[SanDiegoVille] The San Diego man known locally for transforming his North County home into a sprawling display of pro-Donald Trump banners, American flags and patriotic signage has died days after he was brutally attacked outside the property.
Kerry Sheron, a 69-year-old Army veteran, died Sunday after remaining hospitalized in critical condition following the May 20 assault near East Mission Avenue and Buchanan Street in Escondido, his wife told NBC 7 San Diego. Sheron had suffered severe injuries after what prosecutors have described as an unprovoked attack outside the home widely known in the area as the "Trump House."
Thomas Caleb Butler, 32, of Escondido, was arrested after the attack and charged with attempted murder, elder abuse, making criminal threats and battery. Butler pleaded not guilty during a court appearance last Friday and was ordered held without bail, according to NBC 7. Prosecutors previously said the charges could change if Sheron did not survive his injuries.
According to the Escondido Police Department, officers responded around 2:14pm on May 20 after reports of an assault in progress. When officers arrived, they found Sheron suffering from significant injuries. A bystander who reportedly tried to intervene was also injured. Police said the suspect fled on foot before officers later located Butler near East Mission Avenue and Begonia Street, several blocks from the scene.
Security video obtained by NBC 7 reportedly showed Sheron standing in his front yard when the attacker approached. Deputy District Attorney Ross Garcia said in court that the assault began with "a single punch to the jaw," after which Sheron fell to the ground and was struck additional times in the head area.
FOX 5/KUSI reported that prosecutors described Butler as punching and stomping on Sheron’s head at least twice before a witness stepped in. Butler is currently scheduled to return to court June 3.
Authorities have not publicly identified a motive for the attack, and prosecutors have not confirmed whether Sheron’s political displays played any role. Garcia previously said it was unclear whether Butler and Sheron knew each other, but described the assault as unprovoked.
Sheron’s home has been one of Escondido’s most recognizable private political displays for years, covered with oversized American flags, Trump signs, patriotic banners and conservative political messaging visible from the street. The property has drawn both support and criticism online and in the surrounding community.
Sheron’s wife, Maria Garcia, told NBC 7 that the couple had previously experienced harassment and threats related to the displays outside their home, though she said those incidents had not turned violent before.
The case drew significant attention across San Diego and beyond as Sheron remained hospitalized. On Friday, nearly 100 people gathered outside the home to show support, leaving flowers, balloons and prayers. After news of his death, supporters again arrived outside the property with signs.
The attack comes amid an increasingly tense national political climate and growing concerns over violence tied to ideological disputes. At this stage, however, authorities have not announced any hate crime allegation, political-motivation finding, or upgraded charges connected to Sheron’s death.
Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the Escondido Police Department.
Man accused of beating ‘Trump House’ superfan has violent past revealed
[ÑYPost] The horrified wife of a Navy veteran accused of viciously beating the elderly owner of the San Diego-area "Trump House" described her husband’s dark past — and revealed that she now plans to divorce the "nerdy gamer."
Breanna Butler, 32, told The Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, Post that her husband Thomas Caleb Butler, also 32, acted violent mostly peacefully toward his family and dangerously mixed alcohol with his medication "frequently."
Breanna had been separated from Thomas for two years due to his violent mostly peaceful nature, which she attributed to his mental illness.
"[He] has a history of mental health illness, and it became violent mostly peaceful for our family, so it was best we were in separate households," said Breanna, who has a child with her soon-to-be ex and last spoke to hime three weeks ago.
"Every time we speak it’s very hostile."
Thomas was in court Friday where he pled not guilty to the charge against him. He appeared emotionless, looking around the courtroom aimlessly and at times had an icy stare.
Thomas has been charged with the attempted murder of Kerry Sheron, 69, outside his Escondido home, which is adorned with tons of pro-Trump regalia and dozens of American flags.
A family friend told the Post that Thomas suffered "severe PTSD" from his time in the armed forces and that he was a Republican who supported President Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... Voting records in New York showed he was as registered Republican, but more recent records from 2023 in San Diego showed he registered as Democrat. The family friend said he believed Thomas to be a Trump supporter who "liked" the Trump House.
Breanna revealed that she and Thomas previously met the "Trump House" couple, walking by their home with their dogs and even exchanging pleasantries with the owners.
Thomas "never showed any signs of hostility before when we spoke with them," Breanna said. "I don’t really know where it came from."
She said Thomas sought treatment from Veterans Affairs for his PTSD, but the effort failed.
"They gave him the runaround. He had a hard time," she said, adding that his behavior got worse after he left the military.
His wife and family friends described him as a "nerd" who enjoyed computer games, Star Wars and Legos.
"He stays home a lot," Breanna explained. "He plays his games. He’s an online person — a nerdy little gamer."
It’s unclear why he carried out the attack. Police previously told the Post that they do not believe the attack was because of politics.
Breanna said she plans to divorce Thomas and will file a restraining order against him — adding that he should pay for his crime, which could land him in prison for life.
"[He] needs to be accountable for what he’s done," she said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1771 views]
Top|| File under: Mob Rule
#1
Being a Navy nutcase doesn't keep you from being hung for this.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/26/2026 10:14 Comments ||
Top||
#7
What's most disturbing about this case is the pattern of violence in this country against conservatives. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you will but I cannot believe that they are all random, isolated events. The perpetrators tend to be whack jobs who have somehow been influenced to do the things they do. It might be interesting if the true nature of the influence could be determined.
As for Escondido, it is not the liberal bastion some of you might think it is. Republican Darrell Issa is their Congressman. I'm not sure about the San Diego County DA except that she beat the Soros candidate for the job. Yes, we have more than our share of loonies in this state but we're not all that way. The really rabid loonies tend to be concentrated in coastal enclaves and in dense population centers like Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Get away from those places and the people you find will be much more reasonable.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/26/2026 13:05 Comments ||
Top||
[NYPost] This fitness class had me sweating bullets.
Nothing quite prepared me for going from pelvic tilts to learning how to grip a pistol — and then testing my aim at a firing range — all in the course of a Friday night. But that’s just what I did during a first-of-its-kind, women-only “Pistols and Pilates” class in the Chicago suburb of Oak Forest, Ill.
Word of the core-building-meets-ballistics mashup has gone viral in the Pilates world since Eagle Sports Range recently started advertising its special classes. Manager Aseel Halloub,
…an unexpected name in this context…
creator of the guns-to-guns concept, said the class is aimed at empowering women.
“In the gun world, you do have a lot of women who just want to protect themselves,’’ she said.
It was also built around challenging stereotypes, according to Vivian Tadros, owner of Olive Pilates Studio and co-host of the event.
“Pilates has been known just to be for women, but men do it now – and guns are known for being men-only, but it shouldn’t be just one gender for each,” Tadros said, hinting at how the unlikely pairing taps into two broader cultural shifts happening across the US.
Women have become one of the fastest-growing groups of gun owners in the country, with around 20% packing heat since 2019 – up from the 16% who were strapped in between 2013-2018, according to a Gallup poll.
Women have become one of the fastest-growing groups of gun owners in the country, with around 20% packing heat since 2019 – up from the 16% who were strapped in between 2013-2018, according to a Gallup poll.
Pilates – a domain long considered to include predominantly young, liberal, white women – has meanwhile exploded across demographics, with nationwide participation growing 40% since 2019 — as everyone from pro athletes to retirees and suburbanites join studios in nearly every corner of the country.
Curious about how the seemingly counter-intuitive collision of Pilates and gun training would actually play out, I joined 24 other ladies ranging in their 20s to middle-aged for the planks and plinking on Friday. Many of the women did not neatly fit the stereotypes of individuals often associated with either community.
Things kicked off with what I thought would be innocent enough: an hourlong mat Pilates class.
It was the kind of workout class where the instructor cheerfully chirps, “Small movements!” and, “Just a few more reps!” while every muscle in your body feels personally attacked.
We were encouraged to maintain the breathing and body control we’d just practiced while transitioning into a two-hour gun-safety course from tough-as-nails range trainer Nora Elkhatib.
I’m sensing a name theme… and the group photo shows two hijabis.
“Our objective here isn’t to shoot anybody,” Elkhatib said. “It’s to protect ourselves. Us women are victims all the time.”
About half the class raised their hands when Elkhatib asked who already held Illinois concealed-carry permits, but only a couple of the women said they owned their own firearms. A few had never shot a gun before.
Though my outdoorsman father had taken me shooting back home in northern Idaho a handful of times growing up, I felt terrifyingly underqualified when Elkhatib soon instructed us to retrieve unloaded .22-caliber pistols from the front table.
#1
Working to near muscle failure and then trying to put metal on target is very hard and does simulate the adrenalin spike people get in a live shooting.
You become an expert in the training, the live situation will allow you to fire much more accurately.
#2
Used to run a summer biathlon at Steamboat Springs in the mountains west of Denver.
Hard to do the timed sprints between range stations at 9000ft.
Controlled breathing in position rarely helped with the hand tremors from the altitude.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The son of a prominent Texas Republican politician has been swept up in an explosive federal case accusing him of helping funnel sensitive information to China.
Thomas Pauken II, an American author and political commentator who spent years living in China, allegedly acted as a go-between for contacts linked to Beijing dangling cash incentives to influence US policy from inside the federal government.
Pauken - whose father Thomas Pauken I ran for governor of Texas - is now facing a felony charge alleging he operated on behalf of the Chinese government inside the United States without properly registering with the attorney general.
Federal investigators claim Pauken compiled confidential reports for a Chinese intelligence-linked handler who allegedly told him the material would ultimately be passed up the chain to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court, Pauken also delivered electronic devices to another individual seeking work in the Trump administration later offering that same person a lucrative arrangement tied to providing weekly policy-related reports.
The allegations have thrust Pauken, who wrote under the pen name Tom McGregor while working in China, into the center of an increasingly tense standoff between Washington and Beijing over espionage, foreign influence and national security.
Court documents obtained by Politico say Pauken was first confronted by US authorities after returning from China in January 2025.
But instead of immediately arresting him, investigators allegedly instructed him to continue behaving normally out of concern that abruptly cutting ties could place him in danger from China's Ministry of State Security.
[BBC] After decades of development, wildlife surveillance has finally come of age. The new Icarus satellite is tracking signals hidden in animal behaviour – which could save the lives of cheetahs, rhinos and elephants.
On a blustery morning at the start of Namibia's winter, a pickup truck idles to a halt on the edge of Okambara Elephant Lodge, a private wildlife reserve 100 miles (161 km) from the capital of Windhoek. Two women and two men – one armed with a rifle – step out onto the red soil.
Throughout June, Okambara is a bone-dry expanse of thorny trees and shrubs. Although the Sun is shining, cool winds keep the park's animals vigilant, as the wildebeest, zebras and giraffes sniff out scents on the breeze, which could alert them to danger now moving through the bush. Yet the skilled intruders remain hidden downwind.
As the hunters close in on the game, the rifle lefts out a boom. Fear jolts through each species: springbok bounce, skittish zebra break into gallop, and the wildebeest turn and race, some not stopping for hundreds of metres, as they barrel away from danger into Okambara's wide-open salt plains.
Scientists are now able to study these signals written in animal panic thanks to a new satellite system, named Icarus, which is tracking animal movement and behaviour on an unprecedented scale from space. By monitoring how animals react to the presence of human intruders, conservationists hope to pinpoint and crack down on poachers.
PATTERNS OF PANIC
Over three days in mid-2024, the intruders in Okambara make around 30 of these salvoes – all captured through the lens of an unmanned drone that hovers overhead. From this sky view, the rapid dispersal plays out, again and again, with animals tracing out signature patterns of panic and withdrawal.
The team of hunters fires dozens of rounds and the game scatters, except for the giraffes, which usually remain impassive and calmly look on from their raised vantage point. Yet by the week's end, not a single victim has fallen to the hunter's gun. That's because, unlike the poachers who have killed hundreds of rhinos in southern Africa, this hunting party is not here for slaughter. Instead, today's team are scientists doing their best to simulate the arrival of a deadly threat.
The armed interlopers – an ornithologist, an expert game hunter, and two wildlife researchers – are part of an experiment to develop a real-time tracking system that could save the lives of Africa's most trafficked animals. By recording the distinctive patterns traced by different species as they react to a hunter, the team ultimately aims to train an algorithm that can send out a warning alarm to rangers.
These warning systems are still in development at nature reserves – but the recent launch of a wildlife tracking satellite, dubbed the "Internet of Animals", aims to link up a truly global system of real-time alerts.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[SanDiegoVille] The San Diego man known locally for transforming his North County home into a sprawling display of pro-Donald Trump banners, American flags and patriotic signage has died days after he was brutally attacked outside the property.
...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down...
