during the Jan. 6, 2021, attempted insurrection and then disappeared after he was convicted has reportedly been found and arrested again.

In May, Christopher Worrell, of Naples, Florida, was convicted of assaulting police and rioting, among other charges. Worrell was found guilty after a five-day bench trial.

His sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 18, but he later disappeared, according to reports.

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The defendant has now been located, according to Naples Daily News.

"Naples resident Christopher Worrell, convicted for his part in Jan. 6 Capitol riot, has been arrested at his home by the FBI, a Collier County Sheriff's Office spokesperson confirmed Thursday night," the outlet reported. "The sheriff's office assisted the FBI with the warrant. When it was served, Worrell was home."

According to the Thursday article:

"Worrell, a member of the Proud Boys extremist group, went missing in August just as he was about to face sentencing for multiple crimes he committed during the riot. He was found guilty in May. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence that includes 14 years in prison, fines and other conditions."

The report continues:

"Among other violations, Worrell was accused of assaulting law enforcement officers with pepper spray."

You can read it here.

Donald Trump Thursday night took a swipe at Fox News and the GOP debates, calling on an end to the primary and on those in the media to "stop with the bad debates and negative ads."

Trump on Thursday suggested that some of the GOP candidates did better than others at the recent Republican debate, even giving a report card for his rivals.

After that, he called for an end to the debates altogether.

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Trump, who has skipped the first two debates and said he plans to avoid them all, had this to say late Thursday.

"The second Republican Primary Debate on FoxNews had the Lowest Viewership since 2016. Their overall Ratings are down 30%," he added. "FOX NEEDS MAGA, THEY JUST DON’T KNOW IT YET. STOP WITH THE BAD DEBATES & NEGATIVE ADS, NO MORE. GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! DJT."

A group of youth climate activists occupied House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's office in Washington, D.C. on Thursday to condemn the Republican leader and his caucus for pushing the U.S. government to the brink of a destructive shutdown as they demand draconian cuts to food aid, housing assistance, and environmental programs.

"We are fed up and we won't take it anymore," said Adah Crandall a 17-year-old Sunrise Movement organizer who joined a number of other climate activists inside McCarthy's (R-Calif.) office. "As storms rage stronger, fires grow hotter, and heatwaves grow more deadly, Kevin McCarthy is playing political games with our futures. We're facing a climate emergency and McCarthy can't even do his job."

The Sunrise Movement said around 150 students from across the nation traveled to Capitol Hill Thursday to take part in the protest, which comes just two days before the federal government is set to shut down.

Eighteen youth activists were arrested outside of McCarthy's office during the demonstration, according to the climate group.

Earlier Thursday, the Biden administration began notifying government employees that they could soon be temporarily furloughed after McCarthy rejected a bipartisan short-term funding proposal put forth in the U.S. Senate this week.

"Speaker McCarthy is a coward," Shiva Rajbhandari, a 19-year-old Sunrise Movement organizer. "McCarthy and Republicans can either do their jobs, act on the climate crisis, and fund our schools, or they can risk our economy to appease a few extremists. Our generation is watching and we will hold them accountable for their actions."

The impacts of a shutdown on critical government functions and programs—and the overall U.S. economy—could be massive.

"With each passing day, Washington would further deplete federal safety net programs that carry over their unused money from past years," The Washington Post's Tony Romm reported earlier this week. "Eventually, the government might not be able to provide some poor families with childcare, nutrition assistance, housing vouchers, or college financial aid. The longer a shutdown persists, the greater the blow it could ultimately deliver to an economy that has teetered for more than a year on the precipice of recession."

Food & Water Action warned Thursday that "in the event of a shutdown, serious and specific threats to food and water safety could immediately arise," noting that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulators "could be forced to suspend critical safety inspections at drinking water sources, hazardous Superfund waste sites, and chemical facilities."

Additionally, the group noted, the EPA "would be forced to shut down the $15 billion project to replace dangerous lead water pipes throughout the country, putting impacted families at continued risk."

"By driving this country to the brink of a shutdown, congressional Republicans are proving once again, in stark relief, that they simply don't care about the health and well-being of the American people," said Mitch Jones, deputy director of Food & Water Action. "Nowhere is this more obvious than in their willingness to shut down critical food and water safety inspections that occur every day across the country."

"Rather than working with Democrats to responsibly fund the government, Speaker McCarthy and his slim majority are catering to the most extreme right-wing members in an already extreme caucus," Jones added. "House Republicans should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves, and they must be shown the door in 2024."