Bret Baier humiliates Pritzker over big fat lie about Chicago's murder rate



Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) attempted in an interview on Thursday to once again gaslight Americans about the bloodletting in his state's most populous city. Evidently immune to the Democrat's latest deception, Fox News host Bret Baier shut down Pritzker's attempt and confronted him with the facts about Chicago's obscenely high murder rate.

"Why does Chicago have the highest murder rate of all the big cities?" asked Baier.

'JB Pritzker just flat out lied about an obvious fact.'

Pritzker, whom President Donald Trump recently suggested should be jailed, responded, "Well, we are not in the top 30 in terms of our murder rate. ... Our murder rate has been cut in half over the last four years, and every year it's gone down by double digits, and if you look at all of the violent crime over the last four years, they've all gone down."

Baier then pulled up a map highlighting the apparent murder rates for America's biggest cities. The graphic indicated that Chicago led the way in blood with a murder rate of 17.47 homicides per 100,000 people.

By way of comparison, the reported murder rate for: Philadelphia was 16.91; Dallas was 13.62; Houston was 13.8; San Antonio was 8.39; Phoenix was 8.36; Los Angeles was 6.95; and New York City was 4.5.

RELATED: Trump urges SCOTUS to unleash National Guard in Chicago amid protests, increase in violence against ICE

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

According to the Illinois-focused research nonprofit Wirepoints, Chicago ranked first last year for total murders out of the nation's 75 biggest cities, with 573 homicides. It also reportedly experienced the most homicides per capita among the nation's 20 biggest cities last year.

Chicago Police Department statistics indicate that as of Oct. 19, the city has seen 347 known homicides so far this year.

After Baier noted that "Chicago is number one over Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York, and San Diego," Pritzker said, "Look, you can pull statistics up. I can too."

"No, no, no," said Baier. "These are murders."

"I'm explaining to you that our murder rate has been cut in half, and very importantly, Bret, and you gotta hear this, very importantly we’ve been doing the things that are necessary to bring crime down, right?" added the Democratic governor.

Critics had a field day with Pritzker's attempt to put a positive spin on Chicago's murder rate.

"JB Pritzker just flat out lied about an obvious fact," wrote Elon Musk.

Former National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch wrote, "Cut in half and still number one. Great job, @GovPritzker."

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Cheerleader's final act of kindness: 'Hero' high school student gunned down at bonfire gives life to others



A high school cheerleader who dreamed of becoming a nurse was shot during a party in a wooded area of Alabama. The 18-year-old died after being taken off life support because her gunshot wounds were so severe.

Kimber Mills was a senior at Cleveland High School, where she also ran track.

'We shouldn’t be burying our little sister.'

Mills was attending a bonfire party over the weekend in a wooded area known as "The Pit," according to AL.com.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that deputies responded to a report of a shooting in the town of Pinson just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday

"Upon arrival, deputies discovered three victims suffering from apparent gunshot wounds: a 21-year-old male, an 18-year-old male, and an 18-year-old female," the sheriff's office stated, adding that all three were taken to area hospitals.

Trussville Police Chief Eric Rush said Mills was shot in the head and the leg.

The sheriff's office later learned that a fourth shooting victim, a 20-year-old female, had been transported to a hospital in a personal vehicle.

The three surviving victims have non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said the preliminary investigation indicated that a "verbal and physical altercation escalated and resulted in gunfire."

Kimber's sister, Ashley Mills, told AL.com that the alleged shooter was trying to talk to one of Kimber's friends, offering her drinks, and trying to get close to her.

"The girl told her boyfriend, a fight involving multiple people ensued, and shots were fired," AL.com reported.

Ashley Mills said, "Kimber was caught in the crossfire."

The sheriff's office named 27-year-old Steven Tyler Whitehead as the shooter. The suspect remains in custody at the Jefferson County Jail. Whitehead is being held without bond.

Whitehead initially was charged with three counts of attempted murder. However, an additional charge of murder was filed against Whitehead on Wednesday after Mills died.

Image source: Jefferson County (Ala.) Sheriff's Office

Mills was taken to the University of Alabama Hospital in critical condition, but Ashley Mills said there was "too much trauma to her brain," and Kimber was placed on a breathing machine.

"There is no surgery that would give her a life worth living," Ashley said.

But Kimber had already decided to be an organ donor — to give others a chance at life.

"We’ve already got it set up for her to be an organ donor because that’s what she wanted,” Ashley said.

Ashley Mills told WBRC that Kimber’s heart and lungs have already been matched with recipients.

On Tuesday, the hospital staff joined Mills' family and friends for an Honor Walk — a ceremony during which medical staff line the hallway to honor a patient before being transported to the Legacy of Hope organ center roughly two blocks away.

Kimber’s brother, Michael Mills, led a prayer in the hallway.

"Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for this young woman, my sister, I love her so much Lord," Michael prayed. "I pray for swift hands of the surgeons, Lord, that we do what needs to be done to save other lives Lord."

Michael continued. "I pray no fear, no sadness Lord, no hatred. Thank you, Lord, for Kimber. Please protect us in these uncertain times."

A Legacy of Hope representative told AL.com, "Today we stand in awe of a true hero, giving of themselves so that others may live."

"May the recipients enjoy restored health and recognize the magnitude of such a rare and remarkable gift," the spokesperson stated. "Thank you, Kimber, for the life-saving legacy you are leaving behind. We honor you today and always."

RELATED: University of Kentucky cheerleader arrested after allegedly stashing her dead baby in garbage bag, hiding body in closet

Mills died Tuesday when she was taken off life support, WBRC reported.

"We shouldn’t be burying our little sister. It should be the other way around," Ashley Mills said. "It's supposed to go from oldest to youngest not youngest first."

According to WBRC-TV, Rodney Green, superintendent of Blount County Schools, released the following statement:

Our school district is deeply saddened today to learn of the passing of one of our students, Ms. Kimber Mills. Kimber was a bright, outgoing senior cheerleader for Cleveland High School. Kimber’s smile and infectious personality will certainly be missed, but she will always be remembered. Our heart is burdened for her family and for the impact this will have on the students, faculty, and staff at Cleveland High School. Please keep our Cleveland Family in your thoughts and prayers! I do want to thank everyone that has reached out to this family and supported them during this tragedy.

AL.com reported that Kimber was planning to attend the University of Alabama next year with a dream of becoming a nurse.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to help support Mills' family, which cited Psalm 34:18: "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed."

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Blaze News.

Anyone with information related to the shooting is urged to contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at 205-325-1450 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Cuomo 2.0: The corrupt comeback nobody asked for



Not long ago, nearly everyone — Democrats included — agreed that Andrew Cuomo was finished, a despicable scoundrel unfit for public office. As governor of New York, he presided over the deaths of thousands of seniors by forcing nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients. He pushed bail “reform” laws that unleashed violent criminals on the public. And after years of lecturing others about sexism, he resigned in disgrace for allegedly groping female subordinates.

That should have been the end of his political career. It wasn’t.

The conservative establishment’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo exposes what it has become: a protection racket for failed elites.

Now Cuomo is back, running for mayor of New York City, and astonishingly, he’s doing so with the blessing of the so-called conservative establishment. The Murdoch media, Republican megadonor John Catsimatidis, and a parade of Fox News personalities are all urging New Yorkers to cast their ballot for him on Nov. 4. Their justification: Cuomo’s opponent, Zohran Mamdani, is a hundred times worse.

The establishment’s favorite ‘lesser evil’

Mamdani, a self-described socialist and Hamas sympathizer, is undeniably radical. But the hysteria surrounding him has become an all-purpose excuse for elites to rehabilitate Cuomo. We’re told by pundits that electing this pro-Hamas, pro-LGBTQ Marxist from Uganda would unleash terrorists on the city’s Jewish population.

On Fox News this week, Democrat donor Bill Acker and Manhattan rabbi Elliot Cosgrove — who still insists, falsely, that Donald Trump praised Nazis — pleaded with viewers to vote for Cuomo. Moments later, Catsimatidis commanded Republicans to follow Trump’s “endorsement” and support the disgraced ex-governor.

The spectacle would be farcical if it weren’t so cynical: lifelong Democrats and media barons treating Cuomo as the savior of civilization because the alternative offends them more.

The New York Post’s moral collapse

The lowest point came with a New York Post editorial on October 20, which offered Cuomo a backhanded endorsement while smearing his rival Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder who has spent decades fighting crime in New York’s subways.

The Post dismissed Sliwa as an “oddball with a sometimes-shady past and zero experience relevant to running the behemoth that is city government.” The same editorial mocked his animal-welfare activism as proof of eccentricity.

Contemptible doesn’t begin to describe the awfulness of the Post’s inept editorial. What “shady past” is the Post’s editorial board talking about? The editorial didn’t say — perhaps because nothing in Sliwa’s record compares to Cuomo’s documented abuses of office. The paper that once condemned Cuomo as unfit for power now cheers his comeback, pretending that the only alternatives are socialism or sleaze.

Rejecting the real alternative

The irony is that New York had a credible choice all along. Sliwa, a Reagan Republican with a populist streak, ran close behind Cuomo in the primary. He could have united voters across party lines, much as Fiorello La Guardia did in the 1930s, by campaigning on a single theme: restoring safety to a city in decline.

Instead, the city’s plutocrats and media elite sided with the insider they knew. Cuomo belonged to their cocktail circuit; the “oddball” Sliwa didn’t. He talked about crime too much. He didn’t chant “anti-Semite” often enough for their tastes. He simply refused to play their game.

Now, with Mamdani leading in the polls, the same establishment that once excoriated Cuomo has gone into panic mode, insisting that he’s the only bulwark against chaos. The New York Post, in particular, has worked overtime to rebrand him as the city’s last line of defense — conveniently forgetting its own editorials from two years ago calling him corrupt and dangerous.

RELATED: Why Zohran Mamdani will be ‘one of the most catastrophic mayors ever’

Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

What the election reveals

Mamdani’s rhetoric on Israel is reckless, and his support for Hamas is morally obscene. But none of that would give him the power to conduct foreign policy. His real danger lies in domestic policy: dismantling what remains of New York’s police protection, completing the work Cuomo started when he ended cash bail.

If Mamdani wins, the result will be anarchy. But if Cuomo wins, it will be something worse — vindication for a ruling class that believes corruption is preferable to conviction, provided it keeps the right people in power.

The conservative establishment’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo exposes what it has become: a protection racket for failed elites. In the name of “stopping the left,” it now rewards the very figures who wrecked the state in the first place.

New Yorkers don’t have to choose between a Marxist and a predator. They could have chosen the man who actually rides the subway and fights for the normal people who live in the city. They chose not to. And the city will keep getting what its establishment demands — chaos, decay, and the return of the despicable scoundrel they once swore they’d never defend.

Woman found in her home with facial chemical burns died from asphyxiation, police say



New York police say they are investigating the bizarre death of a Long Island woman by chemical burn as a homicide.

Nassau County police said they were called on a welfare check on Friday to the woman's residence on Larch Drive in Herricks at about 3:52 p.m. on Friday.

'It is bizarre. It's heartbreaking. I feel so sorry for the woman, even though I don't know her.'

Police said they found Aleena Asif unconscious and not breathing. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 46-year-old was found with burns to her face that were determined to be chemical in nature.

A medical examiner determined that she died from asphyxiation from the chemical.

Residents from the neighborhood in Nassau County told WABC-TV that the area is very quiet and they were shocked by the incident.

"It is bizarre. It's heartbreaking," said Danielle Palermo, a resident in the neighborhood. "I feel so sorry for the woman, even though I don't know her."

Neighbors said they rarely saw Asif outside the home, but they believe she had children.

RELATED: Body of 6-year-old girl found stuffed in a 10-gallon bucket on her mother's lawn. Police arrest girlfriend of the child's father.

"Why? Who killed her?" Barbara Capone asked. "Why? There's gotta be a story behind it."

Police said the medical examiner will conduct further testing in the investigation.

The investigation is ongoing, and police are asking the public for any information they might have about the woman's death.

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Gun-wielding thug demands Rolex from man. But victim allegedly is a retired wrestler — and the tables are about to turn.



The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told Blaze News that deputies responded just before 1 p.m. Wednesday to the 900 block of North Sweetzer Avenue in West Hollywood regarding an armed robbery call.

According to the victim, a dark-colored sedan was seen traveling down the street at a high rate of speed before stopping near his location, authorities said.

The driver didn't need directions.

'At one point the guy’s arm got dislocated ...'

The sheriff's department told Blaze News that an adult black male wearing a mask exited the vehicle holding a semiautomatic handgun and demanded the victim’s Rolex watch.

But the victim refused to comply, and a physical struggle ensued, authorities said.

Patrick McCloskey told KTLA-TV he was working from home when he heard a woman screaming from the sidewalk: “The chaos was so intense, I didn’t know who jumped who. I ran to the door to see what was happening. At that point, I hear her yell, ‘Get the gun, get the gun!’”

Apparently getting hold of the gun wasn't too difficult for the victim, as McCloskey explained to the station that the gunman "didn’t know that the guy was a retired wrestler. So he was able to get the gun off the guy and wrestle him down.”

Video of the incident's aftermath shows the victim — who didn't want to be identified — telling a deputy that he grabbed the gunman’s wrist and put him on the ground before taking the gun away, KTLA reported.

The victim's girlfriend then threw the gun over a nearby fence, and he held the suspect down until police arrived, the station said.

RELATED: Man slashed in NYC subway — reportedly after staring match — chases down attacker, turns the tables on him in lethal fashion

The sheriff's department told Blaze News that a second adult male suspect exited the vehicle during the struggle but fled the scene in the dark-colored sedan prior to the arrival of deputies.

Responding deputies recovered the gun and took the suspect into custody without further incident, officials said.

“I was told the gun was loaded,” McCloskey noted to KTLA. “The guy who is sort of the hero in all of this, who was able to pin the guy down, told me he saw a bullet in the chamber.”

McCloskey added to the station that the retired wrestler showed no mercy in his struggle with the gunman: “At one point the guy’s arm got dislocated, and he just held him down."

Video that KTLA obtained from the scene shows deputies arresting the suspect and recovering the gun allegedly used during the incident, the station said.

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has information about the investigation is urged to contact LASD’s West Hollywood Station, KTLA added.

Commenters on KTLA's Facebook post about the ordeal seemed pleased with the outcome:

  • "FAFO at its best. Way to go!" one commenter said.
  • "This is why California needs to be open carry like Texas!" another user declared.
  • "Need more people like this hero to fight back!" another commenter said.
  • "You never know who you messing with," another user observed.
  • "News like this [is] soooooo satisfying!" another commenter exclaimed.

Blaze News had asked the sheriff's department for the name of the suspect as well as his age, charge or charges against him, any past offenses, and his arrest photo, but officials did not provide that information.

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Felon accused of shooting man in scrotum reportedly after victim recorded video of gunman — after he fell off a scooter



A 41-year-old man had just gotten home from a construction job and was sitting in his car in the 500 block of West Scott Street in Chicago texting a co-worker about the next day’s schedule, CWB Chicago reported, citing prosecutors.

With that, the outlet said another male rode a scooter through the parking lot, crashed, and fell.

RELATED: Blaze News original: A dozen times gangs on motorcycles, ATVs, and bikes harassed, attacked, and killed others

Photo by JONAS ROOSENS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

The man sitting in his car used his phone to record a short clip of the scooter rider on the pavement, the outlet said.

But apparently, the guy on the ground didn't like his mishap finding its way on camera.

So prosecutors said he got up, parked his scooter near the 41-year-old man's car, walked toward a grassy area, and returned holding a gun, the outlet said.

Judge Luciano Panici Jr. ordered Jones detained on charges of aggravated battery by discharging a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Surveillance video allegedly showed the gunman walking up to the car, standing next to the driver’s side door, and firing two shots downward toward the victim’s lap, CWB Chicago said.

He then moved to the back of the car and fired several more rounds as he walked away, the outlet said, citing prosecutors.

The armed victim returned fire from inside the vehicle and again after opening the door as the gunman — identified as 40-year-old Michael J. Jones — fled the scene, CWB Chicago said.

The victim called 911 and was found on the pavement next to his car with gunshot wounds to his thigh, calf, and scrotum, the outlet added, citing court filings.

More from CWB Chicago:

Police identified Jones through an informant who knew him by name and had learned of his involvement. Additional video footage showed Jones walking toward his nearby home shortly after the shooting, prosecutors claim.

When officers arrested Jones recently, they found a loaded handgun in his cargo pants pocket, prompting Jones to explain that he carried the weapon because he lived in a dangerous neighborhood, according to prosecutors.

Judge Luciano Panici Jr. ordered Jones detained on charges of aggravated battery by discharging a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with the incident, which occurred just before 9:30 p.m. July 11, the outlet said.

Jones has a 2016 felony gun conviction, CWB Chicago said, citing court records.

Cook County Jail records indicate Jones was booked Saturday and is scheduled for a Thursday hearing.

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Make mandatory minimums great again



When victims’ advocates push for mandatory minimum sentences, the leniency lobby instantly howls about “judicial discretion.” In theory, that's right: In a just society, judges should have the freedom to weigh every case, tailoring sentences to fit the crimes.

But America doesn’t live in that society. We live in an era when violent crime floods major cities and leftist judges treat predators like misunderstood poets. In this environment, mandatory minimums aren’t cruel — they’re the only remaining safeguard for victims and the public.

It’s not enough to share viral videos of street mayhem. Lawmakers must change the laws.

Recent headlines show what happens when liberal judges turn mercy into malpractice.

  • Charlotte’s revolving door: North Carolina Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes released Decarlos Brown Jr., the alleged murderer of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, despite his long arrest record. Her supervisor, Judge Roy Wiggins, then released Paulette Gibson, accused of stabbing two people, on just $20,000 bail — despite 15 prior arrests.
  • Fifty arrests and counting: Herbert Jordan of Charlotte, arrested Oct. 16 for assaulting a woman, had 50 prior arrests, including 10 attacks on women since 2020. He had been released just weeks earlier on $3,000 bond for another violent assault. The judge’s response this time? Raise the bond to $5,000.
  • A juvenile menace: A 15-year-old in Charlotte was reportedly arrested 111 times since 2023 — 55 vehicle thefts, 45 break-ins, multiple gun charges — and yet was released again. Police say his phone contained searches like “what is the charge for killing an officer?” and “what is capital murder?”
  • D.C.’s “rehabilitate, not punish” justice: In the District of Columbia, two teens who beat a man nearly to death during a carjacking spree were sentenced to probation. Judge Kendra D. Briggs, a Biden appointee, said her job was “to rehabilitate, not to punish.” D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Monday that she would bring federal assault charges.
  • Florida’s near-fatal leniency: In Orange County, 23-year-old Jacoby Vontrell Tillman allegedly choked a jogger unconscious because he “wanted to know what it was like to choke someone out.” He had prior arrests for attempted murder and sexual assault, yet Judge Elaine Barbour released him on a $9,500 bond — over objections from even a left-wing prosecutor.
  • Las Vegas, 2023: Jonathan Lewis Jr., a white 17-year-old, was stomped to death by a mob of black juveniles outside Rancho High School. Prosecutors later downgraded second-degree murder charges to voluntary manslaughter and moved the case to juvenile court. The killers could be free within a few years.

These cases represent thousands of similar stories nationwide: repeat violent offenders cycling through the system, juvenile thugs shielded from real punishment, and judges who treat consequences as optional.

From ‘over-incarceration’ to under-protection

For more than a decade, both parties have joined the bipartisan delusion that America’s problem is “over-incarceration.” The result? A generation of politicians dismantled the tough-on-crime gains of the 1990s and early 2000s under the false promise of “criminal justice reform.”

Yes, some defendants have received unjustly harsh sentences. Yes, political prosecutions and overzealous prosecutors exist. But for every offender punished too severely, dozens walk free after attacking, raping, or killing. The imbalance grows worse each year.

RELATED: The city that chose crime and chaos over courage

BeyondImages via iStock/Getty Images

This “leniency-industrial complex” has replaced accountability with excuses. Its apostles treat crime as a symptom of social failure, not individual evil. Meanwhile, victims — especially women and the poor — pay the price for their moral vanity.

Time to rewrite the rules

America doesn’t need another debate about “equity” in sentencing. It needs a crime-control revolution that restores deterrence and puts fear back where it belongs — in the hearts of criminals.

That means tightening judicial discretion, strengthening mandatory minimums for repeat and violent offenders, and ending the revolving door for juvenile predators.

It’s not enough to share viral videos of street mayhem. Lawmakers must change the laws. The public’s patience — and the nation’s safety — won’t survive another decade of judicial compassion for the cruel.

The Perfect Neighbor Makes All The Right Points The Director Didn’t Mean To

It's a documentary worth watching, but not for the intended reasons.

Man found dead outside Dollar Tree was beaten with a rock by another man riding a tricycle, police say



A man who was found dead on the sidewalk outside of an Albuquerque Dollar Tree was killed by a man riding a tricycle, according to New Mexico police.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office said agents were called to the discount store on Goff Blvd. on Sept. 29 at about 7:15 in the morning over a report of a man found unresponsive.

He matched the description of a man caught on surveillance video riding up to the victim on a tricycle and beating him with a rock.

They found that the man was dead, with injuries to his head and face. Police opened a homicide investigation.

On Monday, police arrested Dominic Gabriel Andrade and said he matched the description of a man caught on surveillance video riding up to the victim on a tricycle and beating him with a rock, according to court documents.

The man also appeared to stab the victim in the video.

Andrade had been spotted by U.S. marshals and brought in for questioning. When they searched him, they found a knife in his right pocket. They also found a large cane and a neon green hoodie on his tricycle, both of which matched the surveillance video from the murder scene, according to prosecutors.

The suspect admitted that he had gotten into an argument with the victim on the night that he died, but he claimed that the argument never "got physical," according to police.

RELATED: 19-year-old student allegedly stabs and kills homeless man who was breaking into cars near USC

A report from KRQE-TV said that the victim was named Michael Chavez and that the video showed him lying down to go to sleep after speaking with Andrade. Then Andrade hit Chavez with a rock multiple times.

KRQE said the video showed Chavez dying later on the sidewalk.

The 48-year-old suspect was charged with tampering with evidence as well as first-degree murder.

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Notorious pedophile Ian Watkins killed in prison; cops round up suspects in apparent murder of disgraced Lostprophets singer



The former singer of the Welsh rock band Lostprophets, Ian Watkins, recently was attacked and killed in prison, according to authorities. Watkins was serving a sentence for multiple pedophilia-related offenses, including attempting to rape a baby.

Police in England said Watkins was murdered at His Majesty's Prison Wakefield in Great Britain on the morning of Oct. 11.

'Extensive inquiries remain ongoing in relation to the murder of Ian Watkins, and these arrests form part of that.'

Watkins, 48, was pronounced dead at HMP Wakefield despite being given medical treatment for injuries suffered during a "serious assault."

Last week, British authorities announced the arrest of two men — 25-year-old Rashid Gedel and 43-year-old Samuel Dodsworth. Both suspects were charged with murder in connection with Watkins' death.

The West Yorkshire Police Department said in a statement Tuesday that two other men — ages 23 and 39 — also were arrested in connection with Watkins' death and charged with suspicion of conspiracy to murder. Police did not name the two new suspects.

The senior investigating officer in the alleged murder said the investigation is ongoing.

Detective Chief Inspector James Entwistle of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team with the West Yorkshire Police Department stated, "Extensive inquiries remain ongoing in relation to the murder of Ian Watkins, and these arrests form part of that."

"Ian Watkins' family are being updated as the investigation progresses," Entwistle said. "However, we do not anticipate any immediate developments at this stage."

A spokesperson for the His Majesty's Prison Service told the BBC that it was aware of an incident at the prison but was "unable to comment further while the police investigate."

The West Yorkshire Police Department and HMP Wakefield did not immediately respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

RELATED: Pair of convicted pedophiles — one who raped, murdered 3-year-old girl — die on same night in same prison

Photo by Marc Grimwade/WireImage

The Mirror noted that HMP Wakefield is known as "Monster Mansion," which "houses some of the U.K.'s most infamous and dangerous criminals, ranging from serial killers to terrorists and habitual rapists."

Watkins appeared in court in 2019 after a mobile phone reportedly was discovered in his prison cell. Watkins told magistrates that he was imprisoned among "murderers, mass murderers, rapists, pedophiles, serial killers — the worst of the worst," according to the Guardian.

Previously, Watkins was stabbed in prison while serving time for his child sex crimes.

As Blaze News reported in August 2023, Watkins was held hostage by three fellow HMP Wakefield prisoners for several hours and stabbed.

The Mirror previously reported, "The prison had to wait until a 'Tornado Crew' could be assembled — specialist officers trained in hostage situations. The three prisoners kept Watkins hostage for almost six hours — it is believed the attack took place on B wing, where 70 percent of the prisoners are serving life and 20 percent serving 10 years or more. So serious were his injuries, it is understood that he received emergency treatment from paramedics in an ambulance on the prison estate."

Watkins was arrested in December 2012 and hit with several child sex crime charges.

"During trial, it was revealed that the password to encrypted files on Watkins' computer was 'I F*K KIDZ,'" Rolling Stone previously reported.

In December 2013, Watkins pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault of children, seven counts involving making or possessing indecent images of children, and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal.

The judge during the sentencing hearing described Watkins' crimes as "plumbing new depths of depravity," according to the Guardian.

The disgraced singer was sentenced to 29 years in prison.

Watkins' former band, Lostprophets, was founded in 1997 and topped the U.K. charts in 2006 after the release of its third album, "Liberation Transmission." Lostprophets broke up in 2013 when Watkins was sentenced to prison.

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