The Editors: Friday Executive News Summary

Jihadi attack at Old Dominion: Yesterday, in the first of two terrorist attacks by men named after the Islamic prophet, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh entered a classroom at Old Dominion University in Virginia and shot to death a professor, Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, who was in the midst of teaching an ROTC course. Students in the classroom quickly subdued Jalloh and, as the FBI later put it, rendered him “no longer alive.” Jalloh was a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone. He served in the National Guard and later became a radicalized follower of al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki. In 2017, Jalloh was charged and convicted of terrorism-related crimes, including sending financial support to ISIS, as well as attempting to procure weapons to engage in his own terror attack. He received an 11-year prison sentence but was given early release in December 2024. Shah was a decorated Army officer who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Michigan synagogue jihadi killed: Ayman Mohamad Ghazali from Lebanon lived in Dearborn, Michigan, after he was granted U.S. citizenship under the Obama administration in 2016. Yesterday, he drove an explosive-laden vehicle into the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Thankfully, he failed to build an effective car bomb. Ghazali’s vehicle sparked a flame that did not set off the mortar shells he had planned to initiate a mass casualty event. One security officer was struck by the car and is expected to recover; other security agents engaged the assailant, leading to his death. More than 30 first responders are being treated for smoke inhalation. Ghazali died in vain; no students or staff members were harmed.

DHS shutdown nears a month: The Democrat-caused shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is approaching the one-month mark after Senate Democrats once again blocked a vote to fund the agency on Thursday. Democrats have refused to budge on their demands to severely limit immigration enforcement. Meanwhile, other DHS employees, such as TSA workers, have gone unpaid. Fewer TSA employees are showing up for work at the nation’s airports, resulting in increasingly long security lines and flight delays and cancellations. Some major airports have set up donation drives to support TSA employees. Since mid-January, roughly 300 TSA employees have quit. Sen. Katie Britt blames Democrats: “Fifty-eight days after passing the first continuing resolution [Senate Democrats] have yet to actually sit down in a room with Republicans and the White House to talk and have a conversation about what is a pathway forward.”

Mojtaba Khamenei purportedly gives his first statement: No one has seen the new supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, since the attack that killed his father on February 28. A statement allegedly written by him was read on Iranian state television yesterday, in which he promised to exact revenge for every Iranian “martyr” and to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. All accounts agree that Motjaba was wounded in the strike on the 28th, with the Iranian envoy to Cyprus reporting that he was struck in the legs, hand, and arm. Some reports say Motjaba has had limbs amputated and is in a coma. It seems clear that the new supreme leader is merely a figurehead for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which holds the real power in the crumbling Islamic regime.

Trump’s silver lining on higher oil prices: Americans hate paying more at the gas pump. Since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury, U.S. gas prices have surged despite the disruption in Iran affecting only a tiny fraction of the oil the U.S. uses. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has assured Americans that prices will drop quickly once operations conclude, but in the meantime, President Trump is trying to find a silver lining. “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far,” he explained, “so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.” The administration is considering waiving the Jones Act, which would allow foreign vessels, likely from Venezuela, to deliver fuel more easily to U.S. ports in case the “high oil prices are actually a good thing” spin doesn’t convince Americans.

U.S. military air tanker crashes in Iraq: Six U.S. military personnel died in an accident involving a KC-135 refueling aircraft and another unspecified aircraft. The accident occurred in “friendly airspace” when the KC-135 crashed, while the other aircraft landed safely. The KC-135 is the U.S. military’s oldest-serving tanker plane, having first entered service over 60 years ago. Its design is based on the Boeing 707. U.S. Central Command said that the crash is currently under investigation, noting, however, that the loss of the aircraft was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.”

Environmental groups fight to stop carbon capture tech: Green groups claim that carbon dioxide is the leading driver of climate change and, thus, lobby for “net zero” policies to curb emissions. However, with the growing development of carbon capture and storage (CCS), one would think these environmental groups would cheer. Even the World Economic Forum promotes CCS as a key player in achieving the net-zero goal. Yet as Louisiana moves to deploy a number of new Class VI wells (leading CCS technology), environmental groups are fighting to stop it. Why? As Institute for Energy Research President Thomas Pyle observed, “If the oil and gas industry invented a magic wand that eliminated CO2 from the atmosphere and allowed them to continue to produce and for us to use oil and gas, they’d be opposed to that. … It’s just a reflexive ideological opposition to oil and gas production, period.”

Teen hockey player scores game-winner despite his father’s heinous crimes: Colin Dorgan was on the ice at his high school hockey game last month when his estranged gender-confused father entered the stands and carried out an attack that took the lives of his mother, brother, and grandfather. Anyone could understand if Colin wasn’t ready to step back onto the ice after such a tragedy, but he’s made of sterner stuff than that. On Wednesday night, Dorgan played in a semifinal game and scored the game-winner in double overtime. Evil exists in this world, but this young man is giving the nation a masterclass in perseverance in the face of it.

Brits devalue Churchill The last lion who saved Britain from the brink of extinction, Winston Churchill, is being removed from England’s banknotes and replaced with … animals. The Bank of England cites “counterfeit resilience” and showcasing “the U.K.‘s rich and varied wildlife” as reasons for the change, but that’s hogwash. The UK isn’t famous for its wildlife but for its people, such as William Shakespeare, Florence Nightingale, Jane Austen, and Churchill. A nation that replaces courageous wartime heroes with wildlife has given up, even as Winston famously rallied, “Never give in.” A newt didn’t shape the history of that once-great nation; people did. And erasing from memory those who fought to save it will be its downfall. One UK lawmaker complained, “Winston Churchill helped save our country and the whole of Europe from fascism. He deserves better than being replaced by a badger.”