National media is reporting that Turks and Caicos authorities have released Ryan Watson of Edmond, Oklahoman. Watson received today a suspended 13-week jail sentence and a fine of $2,000 – or $500 per bullet, according to family spokesman Jonathan Franks speaking to Fox News.

Watson faced 12 years in the island lockup after Turks and Caicos authorities found four stray bullets in his luggage. He was detained in April and is expected to pay his fine and get on a flight to Oklahoma City before the end of the day.

On January 1, 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This important document declared that the slaves in the Confederate states (those rebelling against the US government) were free.

Southern states continued to hold people in slavery until the end of the Civil War, when US troops could more easily enforce the terms.  During the Civil War, there were about 250,000 slaves in Texas. Most of these slaves did not know of the Emancipation Proclamation or even that the war had ended in May 1865.

US Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK 1st. Dist.) joined constituents for breakfast Saturday June 15 in uptown Tulsa and spoke about meeting with Donald J. Trump and Republican Congressional leadership.

“I wish everyone in America could know Donald Trump in a personal setting,” Hern began. “He could come in here and have a conversation with you. He connects with people. That is why he has such large crowds at his rallies. The media can go crazy with excerpts, but you don’t get the full impact.

“We were sitting in a room with people – everybody [on Capital Hill] was there – but there were a couple of people sitting next to me that haven’t endorsed Trump and he hasn’t endorsed them, but Trump connected with them. Some liken him to Ronald Reagan in being able to cut through media filters and connect with people personally.

“I believe Trump is the Everyday Person’s President,” Hern said.

Senate Republicans on Thursday announced a hold policy on numerous President Joe Biden nominees in response to the 46th president’s “radical lawfare” against former President Donald Trump and other political opponents. Punchbowl News reports, “This represents a significant expansion of an existing pledge by Trump allies to stall Democratic-led initiatives — both legislation and nominations — on the Senate floor.”

Sen. J.D. Vance with Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Eric Schmitt (R-MO) will block swift confirmation of roughly four dozen of Biden’s nominees throughout various positions of the government.

On Monday evening, Congressman Josh Brecheen (R-OK) returned from a bipartisan, bicameral congressional delegation (CODEL) to Turks and Caicos (TCI) where the members met with TCI government officials to discuss the five Americans being detained on the islands for inadvertently having ammunition in their luggage. If convicted, the Americans could each face a twelve-year minimum prison sentence. One of the Americans trapped is Ryan Tyler Watson, of Oklahoma.

Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) led the CODEL and also in attendance was Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Michael Cloud (R-TX), and Bob Good (R-VA).