LBWaters009

Living in amazing times | Here for all of it | My son’s biggest fan | Working hard to have fun

[The Real Mike Rowe @mikeroweworks]

Not the way I planned on spending my afternoon, but 7,600 comments should not be ignored! Bots, trolls and personal attacks notwithstanding, the critics of yesterday’s post were dominated by a large and vocal contingent who rushed to remind me that there’s “a difference between socialism and communism,” an obvious indication that they didn’t actually read the post.

Shelley Armour writes… “Mike! You know there is a difference between democratic socialism and communism, right?”

Hi, Shelley. Yes, I know there’s a difference, and I understand what the difference is. The larger point, and the fundamental flaw with your comment, is that you seem to believe the candidates within the Democratic Socialist Party are both “democratic and socialist" simply because that’s the name of their club. Well, maybe some of them are. I really couldn’t say. What I can tell you for sure is that more than a few have called for the complete dismantling of capitalism, free markets, representative government, property rights, borders, police, prisons, and the Constitution in general. My post referred to them, as well as a number of elected Democrats who have agreed to campaign on their behalf – including Gavin Newsom, who said, "The Democratic Party must accept the DSA in order to take back the Congress.” His words, not mine.

Tracey Steele writes…“Wow! I cannot believe Mike Rowe said this. He has a huge reach, and he is actually spouting the word “communism” like it’s the 1950s! Wow Wow Wow!”

Wow indeed, Tracey, and thanks for noticing the size of my reach! (Contrary to popular belief, size does matter!) To say it again, I am not the one “spouting” communism or conflating socialists and communists. The word is being “spouted” by members of the DSA who are using it to describe themselves. I am not accusing them; I am quoting them.

John Engles… Hey Rowe, what’s the difference between the Communists who want to run the country and the Nazi/fascist who currently is?

Several differences, John, but the only one relevant to this conversation is the fact that the communists currently running for office have clearly identified themselves as such. They do not dispute or reject the label. They embrace it. It is who they are, who they claim to be, and who they want to be. The president, on the other hand, has never claimed to be a Nazi or a fascist. That doesn’t mean he isn't, but it is worth noting he has rejected the accusation outright. Obviously, you are entitled to that opinion and the right to share it publicly, thanks to our Constitution. Unlike in a fascist, Nazi, or communist regime. (Also worth noting, Nazis and fascists are not the same thing.)

Chris Tomaloff writes… “Kinda like how the political right didn’t shout down the extreme rhetoric coming from their candidates?”

No, Chris, not like that at all. In the video I shared, we saw examples of prominent Democrats saying things like, “We need to elect more communists!” (Cea Weaver, Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office.) Mamdani himself literally tweeted, "Each according to their need, each according to their ability." That’s a direct quote from the Communist Manifesto.

But what exactly is the corollary from the right? Are prominent Republicans tweeting, “We need to elect more Nazis! We need to elect more fascists! Eat the poor!” I don’t think so. John Engles may think Trump is fascist and a Nazi, but Trump disagrees, and so do a majority of voters. Communists, on the other hand, say it loud and say it proud. I’m inclined to take them at their word.

Beto Ojeda… “Mike has always leaned to the Trumpian view of things but never states it, so as not to alienate anyone, but we know how to read between the lines. This “communist” talk is McCarthyism 2.0.”

I wasn’t around in the 1950s, Beto, but from what I’ve read, it was indeed a very difficult time to be a communist in this country. Lots of private citizens were dragged before Congress, made to take “loyalty oaths," and blacklisted in their places of work. I can’t justify it or condone it, but I can explain it. We had just fought a hot war against fascism and Nazism and just begun a Cold War against a communist regime. The existence of an organized Communist Party in this country at such a time strained the limits of tolerance. But do you really think we’re less tolerant today than we were seventy-five years ago? Do you really believe my comments about communists who claim to be communists are synonymous with another Red Scare? If you haven’t noticed, Chris, no one in the DSA, including the communists, is being dragged before Congress and made to swear a loyalty oath to the Constitution. Today, a communist in America can run for office…with the endorsement of the governor of California! And the tacit approval of a major political party! Seems to me we’re about as far from McCarthyism as we can get.

As for my desire not to alienate anyone, I suppose I am guilty of that. I run a foundation that is open to people of all political beliefs, and we’ve assisted lots of Americans who lean to the left. I also know for a fact that many Democrats have supported mikeroweWORKS historically, and I have no desire to run them off. But do you really have to “read between the lines” to understand where I’m coming from?

True, I’ve never endorsed a candidate or publicly encouraged people to vote. But I’ve been very transparent about the fact that I’m a registered Independent who favors policies and programs that often align with conservative principles. Obviously, I would not characterize those conservative principles as “Trumpian,” because a) they were around long before him, b) Trump is not a conservative, and c) I do not agree with or support everything the President says and does. So, is it possible, Beto, that your accusation is rooted in the fact that I have never publicly denounced the president to your satisfaction? Is it possible you think I'm a Trumper, simply because I've never called him a fascist, or a Nazi, or a liar, or a conman, or a traitor, or whatever else you believe him to be?

Gretchen Seipp… Mike, the fact that you still act as though you’re not political after all this time is a bit ridiculous. I still support your work and foundation because I believe in it, but the folksy act has worn thin.

Aw, shucks, Gretchen. Folksy? Lil' ole me?
Honestly, how am I acting as if I am “not political?” This entire conversation is the very definition of “political.”

Christopher Pugh… I would have voted for Mike Rowe and Freddie a few years ago before he went full-on MAGA, and I’m all in favor of his project, but it’s pretty clear the political direction that he’s moved in and the money trail that has influenced it.

It’s Freddy, not Freddie. (I don’t much care, but he’s a terrier and particular about such things.) As for the “full-on MAGA” moniker, is there something I did specifically to earn that designation? Is there some kind of general definition you can share? Or, are you coming from the same place as Beto? Is calling me “Full-On MAGA" your way of saying that I’ve failed to condemn Trump to your satisfaction?

For the record, MRW is supported by liberals and conservatives alike. I have no idea what “money trail” you are referring to. Also, regarding my personal politics, think about the implications of what I wrote. I said that the Democrats have been given a gift – an opportunity to appear reasonable by speaking the truth to their own party, just as Bill Maher has done. All they have to do is distance themselves from candidates who have called for the complete dismantlement of our Constitution. All they have to do is say, “Hold on, comrade. Our tent is not that big. We respect your right to hate America, but we don’t want you in our party, and we will not support your candidacy.”

If they say that, I think a lot of Independents would see them as they see John Fetterman, who has, in the eyes of many voters, become the most “rational” Democrat currently in office. If they don’t – if they actually welcome communist candidates into their party – then I’m afraid the Democrats, by default, will offer the American people a very simple choice in November – a party that disavows communism vs. a party that doesn’t. I think such a choice would be very positive for Republicans because I don’t think most Americans want to align themselves with a Democratic Party that welcomes communists. The question for you, Chris, is why would a “Full-On MAGA” like me encourage Democrats to act in a way that would disadvantage the Republican Party? And the answer is simple – it’s because I support the existence of a Democratic Party that believes America is still a fundamentally good place.

I think there’s a lot of room for improvement in our country, and I believe the best way to realize those improvements is for Democrats and Republicans to have continuous, robust and public debate about all the issues. But if one of those parties is affirmatively determined to transform our democratic republic into a communist state, then we’re no longer debating the various ways to make our country better; we’re debating the merits of destroying it. And really, what’s the point of tolerating that?

America is already a big tent, filled with hundreds of millions of people with wildly differing views and lots of political parties that represent those views. We’ve got the Green Party, the American Freedom Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the Constitution Party, and of course, the Communist Party USA, as well as the Democratic Socialist Party. America’s tent is so big, we can even tolerate fringe parties like the KKK, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and so forth. Why then, does Gavin Newsom want to make room in the Democratic tent for socialists and communists? There’s only one reason, and he’s already spelled it out for us – he believes the Democrats need them to win back the Congress. I think it’s a bad bet for the Democrats and for America. And if a prominent Republican reached out to the KKK with the same “big tent” offer, you’d better believe my vote would be in play.

Michael Tillman… When are you going to throw your hat into the ring, Mr. Rowe?

Ha! When it no longer fits my head!

[Dudes Posting Their W’s @DudespostingWs]

A 4-year-old started waving to his neighbors every day and somehow became friends with the entire neighborhood.

[Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius]

Bouncing this to the top one last time.

Some of you probably get tired of me saying this, but the fact is that X actively encourages original content via articles, but they are not seen like regular posts in the timeline for whatever reason unless you quote-post them. Articles take a lot of work, they should get prioritized, but instead they get de-prioritized. I hope X fixes this soon.

I feel strongly about this one, please consider reading it.

[Glenn Reib @GlennReib]

Dear Sophie Cunningham,
You absolute chaotic saint, thank you. While the rest of the WNBA was busy doing boring things like dribbling and scoring, you ascended Mount Petty and delivered the single greatest athletic achievement of the 21st century: the 22-second Point Heard ‘Round the World. DeWanna rolled up with big emotions; you just hit her with the slow, unblinking finger of doom like a disappointed Victorian ghost who’d had enough of everyone’s nonsense. No words. No touching. Just pure, concentrated shade channeled through one perfectly extended index finger.

I haven’t been this proud since the invention of sarcasm itself. And now, right on schedule, I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for the left to have a full meltdown. Any second now some blue-check PhD in Grievance Studies will publish the groundbreaking essay “The Racialized Finger: How Sophie Cunningham’s Point Perpetuates White Supremacy in Women’s Sports.” They’ll claim your gesture was a “microaggression with macro consequences,” demand sensitivity training for all index fingers, and probably launch a https://t.co/hORTWK0zHN petition to ban pointing unless it’s been pre-approved by a DEI consultant and performed only in the approved “non-threatening” direction. “This isn’t just a point,” they’ll sob on MSNBC, “this is violence. This is erasure. This finger is literally the new burning cross.” Bonus points if they somehow tie it to climate change or student loan debt.

You turned a basketball game into performance art so powerful it broke the internet, launched a thousand memes, and made grown adults point at each other in grocery stores like it’s the new national greeting. The arena laughed until they cried. Your teammates looked like they wanted to give you a standing ovation. And somewhere right now a group of very serious people are writing strongly worded letters about how your finger is problematic, triggering, and needs to be canceled immediately for the good of democracy. Never change, Sophie. Keep wielding that lethal weapon of silent judgment. Keep protecting your squad with the world’s most elegant non-contact foul. And when the inevitable congressional hearing on “Toxic Pointing” begins, just walk in, look every senator dead in the eye, and give them the treatment they so richly deserve. We’re all out here practicing in the mirror like idiots, rewatching the clip on loop, and loving every glorious second of the mayhem you unleashed. This point didn’t just go viral, it went legendary. With breathless, slightly unhinged admiration and oceans of affectionate sarcasm.

[Wesley Hunt @WesleyHuntTX]

Austin Metcalf is dead.

Let’s stop dancing around the obvious.

Austin Metcalf received the death penalty.

Karmelo Anthony received 35 years.

One of them lives.
One of them gets a gravestone.

Save the faux outrage.

The real victim in this case is NOT the convicted killer.

The real victim is the young man who will never come home again and the family that will spend the rest of their lives grieving a loss that can never be undone.

This was a track meet.

A place for competition, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

NOT violence.
NOT murder.

And spare us the racial narratives.

Murder is wrong regardless of the race of the victim or the perpetrator. Any decent society should be able to agree on that.

Austin Metcalf lost everything.

His family got a life sentence of grief.

And while some are busy turning this tragedy into a racial debate, the Metcalf family is looking at the empty chair at the dinner table and remembering who actually paid the highest price.

Austin Metcalf got the death penalty.

Never forget that.

[Rodney Smith Jr @iamrodneysmith]

Dear @WhiteHouse, my name is Rodney Smith Jr., founder of Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service in Huntsville, Alabama. Through our 50 Yard Challenge, over 6,000 kids across the country have signed up to mow free lawns for the elderly, disabled, veterans, active-duty military, first responders, and single parents. With America celebrating its 250th birthday this year and me also being born on July 4th, I wanted to humbly ask if a few kids from our program and myself could travel to Washington, D.C. to help mow the White House lawn for this historic celebration.

More than anything, I want these kids to see how a simple act of service something as ordinary as mowing a lawn for someone in need can lead to extraordinary places. What better lesson in community service than showing them that helping others can take them all the way to our nation’s capital? I’d also love to bring my American flag-themed mower in hopes that the President might sign it, so I can later auction it off and donate 100% of the proceeds to a nonprofit supporting veterans. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to highlight the importance of service, patriotism, and the impact young people can have when they choose to make a difference. 🇺🇸

[Alex Fasulo @alex_fasulo]

Do you know how catastrophic this is for local wildlife? Many animals and pollinators will never travel more than 100 acres in their lifetimes.

When you fence off this amount of land in the middle of agricultural districts, it's detrimental to local habitats and ecosystems.

It's also fatal to us as human beings. This is the land that feeds us. At first, a decade ago, people could argue that there was "plenty of land left."

Every single property near my farm where the landowner has 100+ acres has been aggressively approached by solar developers. Every single one.

Imagine if every landowner with over 100 acres in our country succumbed to the pressure?

We're staring down a food autonomy crisis no one wants to talk about.

Along the way, these industrial parks destroy our viewsheds, history, culture, and rural way of life. It pits neighbor v. neighbor. It obliterates local tourism.

All for a form of energy in Upstate NY that generates at only 12-15% of its annual potential, which is why so many subsidies and credits are needed to court the developers.

This isn't a fix for our grid. It's one of the biggest wealth transfers of our lifetimes, from generational landowners to foreign corporations. Plain and simple.

[Alex Fasulo @alex_fasulo]

You’re looking at thousands of studs that have been jammed into the ground, on what was previously prime farmland, as they continue to build out Cider Solar in Elba and Oakfield, New York.

The studs will hold the Chinese-made solar panels that were constructed and shipped with fossil fuels and rare earth minerals.

Cider Solar is a massive 500MW industrial complex that will destroy 4,000 acres by the time they’re done.

Since commercial solar only generates at 15% of its annual potential in Upstate NY (actually closer to 10% in Western NY), this 500MW complex will only generate 75MW of power when it’s all said and done.

Thousands of acres gone. Soil compacted. Runoff reported. Chemicals sprayed to suppress vegetation. Animals displaced in every direction. And the history and culture of these towns destroyed forever.

All for our governor, greedy politicians, and subsidies for foreign corporations.

Video submitted by @JenniferSitter2

[Alex Fasulo @alex_fasulo]

They're going to cut down 150 acres of MATURE forest to install Oxbow Solar in the Town of Fenner in Madison County, New York.

Oxbow Solar is a 140MW ORES facility that was permitted in 2025.

In order to install the panels, developers will need to remove 150 acres of forest. That's around 70,000 to 80,000 mature trees, cut down, removed, and topsoil stripped to install something we're told is going to "save the climate."

The NYISO data out of Madison County shows Oxbow Solar will generate between 5% and 16% of nameplate capacity (7-23 MW monthly), not 140 MW.

Let me state the obvious here: trees and forests are one of the most effective carbon sinks on planet earth. Through photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store the carbon in trunks and branches, roots, leaves, and forest soils.

Mature northeastern hardwood forests store 100–200+ metric tons of carbon per acre.

Cutting down mature forest releases that stored carbon into the atmosphere, removes the environment's natural air filters, and takes away one of the most effective methods for LOWERING local temperatures. Trees release water vapor through their leaves! This process acts like natural air conditioning, cooling the surrounding air.

This has never, ever been about saving the environment. This has never, ever been about "cooling the climate." And this has never, ever been about improving our Upstate NY grid.

Commercial solar fails at all three.

It's time for ORES to be dissolved before another inch of Upstate NY soil, forest, and grassland is mutilated by multinational renewable corporations.

[Anthony Rubin @anthonyjrubin]

The fraud I witnessed while producing this story was so blatant that it is unbelievable no other journalist had already reported on it

In Lawrence, Massachusetts, where this fraud was discovered, blue shipping barrels can be seen for sale on every street. It is impossible to miss.

These barrels are used to ship food, purchased with EBT and collected from charities, back to the Dominican Republic.

In the same city, you can witness Dominican shipping companies picking up food from homes on a daily basis.

The only way it would make economic sense to ship food from Lawrence, Massachusetts, to the Dominican Republic, is if the food was obtained for free.

The whistleblowers we worked with also informed us that there is housing fraud taking place, where Dominicans, who are receiving housing aid, rent out the same houses that they are getting via government assistance, while they live in the Dominican Republic.

If the current administration is serious about stopping fraud, this matter must be immediately investigated.

[LBWaters009 @lbwaters1]

@ScottPresler Amazing, congrats!

[LBWaters009 @lbwaters1]

@mattvanswol Shameful

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

I have two stacks on my desk. The left stack is financial disclosure forms from members of Congress. The right stack is waivers for members who filed their financial disclosures late.

The right stack is always taller.

On Wednesday morning, I watched a soldier get arrested on CNN.

I am a Disclosure Analyst for the House Ethics Committee. I have held this position for eleven years. My job is to receive the forms, verify their completeness, and file them. I do not investigate. I do not flag. I do not refer. I file. I have a lanyard. The lanyard says ETHICS.

The soldier's name is Gannon Ken Van Dyke. He is thirty-eight years old. He was stationed at Fort Bragg. He was Special Forces. In December, he created an account on a prediction market called Polymarket. On January 2nd, he bet $32,500 that the president of Venezuela would be removed from power. On January 3rd, he helped remove the president of Venezuela from power. He collected $409,881.

He has been charged with five federal crimes. Commodities fraud. Wire fraud. Unlawful use of confidential government information. Theft of nonpublic government information. Unlawful monetary transaction. The Department of Justice called it "the first-ever insider trading prosecution on event contracts."

I watched this on the television in our break room. Then I walked back to my desk and processed a late financial disclosure from a member of the House Financial Services Committee who purchased $250,000 in bank stocks eleven days before his subcommittee held a closed-door hearing on proposed capital reserve changes.

The filing was forty-seven days late. The STOCK Act requires disclosure within forty-five days. The penalty for late filing is $200.

I waived it.

I waive most of them. In 2021, fifty-four members of Congress and senior staff violated the reporting rules. The fines were minimal. Most were waived. I have a form for the waiver. The form has a box that says "Reason." I write "administrative delay." In ethics, "administrative delay" means the member's office forgot and then remembered when a reporter called. My approval rate is one hundred percent. In any other field, that number would trigger an audit. In mine, it is called thoroughness.

Let me show you what I processed this year.

January. A senator on the Armed Services Committee sold defense contractor shares worth $1.2 million. Three days later, his committee received a classified briefing that the Iran campaign had exceeded its projected cost by 340%. The stock dropped 8%. He filed the disclosure sixty-one days late. I calculated the fine. $200. His chief of staff asked if it could be waived. He did not ask what the senator traded on. Nobody asks that. The form does not have a field for it. I waived the fine. The senator's portfolio returned 23.4% in 2025. The S&P 500 returned 16.8%.

February. A representative on the Energy and Commerce Committee bought pharmaceutical stocks worth $400,000. Two weeks later, her committee advanced a bill that would extend patent exclusivity for the exact drug class she purchased. The stocks rose 14%. She filed on time. There was no fine. There was no investigation. There was nothing to investigate because buying stocks in companies regulated by your own committee is not illegal. It is legal. The STOCK Act made it legal by making it disclosed. In Congress, disclosed means legal. In my office, legal means filed.

March. A member whose spouse manages a portfolio worth $9.2 million reported forty-three separate transactions in a single quarter. Twelve of them were in sectors directly affected by legislation the member co-sponsored. The timing on eight of those twelve was within a two-week window of committee action. I logged all forty-three. None were flagged. We do not flag. We file.

I asked my supervisor once what would happen if I flagged a filing. She said we do not have a form for that. I never asked again.

In 2020, I processed 847 disclosures. In 2023, 1,211. In 2025, 1,614. The number of enforcement actions in each of those years was zero. The numerator changes. The denominator does not.

I want to tell you about the soldier again.

He made $409,881. He tried to delete his Polymarket account by calling customer service and saying he lost access to his email. He moved his profits into a foreign cryptocurrency vault and then into a new brokerage account. He used his real identity. He placed thirteen bets. Every single one was connected to an operation he personally participated in.

In my eleven years, I have processed disclosures from members of Congress who traded on:

Pending FDA approvals they learned about in committee.
Defense appropriations they voted on.
Trade policy they negotiated.
Pandemic response measures they drafted.
Interest rate decisions they were briefed on before the public.

None of them have been charged. None of them have been investigated by the Department of Justice. None of them have been referred to the SEC. The STOCK Act has produced zero prosecutions since it was signed on April 4th, 2012.

Fourteen years. Five hundred and thirty-five members. $635 million in trades last year alone. Zero cases.

My daughter asked me once what happens when someone breaks the rules. I told her we write it down. She asked what happens after that. I said it depends. She was nine. She is twenty now. It does not depend. Nothing happens after that.

The soldier made $409,881 and faces decades in prison. Nancy Pelosi entered Congress in 1987 with a portfolio worth approximately $785,000. It is now worth $133.7 million. That is a return of 16,930%. The Dow Jones returned 2,300% over the same period. Professional fund managers who beat the market for three consecutive years are considered exceptional. She has beaten it for thirty-seven. If a hedge fund produced those returns, the SEC would subpoena the records on a Thursday. She produced them from a building with a chapel and a gift shop.

She announced her retirement last year. No investigation was opened. No disclosure was flagged. Her filings were on time. In my office, on time means compliant. Compliant means closed.

I want to tell you about the fine.

$200. That is the maximum penalty for violating the STOCK Act's disclosure requirements. $200 for a member of Congress whose portfolio gained $4.7 million in a single quarter. I calculated what $200 represents as a percentage of $4.7 million. It is 0.004%. I could not find a comparison that made it meaningful. It is less than the price of the parking pass in the Rayburn garage. It is less than lunch at the members' dining room if you order the crab cakes, which I am told are excellent though I eat at my desk.

Since 2012, thirty-one bills have been introduced to restrict congressional trading. I keep a list. The list is longer than the STOCK Act itself.

On March 5th, 2026, a representative from Michigan introduced the thirty-second. He called it the "No Getting Rich in Congress Act." The bill would prohibit the President, Vice President, members of Congress, and their spouses from trading individual stocks, cryptocurrency, futures, and commodities while in office.

The bill was referred to committee. The committee has not scheduled a hearing. The committee is chaired by a member whose spouse executed $2.1 million in trades last year.

The bill will be reviewed. In my office, reviewed means read. Read means acknowledged. Acknowledged means a status has been assigned. A status is the absence of an action that has been given a name so it looks like one.

The soldier used classified information to make $409,881 on a prediction market. He has been charged with five federal crimes. The Department of Justice announced the case on the same day I processed three disclosures from members who traded on committee knowledge worth a combined $3.8 million.

The difference between the soldier and the members is not what they did. It is the building they did it in. He did it from Fort Bragg. They did it from the Capitol. He used a prediction market. They used the New York Stock Exchange. He bet on a military operation. They bet on the legislation they write.

He did not write the law. They did. They wrote the STOCK Act. Then they funded its enforcement at zero dollars. Then they set its maximum penalty at $200. Then they gave my office the authority to waive it. Then they traded $635 million.

The soldier flew to Caracas. He breached a compound. He put his body between a mission and a bullet. The people who ordered the operation were in a building with a credenza and sparkling water. They did not go to Caracas. They went to their brokerage accounts. The soldier made $409,881 and is now in federal custody. The people who knew what he was going to do before he did it made more and filed less. His prosecution is not a failure of the system. It is the system. One conviction per decade, at the lowest level, so the briefing slides can say enforcement exists. The $409,881 is not the crime. It is the cost of making $635 million look supervised.

In my field, we call this self-regulation.

The soldier's Polymarket account has been frozen. His military career is over. He will spend years in federal prison. My office will process every congressional disclosure filed this year. Every trade logged. Every $200 fine calculated and waived. The system is immaculate.

Fourteen years. Zero prosecutions. $635 million a year. A 16,930% return.

I have not leaked a document. I have not filed a complaint. I have not deviated from the process one single time. The process was written by the people whose forms I process.

As long as the disclosures go up and the cases don't, my performance review says I am meeting expectations.

My lanyard still says ETHICS. In eleven years, nobody has asked me to define the word.

[JohnnyFSE @JohnnyFSE]

Lance Corporal Daniel Montano, 21, was stabbed in the neck in downtown Wilmington, NC on Easter Sunday. He died the next day. He had enlisted in October 2024. He was a Marine.

The man charged with his murder is Davy Spencer, 47. What follows is not opinion. It is public record.

——

1995: Spencer's first criminal record. He was 16.

1996: Felony hit and run. Three counts of felony breaking and entering. Prison.

2004: Attempted drug trafficking. Assault on a female. Prison.

2006: Assault on a female. Wanton injury to property. Prison.

2009: Assault on a female. Prison.

2011: Drug possession. Communicating threats. Prison.

2013–2014: Multiple counts of selling heroin. Multiple counts of possession with intent to distribute.

2015: Convicted as a Habitual Felon — a designation reserved for those with three or more prior felony convictions.

Under North Carolina law, a Class C Habitual Felon conviction carries a maximum sentence of 19 years.

DA Timothy Severo negotiated a plea deal. Judge Jay D. Hockenbury accepted it.

Spencer received a minimum term of 7 years, 3 months.

——

January 17, 2021: Spencer is released.
January 17, 2022: Parole ends. He is fully free.

2023: Arrested twice in New Hanover County. Given unsecured bonds of $1,000 and $100 respectively — meaning he paid nothing to walk out. He skipped both court dates. Both bond forfeitures were entered against him. He never paid. Nothing else happened.

July 31, 2025 — 8 months before the murder:

Spencer is arrested by the Wilmington Police Department and charged with resisting a public officer, marijuana possession, and assault on a government official or employee.

DA Ben David's office negotiated a plea deal. Judge James H. Faison III accepted it.

The assault charge was permanently dismissed. Spencer pleaded guilty to the two minor misdemeanors. His sentence: 27 days — which he had already served in pretrial detention.

He walked out of court that same day.

——

April 5, 2026 — Easter Sunday, 2:00 AM:

Spencer stabbed Daniel Montano in the neck in the 100 block of North Front Street in downtown Wilmington.

April 6, 2026: Montano died from his injuries.

He was 21 years old. He was from San Bernardino, California. He had served his country for less than two years.

——

Every fact in this post was pulled from North Carolina public court records and the NC Department of Adult Correction database. Every name is a matter of public record.

This is what the public record looks like when no one is watching. It's why I built https://t.co/R1jAMUfNTv ...More to come...

Rest in peace, Lance Corporal Montano.

[Boston Radio Watch®️ @bostonradio]

13 years ago today, April 15, 2013, at 2:49 p.m. ET, two terrorist bombs exploded 14 seconds and 210 yards apart near the Boston Marathon finish line, killing five people and injuring 281, including 17 who lost limbs.

Remembering Martin Richard, Lu Lingzi, Krystle Campbell, MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, Boston Police Officer Dennis Simmonds, and all the true heroes of that day.

[Dan Roche @RochieWBZ]

I was tearing up through this whole thing….

[Nick shirley @nickshirleyy]

California is trying to pass a bill that would criminalize investigative journalism with misdemeanors, $10,000 fines, imprisonment, and content takedown.

The proposed bill is titled AB 2624 and was made after I exposed mass fraud by immigrant groups in America.

Under AB 2624, government-funded entities like the Somali “Learing” Daycare centers would be protected from being exposed if they operated inside California.

The enemy truly is within. When our politicians would rather protect fraudsters and illegal migrants, it’s time for us to stand up or face mass oppression from the traitors who “rule” over us.

[Tim Burchett @timburchett]

Where are the media folks complaining about her 1st Amendment rights being denied?