Random News and Notes 3 March
Around 3 a.m. on March 1, Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers arrived at a Harris Teeter parking lot on Smith Farm Road in Charlotte NC to end a street take-over. One driver accelerated toward an officer blocking her path, hitting him and sending him briefly onto the hood of her car before he rolled off and drew his weapon. Police arrested 25-year-old Tanaezah Michelle Austin on Monday for assault with a deadly weapon on a government official. She posted $3,000 bond and was released Tuesday morning.
The officer had minor injuries and will recover fully.
$3000 bond for hitting a cop with your car? That seems insane to me.
A couple of SCOTUS rulings/orders have come down in the last 24 or so hours that might be of interest. The first one we’ll look at is Malliotakis v Williams. Nicole Malliotakis is the lone Republican member of the House from the entirety of New York City. An ‘independent’ redistricting commission sought to redraw the lines of her district to change the demographics and force her out of the seat. She sued in state courts over the plan and lost, she then filed a federal appeal and lost at the Appeals court level. The Supremes took the case and stayed all the lower court rulings. From Alito’s concurrence (internal citations omitted):
These cases concern a state-court order that blatantly discriminates on the basis of race. The New York Supreme Court (that State’s trial-level court) ordered the New York Independent Redistricting Commission to draw a new congressional district for the express purpose of ensuring that “minority voters” are able to elect the candidate of their choice.
That is unadorned racial discrimination, an inherently “‘odious’” activity that violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause except in the “most extraordinary case.” Extraordinary circumstances exist only when the challenged state conduct is narrowly tailored to achieve a
“compelling” interest, and our precedents have identified only two compelling interests that can justify race-based government action: (1) mitigating prison-specific risks and (2) “remediating specific, identified instances of past discrimination that violated the Constitution or a statute.”Neither of those interests is present here. Instead, the court based its injunction on an interpretation
of state law. But under the Supremacy Clause, a state law cannot authorize the violation of federal rights. It is therefore an understatement to say that applicants are likely to succeed on the merits of their equal protection claim.
The other order of interest is Mirabelli v Bonta. That case out of California touches on the California law that requires schools to transition children in secret. The justices found that California’s secrecy regime likely violates parental rights. The 6-2 Court held that California “cut out the primary protectors of children’s best interests: their parents.”
Keep in mind, this is a preliminary order on the so-called shadow docket and only enjoins the state from trying to enforce the law as written. Expect this case and another similar case – Foote v Feliciano to be granted cert in the near future.
On to the Epic Fury news.
It is being reported that Ibn Reza, the newly appointed acting Minister of Defense amid the ongoing war, died in an airstrike on March 3. Reza replaced Aziz Nasirzadeh who was killed on February 28 during initial U.S.-Israeli strikes. Those attacks also took out top IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi.
There are also reports that the Israelis hit the building in Qom that housed the so-called Assembly of Experts – the Islamic council that chooses the successor to the Ayatollah. While there isn’t confirmation, the reports indicate that the majority of the members of the assembly were in the building when it was hit.
If this turns out to be true, and the majority of that body are dead, there is no way for the Islamic Republic to appoint a new Supreme Leader and effectively decapitates the regime for the foreseeable future.
Here is a list of Iranian leaders confirmed killed by US/Israeli strikes since Saturday:
Top Leadership (Confirmed Killed Feb-Mar 2026)
- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: The Supreme Leader of Iran was killed in an airstrike on his Tehran compound on February 28, 2026.
- Ali Shamkhani: Secretary of the Iranian Defense Council and senior advisor to the Supreme Leader.
- Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi: Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.
- Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh: Iran’s Minister of Defense.
- Major General Mohammad Pakpour: Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Military and Intelligence Commanders
- Brigadier General Mohammad Shirazi: Head of the Military Office of the Supreme Leader.
- Brigadier General Bahram Hosseini Motlagh: Head of Operations Planning for the General Staff.
- Brigadier General Gholamreza Rezaian: Commander of Police Intelligence.
- Brigadier General Mohsen Darrebaghi: Deputy for Logistics and Support, General Staff.
- Intelligence Commanders: Javad Pourhossein (Foreign Intelligence), Mohammad-Reza Bajestani (Security), Ali Kheirandish (Counterterrorism), and Saeed Ehya Hamidi (Advisor).
- Saleh Asadi: Head of the Intelligence Directorate at the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters.
Nuclear and Research Officials
- Brigadier General Hossein Jabal Amelian: Chairman of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND).
- Brigadier General Reza Mozaffari-Nia: Former Chairman of SPND.
- Mohammad Baseri: Senior official in the Ministry of Intelligence.
This list is in no way comprehensive. The strikes are ongoing and it will be days before we know the full extent of the regime decapitation.
Operational Stuff
The US casualty count is up to 6. Another of the troops injured in the attack on the TOC in Kuwait has succumbed to their injuries.
On day four of sustained operations, U.S. Central Command reported destroying Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities, air defenses, and missile sites after initial strikes hit over 1,000 targets last week. Iran fired back with missile barrages causing damage across the region, like a major fire at UAE’s Fujairah oil hub.