A Caltech astrophysicist who was an expert on distant planets was shot dead at his home on Monday.

The Los Angeles Times reported Carl Grillmair, 67, was shot in his torso by a man who approached him on his porch.

Freddy Snyder, 29, has since been charged with Grillmair’s murder and is being held on a $2 million bail.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department reported that after Snyder shot Grillmair, he attempted to flee the scene by carjacking a nearby vehicle.

Sergio Fajardo-Acosta, a colleague of Grillmair, was in shock to hear the news of Grillmair’s murder and shared, “We are shocked. He was very famous in astronomy and a very renowned scientist. His legacy will live on forever.”

Caltech genius found gundowned on his front porch

Carl Grillmair was a Caltech astrophysicist at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, specializing in galactic astronomy, dark matter, stellar streams, galactic structure, and exoplanets.

He led projects on Hubble… pic.twitter.com/PNMhDHzvur

— Red Panda Koala (@RedPandaKoala) February 20, 2026

Per KTLA:

A Caltech research scientist known for groundbreaking discoveries in astronomy has been identified as the victim of a fatal shooting under investigation in the Antelope Valley, officials confirmed on Thursday.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the victim as Carl Grillmair, 67, a resident of Llano who died Feb. 16 from a gunshot wound to the torso. His death was ruled a homicide.

Caltech confirmed to KTLA that Grillmair worked as a research scientist at the institute’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, commonly known as IPAC.

“Thank you for your condolences — yes, we can confirm that Carl was employed by Caltech,” Senior Media Relations Manager Robert Perkins said, adding that the institute is working to determine whether an official statement will be released.

According to Caltech’s bio page of Grillamir, his research interests included “Dark matter, Galactic structure, stellar populations, and exoplanets.”

At the time of his death, Grillmair had been researching comets and asteroids that could potentially pose a threat to Earth.

The tragic news of Grillamir’s death comes months after prominent nuclear scientist and professor at MIT Nuno Loureiro was murdered at his home.

Loureiro’s killer was identified as Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who was previously Loureiro’s classmate.

Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente was later found dead by suicide at an Extra Space Storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, ending a several-day manhunt.

The post Genius Astrophysicist Shot Dead on His Porch in Southern California appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

In a deeply controversial 6–3 decision released Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping global tariffs exceeded presidential authority.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, argued that the statutory language allowing a president to “regulate importation” does not include the power to impose tariffs, a form of ‘taxation’ that the Court says rests with Congress.

But according to respected legal analyst Jonathan Turley, this ruling is far from the end of the road for Trump’s America-First trade agenda.

As Turley noted, the writing was already on the wall during oral arguments back in November 2025, when Chief Justice Roberts repeatedly referred to tariffs as a tax. But what the majority framed as a separation-of-powers issue, dissenting justices warned could now trigger:

• Years of litigation
• Massive refund disputes involving tariff revenue
• Treasury instability
• Congressional gridlock on trade enforcement

The Court notably declined to address whether the U.S. must return billions already collected under the tariffs, leaving yet another economic landmine unresolved.

During his interview on Fox News, Turley confirmed that while the Court’s decision is outrageous to those who believe in a strong executive defense of the economy, President Trump still holds a “massive tariff toolbox” that can bypass this specific judicial hurdle.

Jonathan Turley:
“It is indeed, and this is what some of us predicted. This was a case where the administration was at a disadvantage. AIPA does not refer to tariffs, and tariffs are a big deal under the Constitution. It’s a critical form of revenue that is left to Congress.

I thought that the administration did a terrific job in front of the Supreme Court. They could not have argued this case better, in my view, but you can’t really escape that language. Right out of the bat, when that oral argument began, Chief Justice John Roberts said, “This is a tax.”

You could almost hear the administration gulping, because that’s not what they wanted the justices to take from their argument. But Roberts and others clearly view this as a tax that rests with Congress.

Now, there’s a lot of runway still for the administration. We have to really get into this opinion—into some of the weeds—to see if it is prospective only. But also, the administration has other tools in its toolbox. It can actually impose tariffs under other statutes. So this night is hardly over for the administration when it comes to tariffs.”

WATCH:

JONATHAN TURLEY: “There’s a lot of runway still for the administration…”

“The administration has other tools in its toolbox. It CAN actually impose tariffs under other statutes!” https://t.co/xGN3evQLch pic.twitter.com/Kya76PnD6y

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 20, 2026

Justice Kavanaugh also noted in his ruling that President Trump retains a broad array of alternative statutory authorities to implement new tariffs moving forward.

Kavanaugh wrote:

“Although I firmly disagree with the Court’s holding today, the decision might not substantially constrain a President’s ability to order tariffs going forward. That is because numerous other federal statutes authorize the President to impose tariffs and might justify most (if not all) of the tariffs at issue in this case—albeit perhaps with a few additional procedural steps that IEEPA, as an emergency statute, does not require.

Those statutes include, for example, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Section 232); the Trade Act of 1974 (Sections 122, 201, and 301); and the Tariff Act of 1930 (Section 338). In essence, the Court today concludes that the President checked the wrong statutory box by relying on IEEPA rather than another statute to impose these tariffs.”

Turley also pointed to looming political pressure in the wake of the ruling. Republicans in Congress now face intense scrutiny from constituents and business groups alike: Will Congress step up and codify Trump’s tariff agenda into law for the long term?

Jonathan Turley:
“That’s what [refund] we’re going to have to dig a little deeper into the opinion to see, if it is prospective only. Also, Congress has to decide if it wants to move here.

The economy is doing extremely well with this administration and with the tariffs, and so the question is: Is Congress going to move in here to make sure that we don’t have to step back in terms of the progress that has been made?

In any case, we’re looking at years of intensive and expensive litigation, unless Congress wants to intervene and try to streamline that process. But there’s still a lot to be resolved. This is a fractured decision. It’s what some of us predicted.

What I noted after the oral argument was that it seemed to me like a majority of justices were not buying the tariff argument generally under IIPA, the statute, but they were all expressing different reasons—or many of them were expressing different reasons—for their objections.

So it’s fractured in that sense. We have to see how this is going to play out, but the pressure will be now not just on the administration, but on Congress, because I think that the public itself would not want to see a wholesale return of tariff money to the detriment of the economy.”

The post Legal Expert Jonathan Turley Confirms President Donald Trump Still Has Powerful Tools Available — Including a Massive Tariff Toolbox — Following SCOTUS Outrageous Ruling appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Macron and Meloni sparring over the death of French conservative activist Quentin Deranque – Wiki Commons

Political extremism on the left is every bit as problematic in Europe as in the bluest US states, if not worse.

Last week, the world was rocked by the news that French conservative activist Quentin Deranque was brutally murdered by a group of Antifa thugs in Lyon.

Rightwing leaders all around the world weighed in on the tragedy, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

This led to a series of contrasting statements by failing French President Emmanuel Macron and Meloni, as the murder fanned the tensions in France before municipal elections in March and the 2027 presidential race.

Macron told Italy’s Prime Minister, Meloni to “mind her own business” after she offered condolences over the death of a 23y.o. French right-wing activist:

“I’m always struck by the fact that people who are nationalists, who don’t want to be bothered at home, are always the… pic.twitter.com/MA3cRUwxaR

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) February 20, 2026

The Telegraph reported:

“On Wednesday, Ms. Meloni, a Right-wing nationalist, said the killing was ‘a wound for all of Europe’ and lamented a ‘climate of ideological hatred’.

‘Let everyone stay in their own lane’, Mr. Macron shot back in New Delhi during an official visit to India. The French president told Ms. Meloni to stop ‘commenting on what is happening in other people’s countries’.”

The idea of Macron complaining that leaders must not meddle in other countries’ issues is absurd, since he does that all the time, be it in environment, rearmament, economy, immigration… all the ‘Petit Roi’ does is meddle in issues not his own.

“He said he was ‘struck by the fact that people who are nationalists, who don’t want to be bothered at home, are always the first to comment on what is happening in other countries’.”

That’s a perfect description of himself.

In the meantime, Meloni’s entourage is firing back at Macron.

Politico reported:

“Officials close to the Italian prime minister said Macron’s comments were met ‘with astonishment’ and insisted that Meloni’s statement was meant to ‘show solidarity with the French people affected by this terrible event and that in no way interfere in France’s internal affairs’.

‘Frankly, I’ve been very surprised by this declaration from Macron. I was not expecting it. My reflection is not about France but about the risks of polarization’, Meloni told Sky later in the day.

‘I am sorry Macron perceived it as interference. Interference is something else, for instance when a leader is elected by his citizens and a foreign country says we will monitor on the rule of law. That’s interference’, she added, in a reference to when the French government said it would monitor rule of law in Italy days after Meloni’s election win.”

Read mre:

French Patriots Turn Out in Huge Numbers Demanding Justice for 23-Yr-Old Conservative Quentin Who Was Murdered by Antifa Thugs

The post Brutal Murder of Conservative Activist Quentin Deranque by French Antifa Thugs Unleashes Fierce Debate Between Failing Macron and Conservative Italian PM Meloni appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.