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American Catholics kicked off the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in St. Augustine, Florida, over the Memorial Day weekend. In the days since, pilgrims from numerous dioceses have joined the procession — the theme of which is "one nation under God" — along its roughly 2,000-mile route, which threads most of the original 13 colonies.The procession, which began just days after the similarly themed multidenominational Rededicate 250 event at the National Mall, will ultimately conclude over the 4th of July weekend in Philadelphia, where pilgrims will honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.The "perpetual pilgrims" will also carry the Eucharist — which Catholics hold to be the real and substantial presence of Jesus Christ — through the national capital on Saturday.'We ask God to bless the United States.'"This procession is both an act of faith and a prayer for the country: that amid division and uncertainty, Americans remember that human dignity, freedom, and unity are rooted in something greater than politics or ideology," said Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress, in a statement obtained by Blaze News.Fr. Charles Trullols, director of the Catholic Institute Center, which has partnered with the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, will receive the consecrated host at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Alexandria on Friday evening. He will then begin this leg of the pilgrimage and carry the Blessed Sacrament through the night, blessing Virginia and the District of Columbia along the way.The procession will resume on Saturday morning and weave through the streets of Washington — stopping at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, then ending at "America's Catholic Church," the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for Mass.Pilgrims will be led on Saturday by the Metropolitan D.C. Police."It is a great joy to bring the Body of Christ to the streets of our nation’s capital," said Fr. Trullols, whose organization has held Eucharistic processions in the national capital annually since 2023, in a statement obtained by Blaze News."A Eucharistic procession is a public expression of our devotion and belief in the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This year’s procession is especially meaningful to me, as Pope Leo XIV leads a Eucharistic procession this weekend in my home country of Spain, which historically suppressed Eucharistic processions in the 1930s."RELATED: Pope Leo XIV recognizes martyrdom of Christians slaughtered by Spanish leftists Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Robert Knopes/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images"As we approach America’s 250th birthday, we join the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in remembering and giving thanks for being One Nation Under God," continued Fr. Trullols. "We ask God to bless the United States and pray that hearts be set aflame with love for [the Eucharist,] the Source and Summit of the Christian life."The pilgrimage has been placed under the patronage of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American citizen to be canonized as a saint.Cabrini, the youngest of 13 children, was a nun who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Italy to take care of poor kids in schools and hospitals. She continued this mission in the United States, founding 67 institutions, including orphanages and hospitals. Years after becoming a citizen, she succumbed to complications from dysentery at one of her hospitals in Chicago. Next week, as part of the broader religious celebrations coinciding with honors paid to America on her 250th birthday, U.S. Catholic bishops plan to consecrate the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A Florida woman has been arrested after authorities said her two dogs fatally mauled a neighbor. There had reportedly been over a dozen complaints about the dogs before the fatal dog attack. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey announced the arrest of 29-year-old Linda Cutler at a recent press conference. Cutler was charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of 50-year-old Jodi Cowan, who reportedly was mauled to death by Cutler's dogs.'We have a complete cultural meltdown where everybody's got these big pit bulls, and nobody's taking proper care of them.'Judge David Koenig initially considered a $250,000 bond for Cutler but ultimately revoked it due to a prior arrest, ordering her to remain in jail, WKMG-TV reported.Brevard County jail records show Cutler was previously charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a controlled substance, and failure to appear.In the early morning hours of May 19, Cowan was walking her own dog in her neighborhood in Cocoa.Ivey said that's when Cutler's dogs climbed over a fence and "brutally" attacked Cowan."The dogs identified as Max and Mako climbed over the owner's fence and began to brutally attack and maul Cowan, forcing her to the ground, viciously attacking her, and eventually dragging her across the ground for quite some distance," Ivey said during the press conference.Ivey stated that a neighbor's surveillance camera caught the dogs charging toward Cowan before attacking her.As Blaze News previously reported, Cowan's partner of 25 years discovered her in a pool of blood as the dogs continued to try to drag her away.Cowan's partner, Donnell Smith, told WESH-TV he left his home to help a neighbor around 1 a.m., and Cowan and her dog were gone when he returned.Smith said he heard a faint cry for help and then witnessed Cowan being dragged away by the animals."I saw the silhouette of the two dogs dragging my wife down the road, off into the grass in front of the truck down there," a tearful Smith explained.Smith recalled, "I pulled my knife out, you know, just swinging [it with] one hand and holding the blood with the other, trying to stop her from bleeding.""It was brutal. Seeing the same woman I've loved for the last 30 years, 25 years just ripped apart by two animals was just ... I'll never get that image out of my mind," Smith noted.Smith called 911, and Cowan was transported to the hospital but succumbed to her injuries about four hours later, according to Sheriff Ivey.Smith believes his wife may have lost her life because she was attempting to rescue her own dog."They must have been chasing our little dog, and she went to save her little dog, to get him," Smith said. "And then they switched their attention to her when she tried to get them off our little dog."Smith told WESH that he had previously alerted the sheriff's office about Cutler's dogs."I told them that she had those two pits that get out all the time and run the neighborhood and have been aggressive toward people, and they didn't do anything about it," Smith stated. "My wife lost her life because of it."RELATED: Beloved elderly fire department member mauled to death by pack of pit bull-mix dogs; owner charged with murder, animal abuse WESH-TV reported that there were "more than a dozen calls made to animal control" regarding complaints about Cutler's dogs dating back to 2024.Cutler was issued four citations after two calls about dog bites in January and February 2024, according to WESH.A complaint in 2025 claimed the dogs killed an outdoor cat.WESH reported that one of the dogs bit someone on April 14, 2026, and the individual was taken to an emergency room.Other calls focused on Cutler's dogs running loose in the neighborhood.WKMG-TV reported that the earlier incidents were not about the two dogs involved in the deadly mauling."It's also important to note that during the early calls from 2024 through November of '25, the calls at Cutler’s residence were related to other dogs, as the two dogs involved in this attack were puppies back then," Ivey stated.A neighbor told WESH, "We have a complete cultural meltdown where everybody's got these big pit bulls, and nobody's taking proper care of them."The neighbor added, "It is constant that dogs are running loose, and I understand that dogs are property, and the county is limited on what they can do, but a lady is dead."Ivey said, "Linda Cutler had specific and documented knowledge that her dogs repeatedly got out of her yard and additional knowledge that her dogs were attacking humans and had actually bitten someone."Ivey said Cutler "took minimal action to prevent her dogs from getting out of her yard."During the investigation, agents took a sworn statement from Cutler, who admitted that her dogs "routinely" escaped her yard and had to "repeatedly" return to her home, according to Ivey.Sheriff Ivey said that Cutler confessed that she knew that one of her dogs previously had bitten another person, and her dogs were becoming "more and more aggressive, even toward her."Cutler claimed that she installed an additional fence, but knew there were holes through which her dogs escaped the yard, the sheriff said.Ivey added that Cutler was staying at a beachfront hotel when officers with the Melbourne Police Department arrested her on the manslaughter warrant while responding to a separate "disturbance" involving her and others at the hotel.Ivey said of Cutler, "Oh, and to make matters worse, when she was taken into custody, she feigned having a heart attack, and had to be, by policy, transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation."Sheriff Ivey is seen on video escorting Cutler into the Brevard County Jail, where he tells her, "Hope you enjoyed your time at the beach because you're not going to be going back."Cutler replies, "What is the purpose of that?"The sheriff fires back, "A woman is dead, and two dogs are about to be euthanized because of your uselessness."The Brevard County Sheriff's Office said the dogs are expected to be euthanized.When asked if Smith would ever forgive Cutler, he said, "I'll have to think about that one. I'm not vindictive towards her. I don’t want anything evil happening to her, but to forgive her is gonna take a little work."The Melbourne Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News' requests for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A person who took a recent viral video caught something suspicious about several barrels next to a highway: They were watching him.When a citizen pulled off to the side of an Arizona highway, he saw yellow barrels that are seemingly inconspicuous, but upon closer inspection, he saw they had slots carved out for multiple camera lenses.'Often the same systems employed by state and local law enforcement nationwide.'The cameras tucked in the barrel were pointed in both directions and had a power source plugged into them that the man in the video claimed "just goes off in the distance."What are they?The video has been viewed more than 1.5 million times on X, and while it is unclear exactly where the barrels are located, they match the description of setups along U.S. Route 60, east of Apache Junction, Arizona. This remote stretch over 100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border is where is where Border Patrol authorities are setting up automated license plate recognition cameras.As reported by AZ Mirror, the disguised cameras look so much like traffic/construction markers — they indeed are construction markers, just with holes cut out — that the Arizona Department of Transportation asked Customs and Border Protection to stop using them because they could confuse drivers.RELATED: Big Brother on the road: Backlash grows against license plate surveillanceThese are the brand new disguised Automated License Plate Reader cameras in ArizonaThe large yellow plastic barrels are camouflaged housings designed to look like construction equipmentThey are being deployed in remote desert areas along highwaysThese new camouflaged… pic.twitter.com/JuU2NXMvxu— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) June 1, 2026Plate readers are often "disguised along highways in traffic safety equipment like drums and barrels," the Associated Press wrote in November 2025.The AZ Mirror further noted that cameras have been spotted in orange traffic cones, yellow barrels, speed trap signs, and on the backs of overhead highway signs.The same style of barrels in the viral video appears in CBP documents and permits dating back as far as 2019, with the documents providing a breakdown of the solar-powered cameras that go inside the barrels, complete with a battery and cellular unit."USBP monitoring equipment will be placed in the barrel and weighed down by sand. Barrel camera will have a power supply with solar panel placed thirty feet from the white line [at the road]," read a 2019 permit.Another set of documents showed the same technology being used in cylindrical cones typically seen for road construction.RELATED: License plate readers or surveillance? The number of AI cameras in the US is shocking David L. Ryan/Boston Globe/Getty ImagesWhy are they there?The AP reported last year that CBP has been tracking license plates to catch human smugglers as far back as 2017 in "an area of interest or smuggling route.""Once the investigation is complete, or the illicit activity has stopped in that area, the covert cameras are removed," a document stated.The CBP's mission is "complex and relies on a layered mix of personnel, technology, and infrastructure to detect illicit activity while supporting lawful trade and travel," the federal agency said, per the AZ Mirror.The statement explained that the CBP approach uses license plate readers that are "often the same systems employed by state and local law enforcement nationwide" to identify threats and disrupt criminal networks.Border Patrol said it does not provide the operational applications of its license plate readers to the public, nor does it disclose the specific number or locations of its cameras, citing "national security reasons."Who is monitoring them?KOLD 13 News in Arizona, like other outlets, reported that Flock Safety cameras have been operating in Arizona regions like Sierra Vista and South Tucson. However, while these two jurisdictions ended their contracts with the surveillance company in May, Flock has operated many of the cameras being used by CBP.The AP reported that while Flock is one of several companies used by border agents, CBP had access to at least 1,600 of Flock's license plate readers across 22 states at one time.As previously reported by Blaze News, Flock is used by more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies and has more than 100,000 ALPR cameras deployed in the United States.Other camera companies being used by Border Patrol include Rekor and Vigilant Solutions. Rekor launched in 2019 with an announcement that it had recorded a whopping 30 million plate reads per week.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Once you go black, you never go back.But once you go blackface, you have to revisit it endlessly — at least if you're Ted Danson.Kimmel's embrace of the tradition had been especially enthusiastic; the comic donned full-body makeup to play NBA star Karl Malone in a 'Man Show' sketch.More than 30 years after donning minstrel makeup for a Friars Club roast of then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg, the "Cheers" actor's face is still red."I need to and want to apologize for the rest of my life," Danson said during a recent appearance on comedian W. Kamau Bell's podcast. He went on to describe his tasteless gag as "so arrogant and stupid."Friars panThe racially risque routine occurred in 1993 at New York's Hilton Hotel, where Goldberg served as guest of honor and Danson appeared as roastmaster. According to contemporary reports, Danson's routine included race-based jibes, references to his relationship with Goldberg, jokes about mixed-race children, and repeated use of racial slurs.The act was hardly an unqualified success, offending both audience members and — once word spread — the wider public. Then-New York Mayor David Dinkins (D) reportedly left before the event ended, while television host Montel Williams publicly criticized the performance.While Danson didn't respond to the immediate backlash, Goldberg leaped to his defense, arguing that critics simply didn't get typical roast humor. She added that the outre humor was in line with her own taboo-breaking career."We were not trying to be politically correct. We were trying to be funny for ourselves," she said.Goldberg also said she had contributed to the material and had even directed Danson to the makeup artist responsible for his Al Jolson-style look.From 'Cheers' to jeers"Poor Whoopi Goldberg has had to defend me over the years," the 78-year-old told Bell, adding that he now thinks her defense doesn't lessen his guilt."Your intentions do not matter. The impact you have on people is what matters," he said.Unlike today's popular celebrity roasts, which are filmed and broadcast for public consumption, the 1993 gathering was meant only for those in attendance. While photographs from the roast remain widely circulated, little footage from the event appears to be publicly available.A 1999 documentary about the Friars Club includes an audio snippet of Danson's entrance, followed by raucous laughter from the crowd.RELATED: Druski ‘whiteface’ skit EXPOSES racist double standard Blaze MediaSitcom shuffleDanson's apology is itself a throwback to the headier days of 2020, when the country's George Floyd-inspired racial reckoning had Hollywood scrambling to erase any incidents of blackface in popular TV shows.Affected programs included "The Office," "Community," "Scrubs," and "The Golden Girls," as well as "30 Rock," which had a total of four episodes featuring blackface.Late-night hosts also got into the act, with both Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel apologizing for their antiquated antics. Kimmel's embrace of the tradition had been especially enthusiastic. While his Oprah Winfrey impersonation required face paint only, the comic donned full-body makeup to play NBA star Karl Malone in a "Man Show" sketch.Softened-up shock jock Howard Stern infamously donned blackface while impersonating Danson not long after the roast, adding an exaggerated "black" accent for good measure. Although he didn't apologize directly, he did admit it made him "cringe."He added that he didn't think he was a "bad guy" and that he had "evolved and changed" thanks to therapy.