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The leader of the top opposition party in France's National Assembly has joined numerous other lawmakers in raising the alarm about the horrific case of Louis of Narbonne — a white 17-year-old foster kid who was ambushed on the night of June 19 and effectively left for dead by several individuals."Louis, 17 years old, was lynched to death with unimaginable violence, filmed by his gleeful assailants, left to agonize through an entire night, and found lifeless on a construction site in Narbonne," Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally party, wrote on Wednesday.'This everyday barbarity that can no longer be minimized, downplayed, or concealed.'"He is the symbol of a country adrift, undermined by a barbarization that neither the laxity nor the blindness of our leaders can halt," continued Bardella. "We must dare to break with 30 years of failures if we are to restore order in France."The suspects — a diverse crew who reportedly knew one another from child welfare facilities — filmed themselves at an under-construction seniors residence punching and kicking in the head of the dying teenager.The nightmarish footage — which one of the attackers reportedly shared on social media — not only shows the thugs' relentless attacks on the already-unconscious boy but also shows suspects posing for pictures beside the dying teen, whose agonal breathing can be heard throughout.RELATED: 'White lives matter': UK erupts over footage of English teen's demise in handcuffs after stabbing by Sikh thug Olivier MORIN/AFP/Getty ImagesAccording to the French investigative outlet Frontières, the family authorized the release of the footage "in order to challenge the version put forward by some media outlets describing it as a mere 'brawl.'"Frontières noted further that "despite the pain, his loved ones refuse anonymity and want the truth to be known."La Montagne reported that one of the suspects sent the footage to an acquaintance who, seeing the attack and the boy's injuries, promptly alerted the Aude Departmental Fire and Rescue Service. Since the concerned caller allegedly didn't know where Louis had been attacked, first responders were unable to swiftly locate and rescue the boy.David Leyraud, national supervisor of the Police Alliance, said that Louis was ultimately found on Saturday morning by a construction worker.Jean-Philippe Rey, the prosecutor of the Republic of Narbonne, said that "when they arrived, the firefighters took the victim, still unconscious. He had bruises in the eyes, multiple bruises on the forehead as well as bleeding in the mouth and nose."The victim was placed in an artificial coma and succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.'While our children are dying, our leaders look the other way.'Louis was placed in a child welfare facility in May. According to records obtained by L'Indépendant, he filed a complaint with police on May 22 alleging assault by a group. Earlier this month, he filed another complaint — this time accompanied by his youth worker — alleging yet another attack.One of the suspects allegedly conspired with the other four suspects and lured Louis — who had recently secured a job offer and was set to leave child welfare services — to the construction site in Narbonne on false pretenses, reported L'Indépendant. At the destination, the thugs ambushed the teen.On the basis of the viral footage, phone records, and the insights provided by the individual who first alerted authorities to the attack — and who contacted authorities with more information after allegedly being threatened by one of the attackers — police arrested and charged five individuals with attempted murder.The suspects are between the ages of 16 and 19, a senior police officer said. They have been placed in pre-trial detention.The two adult suspects were previously on the radar of police for alleged minor offenses, including theft and drug use, reported L'Indépendant. While some of the suspects allegedly gave partial admissions about their roles in the attack, most reportedly claimed ignorance of the plot and said they were just following the others.Investigators ruled out a racist motive in the attack, according to L'Indépendant, which reported: "The initial findings, resulting from the rapid investigation, in any case rule out a racist motive, as some people hastily suggested."When asked for more information about the suspects, the Préfecture de l'Aude told Blaze News an investigation is underway. Blaze News has reached out to the Narbonne Public Prosecutor's Office and the City of Narbonne for comment.One of the victim's friends told Frontières, "I am in a nightmare. I am struggling to believe that Louis is gone.""While our children are dying, our leaders look the other way," Julien Leonardelli, a National Rally member who serves as a member of the European Parliament, wrote in the wake of Louis' death. Marine Le Pen, co-founder and parliamentary leader of the National Rally party, wrote, "The ordeal of young Louis, 17 years old, lynched in Narbonne, breaks the heart and fuels immense anger among the French in the face of this everyday barbarity that can no longer be minimized, downplayed, or concealed.""Through endlessly refusing to swiftly and effectively punish acts of delinquency, those in power, backed by the left and the far left, have sent a disastrous message: that of permanent impunity," continued Le Pen.The National Rally leader stressed that 2027 — when France will hold its next presidential election — will mark an end to "this savagery and this unbearable ultraviolence."The news of yet another brutal slaying of a young teen by remorseless individuals quickly crossed the Atlantic.BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey wrote, "The video of that poor boy in France, Louis, is too much to bear. Why is it the same kinds of people *everywhere* who commit these acts of subhuman violence? Truly animalistic monsters. God help us."While multitudes around the world condemned the boy's lynching, Raphaël Arnault — a leftist activist who serves in the National Assembly as a member of the radical France Unbowed party — downplayed the attack, noting, "For years this kind of tragedy has existed for young people left abandoned," and complaining about "the media uproar and the racist horrors of the far right."A march is planned in Narbonne this weekend in remembrance of the victim.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

I have been adamant throughout our months of Iran coverage that President Trump needs to turn his attention back home and start using his domestic political leverage to address our problems here.So watching him threaten not to sign the housing bill Congress just passed unless lawmakers also pass the SAVE America Act is music to my ears.We live in an era of survival. The enemy is an unrelenting demonic construct, and my conscience tells me without ambiguity that it must be defeated before we are.Demanding election integrity is exactly the sort of fight Trump should pick. The housing bill is already divisive within the MAGA base, so the president risks little political capital by holding it up. If anything, he is postponing an internal coalition fight he will eventually need to have while using his leverage to improve his overall bargaining position.This maneuver should not be necessary. Trump’s own party controls Congress for the time being. But we have to live in the world as it is. And in the world as it is, John Thune (R-S.D.) still sucks.If Trump vetoes a housing bill that does not include the SAVE Act, I would wager the odds are roughly 50-50 that Congress overrides him. In a strange way, that might not be the worst outcome. An override could provoke Trump to get Hulk-mad on the domestic front, which is exactly where we need his attention from now through the midterms and beyond.I do not see a real loss here for the president unless he caves.He cannot pick this fight now and fail to follow through. This is a game of chicken. As “The Hunt for Red October” taught us, the hard part about playing chicken is knowing when to flinch.It is also almost America’s 250th birthday. Asking Congress to protect one of the people’s birthrights — free and fair elections — seems modest enough. It is one of the main reasons we are celebrating at all.Good thing, then, that “The Art of the Deal” has always been Trump’s favorite hill to die on. He is a subject-matter expert in leverage-based negotiation. This is his game.Get busy living or get busy dying.The meter is running not only on Trump’s presidency but on the fate of the entire nation. New York, for example, continues to be handed over to Islamic socialists.Three Democratic congressional district primaries just went exactly the way socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) wanted them to go as he turns the Big Apple into his own private Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, too many of the Republicans we regularly vote for have no interest in reading the signs of the times, assuming they are capable of reading them at all.That is why voters turned to Trump in the first place. It is also why he is almost all they have to rely on right now.What kind of political party needs to be leveraged into passing legislation that would make it easier for that party to win elections — and that an overwhelming majority of the people want passed?RELATED: America turns 250 with a broken heart Matthew Hatcher/AFP/Getty ImagesHow politically brain-dead does that sound when you say it out loud?But that is the GOP for you.Decades of such institutional stupidity have made our politics more existentially binary than ever. We are out of options other than making the best use of what we have. It is Team GOP or bust.I desperately dislike being in that position. In fact, I have spent much of my career trying to avoid such a fate. But again, we have to live in the world as it is.You may have deep theological or philosophical disagreements with members of your government that, in another era, would not be reconcilable. But that is not the era we inhabit.We live in an era of survival. The enemy is an unrelenting demonic construct, and my conscience tells me without ambiguity that it must be defeated before we are.Two worldviews enter. One must leave. That is the only playbook before the GOP, whether the party understands it or not. Our team is on the field.One way or another, I plan to win.

Millions of Americans remember where they were on the morning of September 11, 2001, and they have never forgotten the horror they felt when they watched jetliners crash into the Twin Towers in New York city, killing more than 3,000 innocent people.“I’m sure you remember the creepy feeling that we all felt as the identities of these Muslim terrorists were unveiled, realizing these Islamists hated you,” BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler says on “The Liz Wheeler Show.”“Well, here we are 25 years later. This same burning, smoldering hatred for America in the form of this Muslim woman is now likely being sent to represent New York City in the U.S. Congress,” she explains.The Zohran Mamdani-endorsed Darializa Avila Chevalier won her primary election in New York City last night, beating a five-term incumbent.However, the issue Wheeler has with her is that Chevalier, a Muslim, has openly talked about her hatred for the United States.“I forgot to get napkins, so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me,” she wrote in a now-deleted post on X.After her win, Mamdani thanked Allah.And Chevalier herself has promised to reflect Islam in the halls of Congress.“I know that we all deserve a representative who isn’t bought by AIPAC. I’m also the only Muslim in my family. I reverted three years ago,” she said, explaining that her friend pushed her to join the faith.“It was seeing how all of my friends who were showing up to organizing, who are Muslim, were showing up in the space and the grace and love and passion that they had in these spaces of social justice that really pushed me to join the faith,” she went on.“And wanting to make sure that we are reflecting that, that I’m reflecting that in every space that I’m in and that, you know, inshallah, if we make it to Congress that we’re reflecting that in the halls of power as well,” she added.“That 25 years after September 11, these people control New York City — Zohran Mamdani is the mayor, Darializa likely on her way to the U.S. Congress representing New York City — is just appalling,” Wheeler comments.“It’s shocking,” she adds.Want more from Liz Wheeler?To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

What is wrong with man? Every political philosophy begins with an answer to that question. Scripture’s answer changes everything.As New York celebrated the victories of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsed candidates this week, I recalled something he said after his own victory last fall: “Praise be to Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful.” Predictably, much of the conversation has centered on his politics and, as we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, his public invocation of Allah.Government can restrain the effects of evil. It cannot regenerate the human heart.Those discussions are important, of course. But I found myself thinking about something else.Gratitude reveals theology because we instinctively thank the one we believe governs reality. Some thank fortune. Some thank the market. Some thank government. Some thank the universe. Some thank themselves.Our gratitude reveals what we ultimately believe about reality.New York’s mayor publicly thanking Allah does more than express personal devotion. He is acknowledging a theological authority. Theology never stays inside the sanctuary. Eventually, it walks into the courtroom, the classroom, the legislature — and the voting booth.Theology inevitably shapes our understanding of human nature. That understanding eventually produces a political philosophy.Most Americans assume we are arguing about taxes, health care, immigration, education, or economics. We are not. Beneath every political argument lies another question.What is wrong with man?Every political philosophy answers it.If man is basically good, then his deepest problem lies outside himself. The system is broken. The economy is broken. The institutions are broken. Change the system, and people should improve with it.That assumption helps explain socialism’s enduring appeal. If people are basically good but trapped inside unjust structures, then changing those structures becomes the highest moral priority. Build a better system, and society should improve.Scripture begins somewhere else.Jeremiah addresses the heart: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.” Jesus locates murder, theft, adultery, greed, envy, and slander in the heart as well. Paul affirms the same conclusion when he writes in Romans that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”RELATED: Trump showed voters the con behind the curtain Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesIf Scripture is right, no political system can solve mankind’s deepest problem.The reformers understood that sin had not merely damaged humanity but corrupted every faculty of our being. We still bear God’s image and remain capable of astonishing courage, creativity, generosity, and sacrifice. But we are also fallen.Those convictions profoundly influenced the political imagination of the men who framed the Constitution. The framers did not write the Constitution for basically good people. They wrote one for sinners.They divided power through checks and balances because they knew power does not sanctify fallen people. It magnifies them.Their greatest political achievement was not trusting themselves. As a result, the framers collectively produced a document better than they were.Checks and balances are not expressions of political optimism. They reflect theological realism. They acknowledge that no office, no election, and no majority vote can cure what Jeremiah identified in the human heart.The same view of human nature should shape how we think about wealth. Whenever someone accumulates great wealth, someone inevitably says, “Think what we could do with all that money.”Elon Musk’s extraordinary wealth has simply made that argument impossible to ignore.“Think what we could do with all that money.”Notice what is quietly assumed. We imagine our compassion is purer, our judgment sounder, and our motives less corrupted.RELATED: Who wants to eat a trillionaire? Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesWhen Mary poured perfume worth nearly a year’s wages on Jesus’ feet, Judas objected.“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”On the surface, it sounds compassionate, practical, even responsible. Then the apostle John adds one sentence that changes everything.“He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief.”John does not debate Judas’ proposal. He exposes Judas’ motive.There is a kind of generosity that costs us nothing because it spends someone else’s resources. Judas voiced it. John exposed it. Every generation repeats it.Before we recognize Judas in someone else’s politics, we ought to recognize him in ourselves.When I stand before God, he will not ask me what others did with their resources. He will ask what I did with mine.That question reaches far beyond money. It reaches into our families, churches, communities, opportunities, and even our suffering. How we steward each of them reveals our theology.Politics asks, “Who should control this?” Stewardship asks, “Lord, what would you have me do with what you have entrusted to me today?”Good government, the rule of law, checks and balances — all of those things matter. But they can only restrain the effects of what Scripture says is already there. They cannot create what Scripture says is missing.Government bears the sword. Christ bore the cross.Government can restrain the effects of evil. It cannot regenerate the human heart.Only the gospel can make sinners new.We do not merely need a better system. We need a new heart.