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According to a recently published investigative report, leftist interest groups are secretly playing a major role at many American Universities, often funded in part by mandatory student fees.

According to a report by the Capital Research Center, “public interest research groups” are playing a silent yet major role at many major American universities. The report makes the case that these interest groups use universities and their students to advance a progressive partisan agenda.

Public interest research groups often raise funds via dishonest or deceitful methods. For example, many groups are funded by mandatory student fees. According to the report, the New York Public Interest Research Group has been able to raise $1 million each year from mandatory student fees.

As David Seidemann, an environmental science professor at Brooklyn College, wrote in 2016: “administrators at public universities across the country have granted [the PIRGs] unique campus privileges and funneled millions of dollars—in part, from mandatory student fees.” As a result, the New York chapter of PIRG (NYPIRG) now “raises more money than all other campus student groups and surreptitiously diverts those funds to its statewide lobbying operations”—as much as $1 million forcibly raised from the pockets of college students each year.

Many of these groups are using these funds to promote a partisan political agenda, such as the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. This group, which was founded in 1972, utilizes its resources on campuses to encourage young college students to support Democratic candidates for public office.

MASSPIRG is one of the largest and oldest state PIRGs, created in 1972. It markets itself as “an independent voice for consumers” and has lobbied for various environmentalist policies, including a plan to run the University of Massachusetts system with 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. It took credit in 2015 for the scheduled shutdown of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant, has called for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, and regularly performs voter registration and mobilization drives on college campuses intended to turn out young voters to support Democratic Party candidates.

Students and their families deserve the right to know where exactly their money is going when they pay mandatory student fees. Students should demand transparency from their universities on all matters that involve third-party interest groups.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.

Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson revealed “there is a lot more evidence” going against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett’s version of an alleged hate crime.

Johnson said as of now, Smollett will still get his day in court, but he said physical evidence, video evidence and testimony “does not support the version he gave.”

“[T]here’s a lot more evidence that hasn’t been presented yet and does not support the version he gave,” Johnson told ABC’s Robin Roberts.

He added, “But there’s still a lot of physical evidence, video evidence and testimony that just simply does not support his version of what happened.”

Johnson wanted to make it clear that the Chicago Police Department is not coming out against Smollett. Instead, he said the evidence, facts and witnesses are saying Smollett created a fake hate crime.

“It’s important for people to recognize that it’s not the Chicago Police saying he did something,” he argued. “It’s the evidence, the facts and the witnesses that are saying this.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent

Self-declared “socialist” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) got blasted by his followers on Twitter this weekend after tweeting out lukewarm support for humanitarian efforts aimed at citizens of Venezuela, and encouraging another socialist, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, to allow shipments of food and medical supplies to enter the country.

Maduro is struggling to hold on to power in Venezuela, as protesters rally behind opposition leader and “President-in-exile,” Juan Guaidó, who says Maduro’s summer re-election was rigged, making him an illegitimate leader. Over the weekend, Maduro blocked off roads leading in and out of Venezuela in order to prevent $20 million in aid shipments from reaching Venezuelan citizens, triggering violence between riot police and protesters at several border checkpoints that left five people dead and more than 300 injured.

“The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against protesters,” Sanders tweeted.

The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against protesters.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 23, 2019

The Tweet was somewhat ironic, of course. Sanders supports socialist governments and has, in the past, expressed admiration for Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, whose rule led to the horrors now being experienced by Venezuelan citizens, quipping that “these days the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina.”

His Tweet essentially admits that, eventually, socialism fails.

But Sanders’ latest comments didn’t fly with his socialist followers, either, given that they still maintain Maduro is being set up, and that the United States intends to use the aid shipments as a way of sneaking weapons and assistance to anti-Maduro forces, undermining the socialist paradise they value so deeply.

Roger Waters (yep, of Pink Floyd) led the way.

“Bernie, are you f-ing kidding me! if you buy the Trump, Bolton, Abrams, Rubio line, “humanitarian intervention” and collude in the destruction of Venezuela, you cannot be credible candidate for President of the USA. Or, maybe you can, maybe you’re the perfect stooge for the 1 %,” Waters tweeted at Sanders.

Bernie, are you f-ing kidding me! if you buy the Trump, Bolton, Abrams, Rubio line, “humanitarian intervention” and collude in the destruction of Venezuela, you cannot be credible candidate for President of the USA. Or, maybe you can, maybe you’re the perfect stooge for the 1 %.

— Roger Waters (@rogerwaters) February 23, 2019

Journalist Michael Tracey piled on: “Imagine being Bernie Sanders and thinking Mike Pence, John Bolton, and Elliott Abrams are innocently committed to alleviating the humanitarian plight of the Venezuelan people, and that the ‘food and medicine’ they’re sending has no ulterior motive.”

Imagine being Bernie Sanders and thinking Mike Pence, John Bolton, and Elliott Abrams are innocently committed to alleviating the humanitarian plight of the Venezuelan people, and that the “food and medicine” they’re sending has no ulterior motive. Have you lost your mind???

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 23, 2019

Journalist Abby Martin: “you know better than to endorse a stunt led by war criminals who have snuck weapons in aid shipments in the past. This stance will not make democrats like you more and will only lose you support from socialists,” she tweeted.

you know better than to endorse a stunt led by war criminals who have snuck weapons in aid shipments in the past. This stance will not make democrats like you more and will only lose you support from socialists

— Abby Martin (@AbbyMartin) February 23, 2019

” Foreign policy “expert,” Max Blumenthal:

A sad commentary on US politics that the country’s most prominent self-proclaimed socialist feels compelled to feed into an interventionist narrative crafted by the Trump administration.

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) February 23, 2019

“A sad commentary on US politics that the country’s most prominent self-proclaimed socialist feels compelled to feed into an interventionist narrative crafted by the Trump administration,” Blumenthal mused.

The conspiracies, of course, get weirder and less logical than that (if you can believe it). A handful of Sanders supporters tried to chime in, pointing out that Maduro is essentially starving his own people, that nearly 10% of all Venezuelans are undernourished, that foreign aid is desperately needed, and that inflation within the country has skyrocketed, making its currency nearly valueless.

Sanders has not apologized or clarified his Tweet.

Abortionist Willie Parker, who identifies as a Christian, admitted that abortion procedures kill innocent human beings in shocking footage from a Thursday night debate at the University of North Carolina.

Debating Dr. Mike Adams, Parker willingly conceded that human beings are gruesomely killed, having their skulls crushed, during abortion procedures. “Abortions kills a human being, I agree,” he bluntly states.

In the shocking footage captured by pro-life organization Created Equal, Parker admits:

“It is wrong to kill an innocent human being, I agree. … Abortion kills a human being, I agree. When I do an abortion, I am clear what she is asking me to do for her. I am clear that she is asking me to remove a fetus from her. I am clear that, in your terms, it is intentional killing of a fetus.”

When Adams asks the abortionist specifics about the gruesome procedure, Parker callously asks repeatedly, “What does it matter?”

Adams: “So when you crush a human skull, it’s not really gray matter, it’s white brain matter that oozes out?”

Parker: “What’s your point?”

Adams: “I’m asking you a question. Is the brain matter that oozes out when you crush a human skull white?”

Parker: “What does it matter?”

Parker then asks Adams: “You’ve described what I do. So, what is your point?”

“My point is that [abortion] intentionally kills an innocent human being. Would you concede that point?” responds Adams.

Parker does just that: “My first concession was to your first two syllogisms: That abortion kills a human being; it is the intentional disruption of a pregnancy, it kills a human being,” he says

The abortionist was then asked how many human beings he’s killed. For whatever reason, Parker dismissed the idea that the number matters at all.

“How many human beings have you intentionally killed in your life’s work?” asks Adams.

“I don’t know, I don’t measure my work by —” starts Parker.

“You lost count,” interjects Adams. “You’ve lost count.”

Parker then shockingly asked, “If it’s a million, what does it matter?”

“10,000?” asks Adams.

“20,000. 30,000.” Parker quickly shock back. “What’s the difference?”

“What’s the difference between 20,000 and 30,000?” says Adams. “10,000 dead human beings.”

Dr. Parker believes he’s doing the Lord’s work when he kills unborn babies in the womb with his own “capable hands.” The self-proclaimed Christian actively advocates for abortion by invoking his faith and views his Mississippi abortion clinic as a “ministry.”

​In 2017, Parker bashed pro-life Christians and redefined the term “pro-life” during an appearance on The Daily Show.

“I think pro-life is [a] misnomer for people who are against abortion,” Parker told host Trevor Noah. “People who are opposed to abortion are pro-fetus. I’m pro-life; I’m pro-life of the woman.”

Parker has quickly become a darling on the Left. The Daily Wire reported:

When Parker began promoting his vile new book, Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice, he became a fixture in the upscale unborn baby-killing circle: appearing alongside Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards, attending conferences where he evangelizes to the masses about the relativistic good of abortion, and popping-up in leftist outlets like Elle, Jezebel, Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, Time, Cosmopolitan and The New York Times, among many others.

WATCH:

You don’t often hear about protests in Cuba, despite the hellish conditions of that socialist dictatorship, but I suspect that’s going to change, and maybe pretty fast.

Alberto de la Cruz at Babalu blog reports that protests are breaking out on the communist island dictatorship in the wake of Venezuela’s popular fight for freedom:

Video from Cuba shows hundreds of Cubans marching on the streets of Havana this Saturday in protest of the communist Castro dictatorship. This rare show of massive dissent in Cuba comes on the eve of the Castro regime’s sham referendum vote to ratify a new communist constitution.

Translation: HAPPENING NOW – Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Havana, Cuba in protest against the Castro regime.

It has the look of a chain reaction, and for that reason, Marxist Nicaragua and Bolivia need to be watched closely, too. Here is the video from a source inside Cuba who witnessed the protest of hundreds:

 

AHORA | Cientos de personas se lanzaron a las calles en #LaHabana #Cuba en protesta contra el régimen castrista. 🇨🇺 pic.twitter.com/EkttmNkHmp

— Yusnaby Pérez (@Yusnaby) February 23, 2019

 

President Trump, in his great speech in Miami a few days ago, knew it was going to happen, stating:

“The days of socialism and communism are numbered, not only in Venezuela, but in Nicaragua and Cuba as well,” Trump told a crowd gathered in Miami.

And right on cue, the dominos started tottering. It sounds like the Cubans are taking courage from Venezuelans as they seek to “take back” their democracy and are deciding that that’s a great project for themselves to pursue, too. What’s more, the Venezuelans have arranged it so that they are winning – they are calling all the shots on how they take the democracy back, they have a built-in government waiting for the transition, and they are rallying the international community of nations behind them. They also mobilizing civil society for the great mission of distributing aid to the hungry and destitute ravaged by socialism, which is a great thing for the country’s trashed social capital, and focusing on rebuilding the country. That frankly looks like a winning plan, and people recognize winners – and they follow.

One has to realize that Trump most likely had something to do with this, too. His stellar speech, noted here by Thomas Lifson, very likely was heard in Cuba, the same way Gulag prisoners heard President Reagan’s great ‘evil empire’ speech and took heart from it.

 Trump understood this. And now we see motion not just in Venezuela but also in Cuba. One can only hope that all three countries most plagued by socialism in the hemisphere go down together. The celebratory fireworks will be amazing.

You don’t often hear about protests in Cuba, despite the hellish conditions of that socialist dictatorship, but I suspect that’s going to change, and maybe pretty fast.

Alberto de la Cruz at Babalu blog reports that protests are breaking out on the communist island dictatorship in the wake of Venezuela’s popular fight for freedom:

Video from Cuba shows hundreds of Cubans marching on the streets of Havana this Saturday in protest of the communist Castro dictatorship. This rare show of massive dissent in Cuba comes on the eve of the Castro regime’s sham referendum vote to ratify a new communist constitution.

Translation: HAPPENING NOW – Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Havana, Cuba in protest against the Castro regime.

It has the look of a chain reaction, and for that reason, Marxist Nicaragua and Bolivia need to be watched closely, too. Here is the video from a source inside Cuba who witnessed the protest of hundreds:

 

AHORA | Cientos de personas se lanzaron a las calles en #LaHabana #Cuba en protesta contra el régimen castrista. 🇨🇺 pic.twitter.com/EkttmNkHmp

— Yusnaby Pérez (@Yusnaby) February 23, 2019

 

President Trump, in his great speech in Miami a few days ago, knew it was going to happen, stating:

“The days of socialism and communism are numbered, not only in Venezuela, but in Nicaragua and Cuba as well,” Trump told a crowd gathered in Miami.

And right on cue, the dominos started tottering. It sounds like the Cubans are taking courage from Venezuelans as they seek to “take back” their democracy and are deciding that that’s a great project for themselves to pursue, too. What’s more, the Venezuelans have arranged it so that they are winning – they are calling all the shots on how they take the democracy back, they have a built-in government waiting for the transition, and they are rallying the international community of nations behind them. They also mobilizing civil society for the great mission of distributing aid to the hungry and destitute ravaged by socialism, which is a great thing for the country’s trashed social capital, and focusing on rebuilding the country. That frankly looks like a winning plan, and people recognize winners – and they follow.

One has to realize that Trump most likely had something to do with this, too. His stellar speech, noted here by Thomas Lifson, very likely was heard in Cuba, the same way Gulag prisoners heard President Reagan’s great ‘evil empire’ speech and took heart from it.

 Trump understood this. And now we see motion not just in Venezuela but also in Cuba. One can only hope that all three countries most plagued by socialism in the hemisphere go down together. The celebratory fireworks will be amazing.

Border Patrol agents along the southwestern U.S. border with Mexico continue to apprehend criminal sex offenders and dangerous gang members who exploit incomplete or outdated border barriers to regain entry into the U.S. after being deported.

Rio Grande Valley Sector agents assigned to the Falfurrias Station on February 22 located about 80 miles from the Texas-Mexico border came upon a Mexican national attempting to circumvent the immigration checkpoint located in the middle of Brooks County, Texas, according to information received from Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol officials. The agents apprehended the migrant and transported him to the Falfurrias Station where a biometric background investigation uncovered an extensive history of deportations and a criminal history that included convictions on drug charges and sexual assault.

That same day, agents assigned to the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station in the Tucson Sector arrested a Mexican national while patrolling the border near Naco, Arizona. The agents transported the man to the station for processing where identified him as 36-year-old Eloy Flores-Balbuena. A records check uncovered a 2013 felony conviction from a court in Liberty, Illinois, for battery.  The court sentenced him to 176 days in jail and 12 months probation.

Falfurrias Station agents came upon a group of three illegal aliens who also attempted to circumvent the immigration checkpoint on Thursday. The agents apprehended the migrants and transported them to the station for processing. The agents carried out a biometric background investigation and discovered that one of the migrants, a Honduran national, had been previously arrested by the Longview, Texas, police department for sexual assault.

That same day, agents assigned to the Calexico Station in the El Centro Sector also arrested a previously deported sex offender who exploited the outdated border barrier in the area to illegally re-enter the U.S. Agents patrolling about 16 miles west of the Calexico Port of Entry encountered a man they suspected had entered the U.S. illegally. The agents arrested the man and transported him to the Calexico Station where a background investigation identified the man as 33-year-old Eduardo Leon, a Mexican national. His records indicated a conviction in Las Vegas, Nevada, for Open or Gross Lewdness with a child under the age of 18. The court convicted the man on August 18 and sentenced him to two years and eight months in state prison. Eight days later, an immigration judge ordered the migrant deported.

“Thankfully our agents were able to apprehend this child predator,” El Centro Sector Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David Kim said in a written statement. “Sexual offenders like Leon are dangerous and need to be kept out of our communities.”

One day earlier, McAllen Station agents patrolling near the town of Edinburg, Texas, arrested a Salvadoran man who was illegally present in the U.S. After transporting the man to the McAllen Station for processing the agents learned the illegal alien has a criminal history that included a conviction for a 2nd degree sex offense in Baltimore, Maryland. The court sentenced the Salvadoran migrant to 20 years in state prison.

On Wednesday, Kingsville Station agents patrolling on a ranch near the Sarita Checkpoint on U.S. Highway 77 arrested a group of eight migrants. While processing the migrants, agents found several tattoos on one man that are affiliated with the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, officials stated. The agents confronted the Salvadoran national who admitted his gang membership. A records check also uncovered a previous deportation following drug charges.

All migrants apprehended by Border Patrol agents after illegally crossing the border undergo a biometric background investigation to identify illegal aliens with a history of criminal or immigration violations and possible gang affiliation.

Those migrants arrested who have previously been deported could face new felony charges for illegal re-entry after removal. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in a federal prison before being removed again.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for the Breitbart Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.