You don’t have time for three hours of doomscrolling, twenty half-baked takes, and some guy online screaming READ THE THREAD. We are Front Page Detectives, this is your morning Drive-By, and here is what is real.
A Wisconsin TikToker who had never met the family launched the campaign. Now its staggering total is raising questions about where the money could ultimately go.
A fundraiser benefiting the parents of accused child killer Lindsay Clancy has ballooned to around $1.2 million following her mistrial, despite being created by a Wisconsin woman who was initially a complete stranger to the family.
TikTok creator and mother Brandee Mulligan says she launched the GoFundMe because her “heart just goes out to Lindsay.” More than 1,000 people have donated, and the target has now reportedly been increased to an extraordinary $3 million. Mulligan says the money is intended for Clancy’s parents, who have faced substantial travel and legal expenses while supporting their daughter throughout the case. Clancy admitted strangling her three children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, but maintains she lacked criminal responsibility because of her mental state.
The sheer size of the fundraiser inevitably raises the question of whether money donated to Clancy’s parents will ultimately help finance her continuing legal battle? The supplied report does not establish that the funds are being used that way, and Mulligan says their purpose is to support the parents.
But after a mistrial left the case unresolved, the fundraising machine is not slowing down. Its target is getting bigger.
Hot Take: Three children are dead, their mother admits killing them, and strangers have somehow turned her family into the beneficiaries of a seven-figure fundraising phenomenon. Apparently, murder now has it’s rewards.
The murdered 14-year-old’s parents called the singer a “perfect” candidate for execution as prosecutors continue weighing whether to seek death.
The family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez says D4vd should face the death penalty if convicted of murdering and mutilating the 14-year-old girl.
The singer, whose real name is David Burke, has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he murdered Celeste in April 2025, mutilated her remains and continuously sexually abused a child. His private attorneys withdrew from the case last month, leaving the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office to take over his defense.
Celeste’s parents described Burke as a person “devoid of feelings” who brought enormous pain to their daughter and family, while acknowledging that the ultimate decision belongs to California’s justice system. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in July that prosecutors were considering seeking capital punishment but had not reached a decision.
Hot Take: Prosecutors still have to prove their case, and Burke remains legally innocent unless a jury says otherwise. But Celeste’s parents have already made their position crystal clear: if that jury convicts him, they want the harshest punishment California can deliver.
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Three survivors and journalist Tara Palmeri were escorted from the Dallas event despite having credentials and passes. The RNC has not publicly explained why.
Three survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse were escorted from a Republican midterm convention in Dallas alongside independent journalist Tara Palmeri shortly after she questioned a congressional candidate about unreleased Epstein material.
Palmeri says she was properly credentialed and the survivors had authorized guest passes when they entered the American Airlines Center on September 10. She interviewed Massachusetts congressional candidate Robert Burke about whether he supported further disclosure of Epstein records, with one survivor asking whether anyone implicated should face accountability regardless of political affiliation. Burke expressed support for disclosure, and the exchange ended without an apparent confrontation.
Security arrived minutes later and removed the group. Palmeri says her credential was revoked and she was warned she could be arrested for trespassing if she returned. The survivors believe their Epstein questions triggered the ejection, but there is currently no public evidence establishing that. The RNC had not publicly provided Palmeri with a reason for their removal.
Hot Take: Maybe there is an innocent explanation. If there is, Republicans should give it. Because throwing Epstein survivors and a credentialed reporter out shortly after they start asking about the Epstein files is exactly how you make a bad-looking story look considerably worse.
Police are investigating after the newly unveiled monument outside Turning Point USA’s Phoenix headquarters was vandalized overnight.
A memorial statue honoring slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been vandalized with red paint just days after it was unveiled outside Turning Point USA’s headquarters in Phoenix.
The monument was unveiled Thursday to commemorate one year since Kirk was fatally shot during a Turning Point event in Utah on September 10, 2025. Turning Point Action chief operating officer Tyler Bowyer posted photographs Sunday showing red paint across the statue and said the organization had awakened to find its headquarters vandalized. Phoenix police confirmed officers responded and appealed for information.
Kirk built much of his political identity around aggressive speech and the right to offend, frequently presenting free expression as something that must remain protected precisely when others find it objectionable. That makes the vandalism an interesting test of where those principles end. Defacing somebody else’s property can still constitute a crime, whatever political message the vandal intended.
Hot Take: Kirk preached that freedom means tolerating expression you find offensive. His supporters agreed. So when the offense is aimed at Kirk, does that principle suddenly change?
The Grammy winner was acquitted over an alleged revenge plot targeting Quando Rondo, but another federal murder case awaits him next month
Lil Durk has been acquitted of all charges in a federal murder-for-hire prosecution that accused the Chicago rapper of ordering a revenge attack against rival Quando Rondo.
Durk, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, faced five felony charges and potentially life imprisonment over the August 2022 Los Angeles shooting that killed Rondo’s cousin, Saviay’a Robinson. Prosecutors alleged Durk offered a bounty for Rondo’s killing in retaliation for the 2020 death of OTF rapper King Von. After a three-week trial and three days of deliberations, jurors rejected the case against him.
But the courtroom victory does not mean Durk is walking out of custody. The 33-year-old faces a separate trial beginning October 5 on racketeering, murder and firearms charges. Two co-defendants in the latest trial were convicted of stalking-related offenses but acquitted of murder-for-hire charges.
Hot Take: Durk just escaped a life sentence, but the courthouse door still isn’t opening. He beat one murder case with another waiting down the corridor. In this business, sometimes an acquittal merely buys you a ticket to the next courtroom.
