Remember this face. This is Sandra Birchmore in 2014, a young teenager in the Stoughton Police Explorers program. By then, under Massachusetts law, Matthew Farwell had already raped her in April 2013 when she was 15. His own text messages confirmed this fact.
This is the child Farwell’s defense attorney told jurors had an “affair” with him.
Grooming is about trust, manipulation, power and control. Sandra believed Farwell loved her. He exploited that belief to get what he wanted.
As the trial unfolds and we debate evidence, witnesses and rulings, remember this face.
It is not the face of a girl having an "affair." It is the face of a sexually exploited child. It's the face of thousands of children who are sexually exploited every day.
Last weekend a Ramsey County sheriff deputy showed up at my house because someone reported that my truck was hanging two feet out of my driveway.
Meanwhile, agitators still show up outside our church every Sunday to harass people and do illegal drugs on land ran by the Parks & Rec. The police do nothing. The sheriff department refuses to get involved.
We get the message. And we’re not going anywhere. We rejoice to be blessed of God.
9/11 feels different to me this year.
For the first time, I’m remembering that day as the mom of a United States servicemember.
I’ve always felt gratitude for the men and women who raise their right hand and promise to defend this country. But when it’s your own son who has taken that oath, those words carry a weight they never did before.
Today I’m thinking about the families who kissed someone goodbye on September 11, 2001, never knowing it would be the last time. I’m thinking about the servicemembers who answered the call in the days, months, and years that followed—and the families who watched them go.
And now, I understand just a little more about what it means to love someone who has volunteered to stand between home and whatever may threaten it.
I’m incredibly proud of Noah. And today, maybe a little more than usual, I’m aware of the sacrifice behind the uniform.
We remember. We honor. We never forget. 🇺🇸❤️🤍💙
September 10, 2025, changed America’s history forever.
One year ago, our founder, our leader, and our friend, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated while doing what he had devoted his life to: standing before young Americans and challenging them to think, to speak, and to have the courage to stand for what they believe.
There are no words that can adequately describe what this past year has been like.
We have had to learn how to carry on without the person who was at the center of everything we do. We have celebrated milestones that Charlie should have been here to celebrate. We have stood on stages where his voice should have been heard. We have watched his children grow without their father there to see it. And we have felt the weight of his absence in ways that never seem to get easier.
For the people who knew and loved Charlie, September 10 will never simply be an anniversary. It is the day our lives were changed forever.
Today, our hearts are especially with Erika, Charlie’s children, the Kirk family, and the countless people who loved him. No organization, movement, or mission can replace what was taken from them. We will never forget the unimaginable loss they continue to carry.
But we also remember Charlie for how he lived.
Charlie’s faith was at the center of who he was. He believed deeply in God and trusted that his life was guided by a meaningful purpose. Charlie’s faith in Christ was his armor, which no assassin could overcome. He believed in life everlasting, and it was this unshakable faith that gave him a courage that was impossible to miss. He was willing to walk into difficult rooms, have uncomfortable conversations, and stand firmly for what he believed because he wanted others to know the hope and truth he had in Jesus. Charlie died a martyr for Christ.
Charlie believed America was worth fighting for, that young people could change the course of a nation, and that speech would only remain free if exercised. Always leading by example, he was fearless in the pursuit of truth—no matter the cost. No one taught this generation how to fight the good fight better than Charlie Kirk.
Turning Point shares those beliefs and will never abandon them. Charlie never gave up, and neither will we. Turning Point will continue to grow and meet milestones that Charlie dreamed of.
Today, we are not focused on the chapter numbers, the headlines, or the accomplishments. Today, we remember an incredible patriot, a husband, a father, and a man whose faith gave him the courage to spend his life serving a purpose he believed was bigger than himself.
We miss him.
We grieve him.
And we will never forget him.
One year later, Turning Point remains committed to carrying forward the work Charlie began.
For Charlie. Always.
Couldn’t be more proud of Sam. The things he’s had to push through are more than most people could ever imagine, but he continues to show just how tough, resilient, and determined he is.
Tonight, he helped lead us to a win over the #2 team in the state. 5 TDs, 42-41. But as proud as we are of the win, we’re even more proud of the young man he continues to be through it all.
Yesterday wasn’t justice to celebrate. It was human suffering—and some of the reactions to it have been almost as difficult to witness as the testimony itself.
Lindsay Clancy doesn’t fit the image many people carry of what severe mental illness is supposed to look like.
She was young. Beautiful. Educated. A nurse. A wife and mother living what appeared to be a comfortable, upper-middle-class life.
And she sought help.
Perhaps that is precisely why this case makes some people so uncomfortable. Mental illness is easier to understand when the person suffering somehow looks like our idea of someone who should be mentally ill.
But severe psychiatric illness doesn’t care what your house looks like, what degree hangs on your wall, how beautiful you are or how much you love your children.
And if you found yourself feeling satisfaction yesterday as Lindsay sobbed while hearing graphic descriptions of her children’s deaths, I would gently ask you to examine why.
You do not have to believe she is legally innocent to have compassion for her.
You do not have to minimize the unimaginable loss of Cora, Dawson and Callan to recognize the suffering of their mother.
And you certainly don’t have to enjoy watching another human being psychologically collapse in order to believe in justice.
Compassion is not acquittal.
Mental illness is not a moral failure.
And another person’s suffering should never become our entertainment or a moment to relish in the agony.
If we truly want people to disclose frightening thoughts and seek help before tragedy occurs, we should think very carefully about what our behavior yesterday told the next terrified mother who is watching. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
#mentalillness #compassion #justiceisnttorture #lindsayclancytrial @kevinreddi35550
📌Commonwealth v Lindsay Clancy
THIS is what I mean when I keep talking about Lindsay Clancy’s medications.
Look at this timeline.
From September 2022 through January 2023, Lindsay was prescribed medication after medication antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, sleep medications, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers with doses being added, stopped, changed and increased by multiple providers.
Sertraline. Lorazepam. Hydroxyzine. Buspirone. Trazodone. Fluoxetine. Zolpidem. Mirtazapine. Clonazepam. Quetiapine. Diazepam. Lamotrigine. Amitriptyline.
And some of these changes happened only DAYS apart.
I’m not saying a medication list alone proves what happened to Lindsay mentally. It doesn’t.
But you cannot look at this history and pretend the medication management is irrelevant.
When someone is already desperately struggling with their mental health, the timing, combinations, dosage changes, side effects, discontinuations and communication between providers ALL matter.
This is why I want the WHOLE picture has to be presented to the jury not pieces of it. 🔶💙
I’ll admit it: by nature, defense attorneys often put me off. The courtroom gamesmanship, the aggressive questioning, the seeming attempt to make everyone responsible except the person sitting beside them—it can be difficult for me to watch.
Kevin Reddington is challenging that perception for me. His ability to ask tough questions, fiercely advocate for answers and gently lay his hand on her shoulder … I can almost hear him say “I know you’ve committed an evil act x’s three but I don’t see you as an evil person. I see you deserving of answers in what happened with you mentally.”
What I’m seeing in this trial isn’t an attorney pretending Lindsay Clancy’s actions weren’t horrific.
Three children are dead. Nothing changes that. Or even excuses that.
Instead, I see an attorney relentlessly digging for the WHY.
What happened to this woman?
What was happening inside her mind?
What help did she seek?
What did providers know?
What was documented—and what wasn’t?
Where were the gaps in communication, medication management, assessment and follow-up?
And what can this case expose about the gaping holes that still exist within our mental-health system?
Those questions don’t erase Cora, Dawson and Callan.
They don’t excuse what happened.
They matter because of what happened.
Perhaps that’s what has affected me so deeply about watching Reddington. He can stand firmly in the truth that something horrific occurred while refusing to accept that horrific is the end of the inquiry.
He isn’t asking us to look past Lindsay’s actions. He’s asking us to keep looking.
And maybe that’s where justice, accountability and compassion can occupy the same courtroom.
We can grieve those beautiful children and ask what happened to their mother. We can acknowledge the horror and examine the system. We can demand accountability and remain curious.
Because sometimes understanding the why isn’t about finding an excuse.
It’s about discovering what we might learn that could prevent another family from ever having a why like this one. #mentalhealth #lindsayclanceytrial @kevinreddi35550
This 16 minute Ted talk by Rachael Watters about her own experience with Postpartum Psychosis is such a good watch!
Might be helpful for some of the people watching the Lindsay Clancy trial to listen to someones who actually lived it. Someone who knows how lucky she is that her husband is a physician.
YouTube link in the comments 🫶🏻
"I began to lose touch with reality, but I didn’t tell my husband about the deeply disturbing thoughts I was having, because I was afraid that he would think that I was unsafe to be around the kids if I did."
"Remembering the next part of the story is like trying to recall pieces of a dream upon awakening. My husband and I were out for a run, and I suddenly stopped and turned to him and said, 'I have to go home right now and say goodbye to the kids.' My husband said, 'Why?' And I replied, 'Because I’m going to kill them.'"
"The symptoms may present in a waxing and waning fashion, which means that the woman can appear normal and lucid in between the psychotic symptoms. Postpartum psychosis is treatable. A treatment plan usually includes medications, sleep aids, short-term psychiatric hospitalization, and counseling.
The tragedy of postpartum psychosis is when women don’t share the true thoughts and images going through their minds because they fear the negative repercussions that may come from doing so. What if they take my kids away? What if they lock me up?"
"Insomnia. Sleep deprivation can cause a psychotic break, and there’s evidence to suggest that severe sleep deprivation may be a trigger for postpartum psychosis."