Guests – Thomas Horne, Nicholas Ammons, Dave Smith, Betsy Smith

School Safety Officers: A Successful Program Preventing Tragedy

Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horn shared details about a recent success story in the state's school safety program. Horn increased the number of school safety officers from 190 to 565 across Arizona to protect children from armed intruders.

This investment paid immediate dividends when Officer William Bonanno, a Tucson Police Department officer working as a school safety officer, recently prevented a potential mass shooting at Legacy Charter School in Tucson. Despite being assigned to the school for only two weeks, Bonanno's experience and quick action saved the lives of approximately 20 children and several adults.

"He was very experienced and skillful and knew not to wait for backup, but to act himself right away," Horn explained. "He arrested the guy that was getting ready to kill all the kids and the grownups. It was an act of great courage and great skill."

Horn's program addresses the critical need for security in schools while acknowledging staffing challenges. Rather than traditional school resource officers, Horn's program utilizes overtime police officers designated as school safety officers to ensure consistent protection. "We would assign five officers to a school, so there isn't a day where the school is not protected," Horn said.

Horn emphasized that schools like Tucson Unified School District that choose not to participate in the program—despite being fully funded by the Department of Education—leave students vulnerable. "If this happened in one of those schools... and their child died as a result, you can imagine how the parents would feel about that decision making," he noted.

Fighting Against DEI and Critical Race Theory in Education

Horn has been a long-standing opponent of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and critical race theory in Arizona schools. His opposition dates back to 2007 during his previous tenure as superintendent, particularly focusing on ethnic studies programs in the Tucson Unified School District.

Horn praised the federal government's recent opposition to DEI programs, framing the issue as fundamental to American values. "The most interesting division in our country today is between people like me who believe in the traditional American value of individual merit and those who want to substitute racial entitlements," he stated.

Horn argues that racial entitlements don't encourage hard work, conscientiousness, or creativity. He warns that shifting from individual merit to racial entitlements would transform America into "a mediocre country, a third world country" where "China would be calling the shots."

He referenced his personal history of advocacy for racial equality, noting his participation in the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. "Basically, the idea that we deserve to be judged as individuals without respect to race, but based on merit. And that's been my crusade my whole life," Horn said.

Protecting Girls' Sports and Fighting Age-Inappropriate Content

Horn has been actively fighting in court to uphold Arizona's statute prohibiting biological males from competing in girls' sports. Despite being one of four defendants named in a lawsuit challenging the law, Horn was the only one to continue fighting after the others conceded.

"We've been in Tucson District Court. We've been in the Ninth Circuit. We're back in the District Court. And we'll fight this all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary," Horn declared. He expressed frustration that advocates for allowing transgender participation in girls' sports "have no sympathy for the girls whose dreams were shattered."

Horn also addressed the issue of age-appropriate content in schools. He expressed support for "Aaron's Law," which would educate children about the signs of grooming and protect them from predators, particularly those operating online. The law has been accepted federally and in 40 states but faces challenges in Arizona.

Horn dismissed criticism that such education constitutes teaching about sex in schools. "Insisting on age-appropriate materials is not censorship," he emphasized, distinguishing between education about potential dangers and the introduction of inappropriate content.

Morana Mid-Air Collision: Understanding the Tragedy

A mid-air collision between two aircraft near Morana Regional Airport on February 19th claimed two lives. Aviation expert and pilot Dave Smith explained the unique challenges of light aviation that contributed to the incident.

The collision involved a Cessna 172S and a LandClair 360MK. Smith noted that the Morana airport is an "uncontrolled field" without an air traffic control tower, requiring pilots to communicate their positions and intentions via a common traffic advisory frequency known as a Unicom.

"Light aviation is a whole different animal than commercial aviation," Smith explained. The collision likely resulted from visibility limitations inherent to the aircraft designs. "If a pilot has wings on the top part of the aircraft, a high wing like a Cessna 172, they have limited visibility looking up. Same thing to in a low wing aircraft like this LandClair," Smith said.

The Cessna 172, which Smith described as "perhaps the most distributed private aircraft in the world," landed safely with its two occupants surviving. The two people aboard the LandClair, which Smith characterized as "a kit plane, very fast, a little aircraft," died in the collision.

Smith emphasized that this incident is not connected to recent commercial aviation incidents, addressing concerns about aviation safety. "There's nothing linking these together... there's nothing that would draw us or believe that anything that's happened is related to each other," he stated.

The Morana Regional Airport remains temporarily closed as the investigation continues, with the NTSB leading the effort.

Cartels Designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations: A New Approach

The Trump administration has designated eight Latin American cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move praised by law enforcement experts. Betsy Smith, spokesperson for the National Police Association, explained the significance of this designation.

"What that does is it allows some additional not only investigative capabilities, but punishment capabilities," Smith explained. "It allows the State Department to get involved." The designation enables multiple government agencies to target these criminal organizations, which operate in approximately 60 countries worldwide.

The designation includes well-known criminal groups such as Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and the Sinaloa Cartel. President Trump mandated Secretary of State Marco Rubio to develop policy recommendations regarding these designations within 14 days, in consultation with the Secretaries of Treasury and Homeland Security, the U.S. Attorney General, and the Director of National Intelligence.

Smith detailed the extensive criminal enterprises these cartels manage: "They traffic not just in drugs and women and children, but they traffic a lot in weapons. They have hit squads that go around." She cited an example of a Tren de Aragua hit squad murdering a retired Venezuelan police officer in Miami and described how cartels operate "tourist burglary gangs" targeting high-end vacation homes.

The terrorist designation enables the Treasury Department to shut down cartel bank accounts and allows the Department of Defense to get involved in operations against these groups. The designation also facilitates international cooperation, including with Mexico, whose president has agreed to cooperate on joint investigations and military operations.

"We have allowed, especially the Mexican cartels, to flourish for the last two and a half decades," Smith noted, emphasizing the importance of this new approach.

FBI Leadership Changes: The Role of Kash Patel

The potential confirmation of Kash Patel as FBI Director represents a significant change for the bureau, according to Betsy Smith. "Kash Patel as director of the FBI will be able to go into America's premier law enforcement organization, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, clean house at the top, open the books... and be transparent about what happened," Smith explained.

She noted that the FBI has "lost so much ground in trust with not just the public, but with other law enforcement organizations." Smith described Patel as "a defense attorney, a prosecutor, an intelligence expert, a brilliant young man who is ready to do the job."

The appointment reflects the administration's broader approach of placing "people who love this country" in leadership positions, with the goal of restoring trust in American institutions while maintaining coordination across government agencies.