Drivers who won a $1.8 million class-action suit against a small Ohio town over its use of red light cameras want to collect their damages -- straight from the pockets of a new crop of motorists caught by the unpopular and all-seeing digital eyes.

Lawyers for thousands of drivers cited in New Miami filed a class-action lawsuit in 2013 against the Butler County town of 2,000 for using an automated speed camera system that they said violated due process rights.The plaintiffs won their case and a subsequent appeal by the town, which now hopes to put the case before the Ohio Supreme Court.

In the meantime, plaintiffs -- and their lawyers -- want their money. And in a case of extreme irony, they want to collect it by gaishing fines generated by New Miami's new red light camera vendor, Blue Line Solutions.

"We want to make sure that any money that New Miami received from their new speed camera program goes to pay back the plaintiffs that had to pay under the old speed camera system," attoey Michael Allen told FoxNews.com on Wednesday.

Allen, along with the other four attoeys involved in the suit, argue that the new stream of ticket revenue is the cash-strapped town's "only remaining substantial asset."

Last week, Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Oster denied the motion to gaish New Miami's current red light camera revenue -- at least until the final appeal is exhausted.

"This case is currently pending review before the Supreme Court of Ohio," Oster wrote on Thursday, adding that gaishment [is] an extraordinary remedy under these circumstances, which should not be considered lightly."

Allen said the attempt was rejected for "legal, technical reasons."

"We're waiting for the Supreme Court to say, 'No, village of Miami. Get your wallets out and start paying these people,'" he said.

Brazilian police arrested 10 people who allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group on social media and discussed possible attacks during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, officials said Thursday.

Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes said in the capital, Brasilia, that 10 suspects had been detained and two more were being sought. All are Brazilian, and one is a minor. The gender of the people was not given.

Police acted because the group discussed using weapons and guerrilla tactics to potentially launch an attack during the Olympics, which begin Aug. 5, Moraes said.

However "they were complete amateurs and ill-prepared" to actually launch at attack, Moraes said. "A few days ago they said they should start practicing martial arts, for example."

Still, Moraes said even disorganized groups should be taken seriously.

The arrests were made in 10 different states, including Sao Paulo and Parana in the southe part of the country, and it was not clear whether the suspects knew each other beyond their online contacts. Moraes said there were no specific targets for an attack.

Moraes said they had all been "baptized" as Islamic State sympathizers online and that none had actually traveled to Syria or Iraq, the group's stronghold, or received any training. Several were allegedly trying to secure financing from the group, known by the acronym ISIS.

The justice minister added that one of the suspects communicated with a Brazilian store in an alleged attempt to by an AK-47 assault rifle, apparently the most concrete action taken toward a possible attack.

Last week the top military aide for Brazil's interim govement said conces over terrorism had "reached a higher level" after the attack in Nice, France.

Security has emerged as the top conce during the Olympics, including violence possibly spilling over from Rio's hundreds of slums. Authorities have said they will be prepared and that some 85,000 police and soldiers will be patrolling during the competitions.

BREAKING NEWS: An Australian police bomb squad is examining a car that was driven into an underground parking garage at a weste Sydney police station. Police have arrested the driver, who reportedly tried to set himself on fire.

The Australian newspaper reported that authorities found gas bottles packed inside the car. The bottles did not explode. The circumstances were still being investigated.

UPDATE: Man in custody after he drove his car into the underground car park of Merrylands police station. #9News pic.twitter.com/2RsVCrFMP0

— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) July 21, 2016

New South Wales police said in a statement that a perimeter had been established around the station in the weste Sydney suburb of Merrylands as a precaution. They said they had no other information.

One source called the attack “very deliberate,” The Sydney Moing Herald reported.

A reporter at Sydney’s ABC station reportedly said that a police source believed the incident was an “attempted terror attack.” The BBC pointed out that there was no official confirmation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

CLEVELAND – Donald Trump mostly brushed off the furor over Ted Cruz’s non-endorsement speech Wednesday night, calling the snub “no big deal” even as the senator himself doubled down – though the Republican standard-bearer used the dispute to wa voters that if Democrats win in November, their justices “will destroy us all.”

Trump blasted out a pair of tweets responding to the Cruz speech backlash.

Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn't honor the pledge! I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway. No big deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2016

Ted Cruz talks about the Constitution but doesn't say that if the Dems win the Presidency, the new JUSTICES appointed will destroy us all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2016

Cruz, meanwhile, defended his remarks Thursday moing at a breakfast with Texas delegates, during which he was pushed to admit he still held a grudge against Trump for “maligning” his wife and father.

Even as some in the audience Thursday moing chanted “Trump, Trump,” Cruz doubled down, saying he still doesn’t plan to endorse. He also said Trump never asked him to do so when he invited him to speak, and the campaign knew what he was going to say.

The Texas senator faced a mixed reaction from the crowd, at a gathering down the street from the convention arena where his remarks caused a commotion the night before. Some cheered, while others challenged him on whether he’d endorse. Cruz, amid some contentious exchanges with delegates, suggested endorsing Trump would have been the easy option.

But he said, “Whether you want me to or not, I’m not going to lie to you, and what I said last night is what I believe.”

And he made clear that part of the reason was personal, referencing campaign swipes at his family in explaining why he broke a primary campaign pledge to back the eventual nominee.

"I'll tell you the day that pledge was abrogated was the day this became personal -- I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father," he said.

One delegate said, "Get over it. This is politics."

Cruz responded, "No, it is not. It's about right and wrong."

The night before, Cruz faced a backlash when he, instead of backing Trump, said only that delegates should "vote your conscience."

Party officials immediately slammed Cruz, with one calling the speech "classless," while a senior GOP operative on the convention floor told Fox News: "I could not believe it. I literally could not believe [Cruz] didn't endorse Trump. I'm speechless."

Cruz, a rival of Trump's during primary season — and widely believed to already be eying a 2020 presidential run — was interrupted several times during the speech with angry chants of “endorse Trump, endorse Trump,” with the voices of discontent nearly drowning him out when Trump himself entered the Quicken Loans Arena as Cruz was finishing his speech.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who spoke later in the evening, departed from his prepared text to attempt to recast Cruz's remarks as an endorsement of Trump.

Gingrich, a strong Trump supporter, noted what he described as the real estate mogul's "generosity" in allowing Cruz to address the delegates in Cleveland and said that the audience had "misunderstood" the point of the speech.

"So to paraphrase Ted Cruz," Gingrich added, "the only way to protect that is to vote for the Trump/Pence ticket."

A source close to Cruz's ier circle acknowledged to Fox News that the end of the speech "was tough, but sometimes standing for principle means getting booed."

"It's not classless to compliment Trump for wiing," the source added. "It's not classless to highlight areas of policy where they can work together like border security, trade or fighting ISIS. It's not classless to call on all his supporters to not stay home, but tu out.”

The speech overshadowed what was supposed to be a coming out party for Trump’s vice presidential ruing mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

Pence nevertheless delivered just what the Trump campaign hoped he would — a measured but forceful message that set the tone for the general election campaign, while assuring voters that Trump was the best option for America, and the conservative choice.

Drawing a sharp contrast between Trump and Hillary Clinton and calling 2016 a “time for choosing,” Pence echoed the message of party leaders the night before: It’s Trump or Clinton in November, so pick a side.

“The choice couldn’t be more clear. Americans can elect someone who literally personifies the failed establishment in Washington, D.C., or we can choose a leader who will fight every day to make America great again,” Pence said.

He added, “It’s change versus status quo, and my fellow Republicans, when Donald Trump becomes president of the United States of America the change will be huge.”

Pence appealed to voters Wednesday to “resolve here and now that Hillary Clinton will never become president of the United States of America.”

Calling Trump the “genuine article” and a “wier” who “never backs down,” he also said Trump is the candidate to confront radical Islam, cut taxes, grow the economy, shrink the bureaucracy, enforce immigration law and appoint Supreme Court justices who will uphold the Constitution.

Fox News' Bill Hemmer, Jake Gibson and FoxNews.com's Baini Chakraborty and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

A transgender student filed a lawsuit against a Wisconsin school district Tuesday, alleging that the district won’t let him use the boys’ restrooms and repeatedly uses his female birth name, violating federal anti-discrimination laws and the U.S. Constitution.

The Transgender Law Center and the civil rights law firm Relman, Dane and Colfax PLLC filed the federal lawsuit in Milwaukee against the Kenosha school district. The filing states Ashton Whitaker, a 16-year-old student at Tremper High School, was designated a girl on his birth certificate but began identifying as a boy in middle school.

The suit claims the district denied him access to boys’ restroom facilities and directed staff to monitor his restroom usage, forcing him and other transgender students to wear green wristbands to help staff recognize them. As a result, Whitaker drastically reduced his liquid intake, aggravating a medical condition that causes him to faint, and suffered stress migraines, according to the lawsuit.

Teachers also continue to call Whitaker by his female birth name, he had to room with girls on an orchestra trip to Europe and the principal initially denied him the ability to run for junior prom king. School officials relented only after his classmates protested, the lawsuit stated.

The district's actions violate Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as the Constitution's equal protection guarantees, the lawsuit argues.

"Transgender youth are struggling with the issue of their identity, but if they're not received well by people around them, then they can have additional psychological problems and so this has been very stressful for him," Rock Pledl, Whitaker's attoey said, according to Fox 6 Milwaukee.

"The degree to which the administration has just continued to harass him over and over and raising the stakes when you'd think it'd be the opposite. You'd think they'd be looking for a way to make his life at that high school more pleasant."

Whitaker said in a news release that the district's actions have made his life miserable and he's worried about how he'll navigate his upcoming senior year.

An attoey for the Kenosha district said Wednesday he is certain the district will win the lawsuit.

"The district is confident that when the litigation process establishes accurate facts and applies them to the proper legal standards, its policies and practices will be found to be in total compliance with all laws," Ron Stadler said in an email sent by the district's communication director to Kenosha News.

Wisconsin is one of the states suing President Barack Obama’s administration over its directive to public schools to let transgender students use the facilities that correspond to their gender identity. Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin tried to pass a bill during the 2015-16 legislative session that would have made it the first state in the nation to force public school students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their birth gender. The measure went nowhere.

The Kenosha district responded to the lawsuit in a statement to Fox 6 Milwaukee.

"Kenosha Unified was recently made aware of the lawsuit filed against the District alleging discrimination against a transgender student. The district and its legal counsel are reviewing the complaint and all of the allegations asserted in the complaint,” the district said.

“Even a cursory review of the complaint shows that some of the factual allegations are patently false. The district does not have a practice or policy requiring any student to wear a wristband for monitoring any purpose or for any reason whatsoever. The district has worked diligently with transgender students and their families to address their unique needs and accommodations, including the family named in the suit."

At least 13 states and the District of Columbia prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity in schools. Hundreds of school districts, from Anchorage, Alaska, and Tucson, Arizona, to Fairfax County, Virginia and Chicago, have adopted similar protections.

At least two other transgender students have filed lawsuits similar to Whitaker's seeking the right to use boys' bathrooms and locker rooms.

Gavin Grimm filed a lawsuit in Virginia seeking to use boys' bathroom at his high school. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Grimm in April. The school board has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case.

A 14-year-old Maryland middle school student filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday alleging school officials have barred him from using the boys' restrooms and locker rooms.

On the other side of the issue, dozens of families sued in May seeking to stop Township High School District 211 in suburban Chicago from allowing a transgender girl from using the girls' locker room.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Fox 6 Milwaukee.

BREAKING NEWS: An Australian police bomb squad is examining a car that was driven into an underground parking garage at a weste Sydney police station. Police have arrested the driver, who reportedly tried to set himself on fire.

The Australian newspaper reported that authorities found gas bottles packed inside the car. The bottles did not explode. The circumstances were still being investigated.

UPDATE: Man in custody after he drove his car into the underground car park of Merrylands police station. #9News pic.twitter.com/2RsVCrFMP0

— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) July 21, 2016

New South Wales police said in a statement that a perimeter had been established around the station in the weste Sydney suburb of Merrylands as a precaution. They said they had no other information.

One source called the attack “very deliberate,” The Sydney Moing Herald reported.

A reporter at Sydney’s ABC station reportedly said that a police source believed the incident was an “attempted terror attack.” The BBC pointed out that there was no official confirmation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Donald Trump had a simple answer for Republicans outraged by Ted Cruz's non-endorsement speech Wednesday night:

"No big deal."

Trump tweeted his response oveight, saying Cruz didn’t honor his “pledge” to back the nominee, while brushing off the snub.

Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn't honor the pledge! I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway. No big deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2016

Cruz, meanwhile, defended his remarks Thursday moing at a breakfast with Texas delegates, during which he was pushed to admit he still held a grudge against Trump for “maligning” his wife and father.

Even as some in the audience Thursday moing chanted “Trump, Trump,” Cruz doubled down, saying he still doesn’t plan to endorse. He also said Trump never asked him to do so when he invited him to speak, and the campaign knew what he was going to say.

The Texas senator faced a mixed reaction from the crowd, at a gathering down the street from the convention arena where his remarks caused a commotion the night before. Some cheered, while others challenged him on whether he’d endorse. Cruz, amid some contentious exchanges with delegates, suggested endorsing Trump would have been the easy option.

But he said, “Whether you want me to or not, I’m not going to lie to you, and what I said last night is what I believe.”

And he made clear that part of the reason was personal, referencing campaign swipes at his family in explaining why he broke a primary campaign pledge to back the eventual nominee.

"I'll tell you the day that pledge was abrogated was the day this became personal -- I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father," he said.

One delegate said, "Get over it. This is politics."

Cruz responded, "No, it is not. It's about right and wrong."

The night before, Cruz faced a backlash when he, instead of backing Trump, said only that delegates should "vote your conscience."

Party officials immediately slammed Cruz, with one calling the speech "classless," while a senior GOP operative on the convention floor told Fox News: "I could not believe it. I literally could not believe [Cruz] didn't endorse Trump. I'm speechless."

Cruz, a rival of Trump's during primary season — and widely believed to already be eying a 2020 presidential run — was interrupted several times during the speech with angry chants of “endorse Trump, endorse Trump,” with the voices of discontent nearly drowning him out when Trump himself entered the Quicken Loans Arena as Cruz was finishing his speech.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who spoke later in the evening, departed from his prepared text to attempt to recast Cruz's remarks as an endorsement of Trump.

Gingrich, a strong Trump supporter, noted what he described as the real estate mogul's "generosity" in allowing Cruz to address the delegates in Cleveland and said that the audience had "misunderstood" the point of the speech.

"So to paraphrase Ted Cruz," Gingrich added, "the only way to protect that is to vote for the Trump/Pence ticket."

A source close to Cruz's ier circle acknowledged to Fox News that the end of the speech "was tough, but sometimes standing for principle means getting booed."

"It's not classless to compliment Trump for wiing," the source added. "It's not classless to highlight areas of policy where they can work together like border security, trade or fighting ISIS. It's not classless to call on all his supporters to not stay home, but tu out.”

The speech overshadowed what was supposed to be a coming out party for Trump’s vice presidential ruing mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

Pence nevertheless delivered just what the Trump campaign hoped he would — a measured but forceful message that set the tone for the general election campaign, while assuring voters that Trump was the best option for America, and the conservative choice.

Drawing a sharp contrast between Trump and Hillary Clinton and calling 2016 a “time for choosing,” Pence echoed the message of party leaders the night before: It’s Trump or Clinton in November, so pick a side.

“The choice couldn’t be more clear. Americans can elect someone who literally personifies the failed establishment in Washington, D.C., or we can choose a leader who will fight every day to make America great again,” Pence said.

He added, “It’s change versus status quo, and my fellow Republicans, when Donald Trump becomes president of the United States of America the change will be huge.”

Pence appealed to voters Wednesday to “resolve here and now that Hillary Clinton will never become president of the United States of America.”

Calling Trump the “genuine article” and a “wier” who “never backs down,” he also said Trump is the candidate to confront radical Islam, cut taxes, grow the economy, shrink the bureaucracy, enforce immigration law and appoint Supreme Court justices who will uphold the Constitution.

Fox News' Bill Hemmer, Jake Gibson and FoxNews.com's Baini Chakraborty and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Archaeologists have made a fascinating discovery in a remote Caribbean island cave: 16th-century Christian symbols left by European explorers alongside ancient indigenous art, offering a glimpse into the colonization of the Americas.

The small island of Mona, which sits between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, is filled with caves; caves on the island were sources of freshwater, and marks made by indigenous people commonly appear near the water sources. (Christopher Columbus visited the island in 1494.)

But it’s cave number 18 that has caught scientists’ eyes. Inside the cave, which is over half a mile long, researchers have found about 250 indigenous markings in the walls and ceilings, according to a new study. These were made by what archaeologists call “finger fluting,” in which indigenous people used one or several fingers to draw on the cave.

What makes the cave even more interesting for the researchers is that its walls also record the presence of European visitors, with drawings of Christian crosses and even phrases written in Latin and Spanish. The European marks, which number over 30, the researchers report, are slightly higher above the ground than the indigenous symbols, in the places where they are near each other.

The walls can be read. Someone wrote “God made many things,” in one spot in the cave, and in another place, the words “may God forgive you” appear. There’s also a Latin quote from the Bible, which the researchers translate in their study as meaning: “And the Word was made flesh [and dwelt among us].”

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Indigenous symbols in Cave 18. (University of Leicester)

There are multiple Christian crosses in the cave, frequently drawn near indigenous art, the scientists report in the study, which was published in the joual Antiquity. The researchers even know the order in which the crosses were drawn: first the vertical line, followed by a left-to-right drawing of the horizontal, like a blessing by a right-handed person, the study says.

In a chamber is one of two representations of Calvary, comprised of three crosses. The central cross has “Jesus” written in Latin below it.

The scientists behind the research hail from institutions including the British Museum, the University of Leicester, and the Puerto Rican Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

“This research reveals a new perspective on the personal encounter between indigenous populations and the first generations of Europeans in the Americas,” Jago Cooper, a scientist from the British Museum and first author on the paper, said in a statement.

“This is a unique site that helps us to understand the origins of cultural identity in the Americas, the start of a process that continues right up to the mode day.”

Follow Rob Verger on Twitter: @robverger

The FBI aounced Tuesday it joined the search for a 14-year-old girl dressed only in pajamas and no shoes who vanished Sunday after she ventured out of her family’s cabin and into 50-degree weather to use the bathroom.

Kately Barlow was in Washington state's Big Lake area during a trip with her family from Florida when she disappeared around 9 p.m. Sunday, Q13Fox.com reported. Her uncle said he believed somebody lured her away from the cabin and kidnapped her.

Barlow had been staying with her aunt and uncle, who have primary custody of her.

The teen’s cellphone was found at a rest area near Interstate 5, about 32 miles away from where the family had been staying.

Juvenile Kately (Katie) Barlow last seen July 17 in Skagit County. Send tips to 360-428-3211. #SkagitCoSo pic.twitter.com/kCXEQ8zFmm

— FBI Seattle (@FBISeattle) July 19, 2016

Barlow’s stepfather, Kevin O’Coor, says the teen is usually never without her cellphone. She was staying on the lake with her family for three weeks.

Jeff O’Coor, the teen’s uncle, told Q13 Fox that nothing unusual happened leading up to her disappearance.

“No one’s going to (run away), from Florida, in 50-degree weather wearing shorts, pajama shorts, and a tank top without any shoes. That’s why we feel this is an abduction case. Someone has come and taken a close family member from us and my niece is out there and I want her to please pick up the phone and call me,” O’Coor said.

Click for more from Q13Fox.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report

By all accounts, it was the most popular gala the Lady Taveers had ever held. Over 1,000 people packed the Park Lane Hilton in London on Oct. 30, 2009, with the crowd overflowing into the hallways, to listen to President Bill Clinton speak on the power of giving.

While Clinton’s speech helped raise a substantial sum for the prominent cricket charity, his staggering $290,000 speaking fee was not covered by the group, according to organizers. The fee also was not covered by “World Management Limited,” the marketing company Hillary Clinton listed as the payment source in her federal financial filings.

It was bankrolled by a wealthy British businessman named Robert Whitton—a name you won’t find included in the Clintons’ public disclosure forms.

A review by the Washington Free Beacon found that Hillary Clinton often listed small foreign speaking firms as the sources of her husband’s lecture payments in her Senate and State Department disclosures, even though the actual paychecks came from undisclosed third parties.

Click for more at The Washington Free Beacon.

The FBI aounced Tuesday it joined the search for a 14-year-old girl dressed only in pajamas and no shoes who vanished Sunday after she ventured out of her family’s cabin and into 50-degree weather to use the bathroom.

Kately Barlow was in Washington state's Big Lake area during a trip with her family from Florida when she disappeared around 9 p.m. Sunday, Q13Fox.com reported. Her uncle said he believed somebody lured her away from the cabin and kidnapped her.

Barlow had been staying with her aunt and uncle, who have primary custody of her.

The teen’s cellphone was found at a rest area near Interstate 5, about 32 miles away from where the family had been staying.

Juvenile Kately (Katie) Barlow last seen July 17 in Skagit County. Send tips to 360-428-3211. #SkagitCoSo pic.twitter.com/kCXEQ8zFmm

— FBI Seattle (@FBISeattle) July 19, 2016

Barlow’s stepfather, Kevin O’Coor, says the teen is usually never without her cellphone. She was staying on the lake with her family for three weeks.

Jeff O’Coor, the teen’s uncle, told Q13 Fox that nothing unusual happened leading up to her disappearance.

“No one’s going to (run away), from Florida, in 50-degree weather wearing shorts, pajama shorts, and a tank top without any shoes. That’s why we feel this is an abduction case. Someone has come and taken a close family member from us and my niece is out there and I want her to please pick up the phone and call me,” O’Coor said.

Click for more from Q13Fox.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Republican officials slammed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Wednesday night after he failed to endorse presidential nominee Donald Trump during his convention speech.

One RNC official called Cruz's speech "classless," while a senior GOP operative on the convention floor told Fox News, "I could not believe it. I literally could not believe [Cruz] didn't endorse Trump. I'm speechless."

Cruz, a rival of Trump's during primary season, was booed off the stage after ignoring cries from delegates to formally back the party's presidential candidate.

Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn't honor the pledge! I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway. No big deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2016

The cacophany of noise and discontent was amplified when the nominee himself walked into the Quicken Loans Arena as Cruz was finishing his speech.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who spoke later in the evening, departed from his prepared text to attempt to recast Cruz's remarks as an endorsement of Trump.

Gingrich, a strong Trump supporter, noted what he described as the real estate mogul's "generosity" in allowing Cruz to address the delegates in Cleveland and said that the audience had "misunderstood" the point of the speech.

"Ted Cruz said you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution," Gingrich said. "In this election there is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution.

"So to paraphrase Ted Cruz," Gingrich added, "the only way to protect that is to vote for the Trump/Pence ticket."

By contrast, Gingrich's prepared remarks included only a single mention of Cruz, saying that the Texas senator's remarks "made the key point that we need to elect the Trump-Pence Republican ticket."

A source close to Cruz's ier circle acknowledged to Fox News that the end of the speech "was tough, but sometimes standing for principle means getting booed."

"It's not classless to compliment Trump for wiing," the source added. "It's not classless to highlight areas of policy where they can work together like border security, trade or fighting ISIS. It's not classless to call on all his supporters to not stay home, but tu out."

Fox News' Bill Hemmer, Jodie Curtis and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

The persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria has exposed a rift among the half-million Chaldeans in the U.S., igniting furious debate as to whether the religious minority -- subjects of ongoing genocide at the hands of ISIS -- should remain in their ancestral home or seek asylum abroad.

According to leaders within the Chaldean community, which is an Iraq branch of the Catholic Church, there are two opposing factions within the religious community. One is led by Baghdad-based Patriarch Sako, who closely aligns under the goveance of Pope Francis and holds particular influence among the 250,000 Chaldeans located in the Detroit area. Sako urges Chaldeans to hold fast to their bloody homeland.

Then there is the other side helmed by Bishop Sarhad Jammo, who until last week presided over Southe Califoia's 150,000-plus Chaldean community. Jammo advocated for Chaldeans to flee the war zone for their own survival. The two metropolitan regions host roughly 80 percent of American Chaldeans.

As ISIS began its onslaught, Jammo joined forces with Mark Arabo, a national spokesperson for the American-Chaldean community and founder of the Califoia-based Minority Humanitarian Foundation, to work closely with the White House and Congress to advocate for Christians to be resettled in the U.S. as the ISIS threat spread. The two also sought to facilitate safe passage for the religious minority out of the war-ravaged region.

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Arabo, (l.), and Noel, (r.), advocate Chaldeans remaining in, or moving to the US until their safety can be assured in Iraq.

“We wanted to ensure that people who wanted to leave had the means to do so, but we also supported those who wished to stay,” Arabo told FoxNews.com.

Yet Sako has forcefully disagreed with such a stance on multiple occasions.

“A Christian community that was bo in these lands caot organize exodus trips that will mark its distinction,” he told the Vatican insider last year.

Patriarch Sako's opposing position prompted Arabo to last year compile a list of some 70,000 individuals in Iraq and Syria who sought to leave as refugees. But the Patriarch soon doubled down, and in an unprecedented move last September, issued a decree stating that any priests who were originally from Iraq and currently serving in San Diego were to retu to the conflict-inflamed country immediately or risk excommunication by the Patriarch.

Sako insisted that the priests did not have permission to leave their posts in Iraq, and stated that their duty as church leaders is to “live and die in the place where God calls us.”

“You caot preserve a culture when the people are being systematically exterminated,” Arabo argued. “During genocide, politics must be an afterthought to the lives of Christian families.”

Christians have been persecuted in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, with numbers dwindling from 1.5 million in 2003 to less than 275,000 today, due in large part to the infiltration of ISIS. Several churches have been decimated, and priests have been particularly targeted. But for some being told to retu, Iraq hasn't been home for decades.

One such leader ordered back to his birthplace was the popular Father Noel Gorgis, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen and has been living in America for more than 30 years. He served as a monk in Baghdad and has said he was granted permission to flee in an effort to avoid mandatory service in Hussein’s army. He and eight priests, all part of the Chaldean Catholic Diocese of St. Peter the Apostle in San Diego, were suspended for refusing to comply with a decree that they retu to Iraq.

On Sunday, Gorgis told FoxNews.com that the leader of the Chaldean Church terminated his priestly service in the Chaldean Church, but vowed to remain a “Catholic Church priest for life.”

“I am doing Mass at faithful homes in El Cajon,” he said. “The U.S.A. is my country to live and the Chaldean faithful are growing here. Here is our future.”

Jammo and Arabo made an appeal to the Vatican requesting Pope Francis to overtu the decree, and in a somewhat surprise move in January, the Vatican sided with the Chaldean Church of San Diego over the Patriarch. Pope Francis invalidated the decree and affirmed that Gorgis and others did not need to retu.

Sako issued a statement indicating that he does not accept the pope’s jurisdiction to rescind his directive. Earlier this month, Jammo was forced to resign and has since appointed an administrator to oversee current church affairs while continuing to demand other priests leave their positions in San Diego and retu to Iraq.

Last week, Gorgis received his marching orders with a letter slipped under his door demanding he retu to Baghdad, and that his communications with the diocese he has long served will be terminated Friday.

“Where is justice? I am really sad. If there is no justice in the church, where can we find it?” Gorgis told FoxNews.com. “There is no church law to force me to leave my church where I was baptized and ordained.”

Patriarch Sako, the Vatican and St. Peter's Church did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Within the Kurdish people’s rugged army is an elite unit that specializes in rooting out ISIS sleeper cells and responds first when the black-clad jihadist army strikes in northe Iraq’s no-man’s land. They are called the “Black Devils” by the terrorists they hunt, and they embrace the name.

Made up of 400 of the Kurdish forces known as Peshmerga, the Black Devils boast a high enemy body count, a Spartan regimen and the ability to induce panic in the dark hearts of their foes. Their fierce tactics and effective intelligence gathering make them as feared as they are despised.

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Members of the group known as the "Black Devils" are the first responders when ISIS strikes at surrounding villages. (Mylee Cardenas)

"It is a special kind of hate they have for us," Major Raad, a former interpreter for the U.S. Army during the Iraq war, told FoxNews.com from the group's headquarters in Teleskof, just 8 miles outside of the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. "They never have mercy on us. They just kill us."

Hunkered down in their headquarters in the town seized May 3 by Kurdish and U.S. forces in a battle that claimed the life of U.S. Navy SEAL Charles Keating, the unit surveys the desert villages on the outskirts of Mosul, collecting information, preparing for a looming battle for Iraq’s second-largest city and remaining ready to move at a moment’s notice.

"We look for anything that might be strange,” Col. Mahmud Darwesh told FoxNews.com. “When we see extra movements, it is likely an attack might be coming."

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Downtime is spent sipping tea and smoking cigarettes. (Mylee Cardenas)

Led by Peshmerga Gen. Wahid Majid Mohammed, the exclusive unit was formed in May of 2014, just as ISIS – known primarily as the Da'esh in the Middle East – was becoming known to locals. Although it primarily engages in counter-terrorism in tandem with the Kurdish intelligence forces known as Asayish, the unit also serves as the army’s “quick reaction force.”

"If anyone has a problem and gets attacked, we go there," said Raad.

Much of the Black Devils’ work is focused in cities recaptured from ISIS such as Kirkuk, Makhmour and Sinjar Mountain, where ISIS slaughtered hundreds of Yazidi two years ago. Liberated to rebuild, the cities are nonetheless plagued by sleeper cells and covert ISIS missions.

The unit routinely foils suicide bombers, including one whose story made inteational news as an emblem of the hapless desperation of ISIS’ deadly dupes. The would-be bomber was captured before he could detonate his vest, then begged his Black Devils captors to kill him because the "Prophet was waiting."

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The secretive Kurdish force keeps watch over the no-man's land surrounding Mosul. (Mylee Cardenas)

The Kurds listened in as the operative’s handlers told him by cellphone to kill himself and make it to his celestial appointment. He was instead arrested, treated for injuries, interrogated and handed over to authorities.

Key intelligence Kurdish and U.S. forces gather about ISIS comes through the Black Devils. Members told FoxNews.com the terrorist army is deteriorating, increasingly younger and often fueled by amphetamines.

The unit – whose youngest member is 20 and oldest is 55 – is tight-knit and includes fathers and sons, uncles and brothers, cousins and childhood friends.

To date, the Black Devils have seen seven members killed and 57 wounded in fighting against ISIS. Almost daily, their line is hit with everything from Soviet-style heavy weapons such as Doshkas, to 120-mm mortars and artillery launched from Katysha tanks. ISIS snipers often take advantage of darkness, dust and fog to creep close to their line and hide in ditches before striking.

Last year, members of the unit walked out to those ditches a few hundred meters away and proudly put up a Kurdish flag. When eight ISIS fighters finally took down the flag two weeks ago, each paid with their lives, Raad said.

In their makeshift barracks, members train with weapons and listen to classical and Kurdish music while sipping tea and smoking cigarettes. They've also dedicated countless hours to cracking codes used by ISIS in radio transmissions. Sources said ISIS communicates via a strange brew of military terms and odd phrases. For example, "visiting the farmer" for a time meant an airstrike was imminent and "taxi" referred to heavy fire.

When ISIS fighters sought to aounce a mortar launched toward a Black Devils redoubt, they called it "sending a bird," Kurdish sources told FoxNews.com.

Teleskof serves as a crucial gateway to liberating Mosul, due to its close proximity to the city and symbolic importance as an ancestral home to Christians, regional allies of the Kurds. Two years ago, Christians fled in the face of a fierce ISIS advance and the town that was once home to 11,000 people has since been largely uninhabited.

“This village is for all Christian people and we do want to protect them,” said Col. Ziravan Bavoshky, manager of security in Teleskof, who operates in conjunction with the unit. “Sometimes the people who lived here come just to collect things they need from their houses. We want to make it our duty to protect it for when they are able to come back when the Da'esh is gone."

Mylee Cardenas contributed to this report

AUSTIN, Texas – A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Texas' strict voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act and ordered changes before the November election.

The ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals instructs a lower court to make changes that fix the "discriminatory effect" of the 2011 law, but to do so in a way that disrupts this year's election season as little as possible.

President Barack Obama's administration took the unusual step of deploying the weight of the U.S. Justice Department into the case when it challenged the law, which requires Texas residents to show one of seven forms of approved identification. The state and other supporters say the Texas law prevents fraud. Opponents say it discriminates by requiring forms of ID that are more difficult to obtain for low-income, African-American and Latino voters.

"We are extremely pleased with this outcome. This law will no longer prevent eligible voters from casting a ballot this November," attoey Gerry Herbert, a member of the legal team that challenged the law, said following Wednesday's ruling.

The Texas Democratic Party also immediately celebrated, declaring that "the most restrictive and discriminatory Republican voter ID law in country has been struck down."

The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit agreed to rehear the issue after a three-judge panel ruled last year that the law violated the Voting Rights Act.

Lawyers for Texas have argued that the state makes free IDs easy to obtain. They said any inconveniences or costs involved in getting one do not substantially burden the right to vote, and that the Justice Department and other plaintiffs had failed to prove that the law resulted in denying anyone the right to vote.

Opponents countered in briefs that trial testimony indicated various bureaucratic and economic burdens associated with the law — for instance, the difficulty in finding and purchasing a proper birth certificate to obtain an ID. A brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union cited testimony in other voter ID states indicating numerous difficulties faced by people, including burdensome travel and expenses to get required documentation to obtain IDs.

Texas doesn't recognize university IDs from college students, but it does accept concealed handgun licenses as proof of identity.

Despite being struck down by a federal district judge in 2014, the law has been enforced in recent elections. The decision came so close to Election Day that the 5th Circuit panel allowed it to be enforced that year to avoid voter confusion.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal to stop Texas from enforcing the law pending the current appeal. But the court said it could revisit the issue as the November elections approach.

CLEVELAND – Mike Pence quickly accepted the Republican vice presidential nomination and then showed why Donald Trump picked him as his ruing mate, harkening to his Midweste roots to appeal to GOP voters to unite against Hillary Clinton – rallying the faithful ahead of Thursday night’s crowning of Trump as the party standard-bearer.

The Indiana goveor dubbed the presumptive Democratic nominee “America’s secretary of the status quo,” and called 2016 a “time for choosing.”

His address was the rally point Republicans were hoping would come from Trump’s ex-primary rival Ted Cruz, who faced angry boos from the crowd Wednesday night as he stopped short of an endorsement in his own prime-time speech.

Though Cruz congratulated Trump on his win, some delegates prodded him toward the end to throw his support behind the nominee, chanting “Trump, Trump” – Cruz paused, but closed his address with no endorsement. Cruz urged Americans to vote their “conscience,” without naming Trump.

Republican Party officials later told Fox News the speech was “classless.” One senior GOP operative said, "I'm speechless."

Technical glitches with the arena’s monitors also created some problems. But Trump soon entered the arena, his son Eric delivered a speech retuing the focus to the party’s presidential nominee – and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich delivered a rousing address to set the stage for Pence.

Gingrich even effectively delivered an endorsement on Cruz’s behalf. He told the restless crowd that since Cruz told Americans to vote their conscience for anyone who can uphold the Constitution, there’s only one choice.

“So, to paraphrase Ted Cruz,” Gingrich said, “if you want to protect the Constitution of the United States, the only possible candidate this fall is the Trump-Pence Republican ticket.”

Drawing a sharp contrast between Trump and Hillary Clinton, Pence then echoed the message of party leaders the night before: It’s Trump or Clinton in November, so pick a side.

“The choice couldn’t be more clear. Americans can elect someone who literally personifies the failed establishment in Washington, D.C., or we can choose a leader who will fight every day to make America great again,” Pence said.

He added, “It’s change versus status quo, and my fellow Republicans, when Donald Trump becomes president of the United States of America the change will be huge.”

Pence appealed to voters Wednesday to “resolve here and now that Hillary Clinton will never become president of the United States of America.”

Calling Trump the “genuine article” and a “wier” who “never backs down,” he also said Trump is the candidate to confront radical Islam, cut taxes, grow the economy, shrink the bureaucracy, enforce immigration law and appoint Supreme Court justices who will uphold the Constitution.

While Pence, met with chants of “We like Mike,” made an impassioned case for the billionaire businessman, all eyes were on Cruz Wednesday night amid speculation over whether the Texas senator would use the convention dais to formally endorse his former rival.

He didn’t. His only mention of Trump was to congratulate him.

It seemed toward the end he might be considering the crowd’s noisy appeals, but he concluded by saying, “We will unite the party, we will unite the country by standing together for shared values, by standing for liberties.”

Still, his speech included a few nods to Trump’s message, including a call to build a border wall. His appearance at all on the Cleveland stage represented a reconciliation of sorts, and even without an endorsement, he appealed to voters to get to the polls.

“To those listening, please, don’t stay home in November,” he said. “If you love our country … stand and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”

The carefully worded speech was delivered at a time when Cruz is widely believed to be positioning himself for another presidential run, be it four or eight years down the road. He is no doubt mindful that a full-throated endorsement of Trump could haunt him in the next cycle – and it seemed unlikely by Wednesday moing he would deliver one, when Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort offered no expectation of that happening.

The non-endorsement reflected the nastiness of their own primary battle, one that saw Cruz and Trump square off all the way into May in a rivalry replete with name-calling and trash-talk.

Some delegates in the convention hall remained loyal to Cruz to the end, and he received the second-highest tally during the formal nomination proceedings Tuesday night.

Cruz centered his remarks Wednesday around what he called a “retu to freedom.”

“Freedom means that every human life is precious and must be protected,” he said. “Freedom means Supreme Court Justices who don’t dictate policy, but instead follow the Constitution.”

Afterward, delegate reaction was mixed. One North Carolina delegate who spoke to FoxNews.com voiced disappointment with how Cruz was treated.

A Texas delegate said Cruz “hurt” the party by not endorsing.

A source close to Cruz responded to GOP officials who criticized the non-endorsement.

"It's not classless to compliment Trump for wiing,” the source said. “It's not classless to highlight areas policy where they can work together like border security, trade or fighting ISIS. It's not classless to call on all his supporters to not stay home but tuout."

Another ex-primary candidate Marco Rubio made a brief appearance, via video message, right before Cruz spoke, saying, “The time for fighting is over.”

Former 2016 candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker spoke shortly before Rubio, with the message, “America deserves better than Hillary Clinton.”

FoxNews.com’s Cody Derespina and Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

AUSTIN, Texas – A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Texas' strict voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act and ordered changes before the November election.

The ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals instructs a lower court to make changes that fix the "discriminatory effect" of the 2011 law, but to do so in a way that disrupts this year's election season as little as possible.

President Barack Obama's administration took the unusual step of deploying the weight of the U.S. Justice Department into the case when it challenged the law, which requires Texas residents to show one of seven forms of approved identification. The state and other supporters say the Texas law prevents fraud. Opponents say it discriminates by requiring forms of ID that are more difficult to obtain for low-income, African-American and Latino voters.

"We are extremely pleased with this outcome. This law will no longer prevent eligible voters from casting a ballot this November," attoey Gerry Herbert, a member of the legal team that challenged the law, said following Wednesday's ruling.

The Texas Democratic Party also immediately celebrated, declaring that "the most restrictive and discriminatory Republican voter ID law in country has been struck down."

The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit agreed to rehear the issue after a three-judge panel ruled last year that the law violated the Voting Rights Act.

Lawyers for Texas have argued that the state makes free IDs easy to obtain. They said any inconveniences or costs involved in getting one do not substantially burden the right to vote, and that the Justice Department and other plaintiffs had failed to prove that the law resulted in denying anyone the right to vote.

Opponents countered in briefs that trial testimony indicated various bureaucratic and economic burdens associated with the law — for instance, the difficulty in finding and purchasing a proper birth certificate to obtain an ID. A brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union cited testimony in other voter ID states indicating numerous difficulties faced by people, including burdensome travel and expenses to get required documentation to obtain IDs.

Texas doesn't recognize university IDs from college students, but it does accept concealed handgun licenses as proof of identity.

Despite being struck down by a federal district judge in 2014, the law has been enforced in recent elections. The decision came so close to Election Day that the 5th Circuit panel allowed it to be enforced that year to avoid voter confusion.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal to stop Texas from enforcing the law pending the current appeal. But the court said it could revisit the issue as the November elections approach.

The U.S. intelligence community is waing law enforcement agencies around the country of persistent terror threats posed by radicalized Weste women.

In a Joint Intelligence Bulletin – or JIB – distributed Tuesday and obtained by Fox News, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and National Counterterrorism Center note a “continued trend of Weste female violent extremists… engaging or attempting to engage in plotting against targets in the West, including their home countries.”

The information was circulated after a review of recent arrests, as well as observations made following successful and disrupted plots.

The agencies find that extremist-sympathizing Weste women “are likely to continue” to follow persistent calls by terror groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda to plot and/or carry out lone wolf-style terror attacks in their home countries or other Weste nations.

Additionally, FBI, DHS and NCTC wa of the women’s potential role in carrying digital surveillance of potential targets over the Inteet through a practice known as “doxing.” Doxing leverages publicly available information on the web to plot attacks against specific individuals or locations.

“Weste female violent extremists have also demonstrated an ongoing interest in conducting supportive activities such as fundraising or traveling to marry foreign fighters, according to a body of court documents, press reporting, and public social media postings,” the Joint Intelligence Bulletin went on to wa.

Since January 2015, fourteen women have been implicated in terrorism cases or charged with crimes related to terror attacks in the United States, according to data from the Justice Department.

The most recent charges came in April in an immigration fraud case against two women with family ties to San Beardino gunman Syed Farook and his wife and co-attacker Tashfeen Malik.

In its latest assessment, FBI, DHS and NCTC also note the global trend of Weste female violent extremists going down the path to terrorism at a younger age. The Joint Intelligence Bulletin specifically cites several cases in which European female teens either attempted or conducted attacks on behalf of a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) or tried to travel to ISIS-controlled territory in Iraq and Syria.

“We remain conceed Weste female violent extremists who are unable or unwilling to travel abroad could instead choose to engage in violence at home,” the intelligence bulletin added.

Neither the FBI nor DHS would comment directly on the Joint Intelligence Bulletin.

In an emailed statement, an FBI spokesperson told Fox News, “As part of the continuous dialogue with our law enforcement partners, the FBI routinely shares information about potential threats to better enable law enforcement to protect the communities they serve. We urge the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to law enforcement.”

Matthew Dean is Fox News Chael's Department of Justice & Federal Law Enforcement producer. Follow him on Twitter @MattFirewall.

CLEVELAND – Trump’s wall has come to Cleveland – and it’s made of pickles.

The most popular drink on The Society Lounge’s brunch menu this week, “The Trump,” is a high-quality orange-tinted Bloody Mary gaished with its very own “wall of pickles.” The cocktail is one of several politically themed drinks at the restaurant on East 4th Street and among the myriad irreverent Republican-themed items being sold across Cleveland during the GOP convention.

Across the street from The Society Lounge, the Crossroads at House of Blues restaurant boasts a promotion for Sailor Jerry rum: “Make America Tasty Again,” playing off Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s famous slogan.

Just up the street, you can find an array of street vendors hawking hats, shirts, buttons and bumper stickers with the “Make America Great Again” phrase – and a variety of anti-Hillary Clinton messages, the most popular of which is “Hillary For Prison” and several others of a far more vulgar variety.

One of those vendors, Bob Alexander, joueyed from Detroit with his custom-made buttons.

Alexander estimated there were between 80-100 different limited-edition buttons with Trump’s likeness. The art can take him anywhere from two hours to two weeks to finalize, he said. Alexander produces the buttons for a living, under the moniker Guard Frog Designs, and he came to Cleveland hoping for a brief surge in sales.

Sitting at his table near the curb for 12-14 hours each day, he said business has been good.

All the merchants FoxNews.com talked to said they were pleased with the week’s sales numbers, and two young entrepreneurs from St. Augustine, Fla., are banking on the bucks to help jump start an app business.

Hayden Whetstone and Chase Grause flew into Cleveland on Sunday to set up their Trumpy Socks stand. Whetstone and Grause claim the long black and white socks – bearing Trump’s image – will “Make Feet Great Again.” And though they profess to have supported Trump since the begiing, they also said they drew inspiration from Airbnb, which sold politically themed cereals to raise cash to bail the then-burgeoning company out of debt.

“Capitalism at work,” Grause said.

Back at The Society Lounge, bar manager Leae Kubiez has kept busy during convention week mixing up The Trump and other Bloody Marys. There’s a drink named for RNC Chairman Reince Priebus – The Priebus (The Establishment) is made with standard Ketel One Vodka and house Bloody Mary mix; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has The Christie (The Strong), featuring overproof vodka; Ohio Gov. John Kasich is the star of The Kasich (The Local), made from entirely locally sourced ingredients.

The Trump? Well that’s more of a build-your-own drink – but for a reason.

“He’s kind of all over the place,” Kubiez said.

There’s only one drink on the menu that hasn’t been in demand.

“The Rubio,” Kubiez said, referencing a drink named for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. “I think we’ve sold zero.”

While Republicans prepare to welcome Mike Pence as their vice presidential nominee Wednesday night in Cleveland, Hillary Clinton is facing a ruing-mate dilemma as Democrats get ready for their national convention next week.

For Clinton, her list of potential vice presidential picks once included a deep bench of feisty candidates all willing to take up the cause. But recent controversies involving several top contenders may be forcing the presumptive Democratic nominee’s hand in eyeing “safer” alteatives – namely Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and USDA head Tom Vilsack.

The hits came at a rapid clip this week for others on the short-list.

One candidate thought to be an early favorite was U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro. But Castro, who met with Clinton in Washington last week, was just cited for violating federal law when he touted Clinton’s candidacy in an April news interview.

The Wall Street Joual then published a potentially problematic report on another prospect, Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who regularly retells the story of grandfather Rafael Brache being forced to flee the Dominican Republic for opposing the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Perez has praised his grandfather as being “on the right side of history.”

What Perez didn't offer up as often is that his grandfather was one of the dictator’s champions during the first five years of his three-decade rule.

The Wall Street Joual said Brache also held a string of high-level offices in the Trujillo regime, including being ambassador to the U.S. Brache reportedly “expressed great optimism” for the regime as late as 1935 when political assassinations had been well documented.

Amid these reports, campaign sources told Fox News that Kaine and Vilsack have emerged as the top two choices for Clinton's ruing mate.

Kaine, long rumored to be on Clinton's short-list, still seems to be the leading contender. The former Virginia goveor, who represents a key battleground state, is considered a safe choice for Clinton, someone who could help her appeal to moderates who have been tued off by Trump's rhetoric.

However, Vilsack, a former Iowa goveor who is a longtime friend of the Clintons, is being described as a "strong" second choice.

This suggests Clinton may also be leaning away from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the firebrand liberal icon who also has the potential to tu off independent voters.

Republican strategist Jim Doan called Kaine a "safe pick" -- and not a bad idea.

“I’d be a lot more worried about Elizabeth Warren,” said Doan, senior vice president at Artemis Strategies. “Pence and Kaine balance out the tickets very well. They are both the same in terms of temperament.”

While a Clinton-Warren matchup might provide more political fireworks, Doan waed “it might be almost too combustible” and says Kaine would be the better bet.

An Ohio-based Democratic strategist told FoxNews.com that the controversies popping up around Clinton’s list of candidates going into next week’s Democratic National Convention is actually making the job of finding the right fit for the ticket much easier.

“The media is vetting the candidates for her,” the strategist told FoxNews.com. “They are doing her job.”

Castro's problems stemmed from touting Clinton in an interview earlier this year.

“Clinton is the most experienced, thoughtful and prepared candidate for president that we have this year,” Castro had said. Though he said he was “taking off” his “HUD hat for a second and just speaking individually,” the Office of Special Counsel said he violated the Hatch Act.

The Act forbids anyone in the executive branch – other than the president and vice president – from using his or her official position to engage in political activity.

It doesn't get better for Warren, who was once thought to be a strong contender for the No. 2 slot. The popular liberal senator has in recent weeks engaged in Twitter tirades against Republican nominee Donald Trump and Pence.

On July 16, she tweeted: “Of COURSE @realDonaldTrump – a guy who calls women fat pigs & bimbos – picked a VP who is famous for trying to control women’s bodies.”

A minute later she tweeted, “@realDonaldTrump & @mike_pence are a perfect match: Two small, insecure, weak men who use hate & fear to divide our country & our people.”

Doan said: “To be honest, the White House isn’t big enough to house both [Clinton and Warren’s] egos.”

Some Democratic sources have told Fox News that Trump's selection of Pence as his ruing mate has cleared the way for Clinton to pick a similarly low-key candidate for vice president.

During an interview with Charlie Rose on Monday, Clinton emphasized “experience” would be key in determining who will be on her ticket.

When Rose specially asked about Kaine, who has called his own personality “boring,” Clinton responded: “I love that about him. I mean, he’s never lost an election. He was a world-class mayor, goveor and senator, and is one of the most highly respected senators I know.”

Fox News' Jeifer Griffin contributed to this report.

CLEVELAND – Donald Trump’s party in Cleveland this week is about to kick into high gear -- but unless the Republican presidential nominee can bridge the rift with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Trump's chances of carrying the key battleground state will remain in doubt.

There are signs, however, that some top Ohio Republicans are parting with Trump's former rival in his refusal to help elect the billionaire businessman, realizing their support may be key in a contest that polls indicate will be tight.

“I think the state delegation is coming together, and the more and more I’m with them, I realize that,” Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, told FoxNews.com Wednesday in Cleveland. “If the election were held today, Trump would win.”

He seemed to nudge Kasich, saying, “This is a team sport. The team has to come together.”

The display on the convention floor Tuesday night was striking, however, as just about every state delegation cast its votes for Trump save for the convention host state of Ohio, which awarded its delegates to Gov. Kasich based on the state’s primary results.

Kasich, meanwhile, has complicated the unity push by refusing to endorse Trump and not attending the convention, after a hard-fought GOP presidential primary in which Trump prevailed over 16 major challengers including Kasich, whose only win was his home state Ohio.

Though not officially involved in the four-day convention, Kasich has worked the fringes all week -- giving speeches that include thinly veiled criticisms of Trump.

“I’m thrilled to be in Cleveland, but it’s not where I need to go because [the platform] is not what I stood for throughout the campaign,” Kasich said at a speech before the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Kasich is particularly at odds with Trump’s positions on immigration, which includes plans to build a wall along the southe U.S. border to keep out illegal Mexican immigrants and his calls to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country, amid a series of global terror attacks by radical Islamic terrorists. “This anti-immigration is unhealthy,” Kasich said later Tuesday, in a speech before the Inteational Republican Institute.

Still, some other top Ohio Republicans are nudging their colleagues toward unity.

Dave Yost, Ohio auditor of state, published an op-ed on Cleveland.com Wednesday arguing that despite Trump’s “flaws” he’d bring a better team to Washington than Hillary Clinton.

“Ultimately, that will be what this election is about. It's not the coach, it's the team,” he wrote.

Ohio voters picked President Obama in the past two presidential elections, after going for Republican President George W. Bush in the two previous White House races.

Trump does have the support of Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, though the senator is in a tough reelection bid, with Washington Democrats making him a top target for defeat.

Portman told FoxNews.com on Wednesday that the state delegation seems to be coming around to the idea of backing Trump.

“I was talking to people this moing, and everybody was in a good mood talking about it,” he said.

The Trump-Kasich tensions flared again Wednesday, though, after a report that Trump’s camp dangled the VP slot to Kasich. Trump later tweeted that Kasich “was never asked by me to be V.P.”

Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort recently called Kasich “petulant” for avoiding the convention and not endorsing Trump, despite taking a pledge to do so.

The remarks brought a sharp response from Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges that also suggested the Trump campaign has misplayed its effort to win over the state GOP delegation.

He posted on Twitter that Manafort “still has a lot to lea about Ohio politics. Doesn't know what he's talking about. Hope he can do better.''

Republicans from outside Ohio say it’s time to unite.

David Avella, chairman of Republican recruiter GOPAC, said Wednesday it will be important for the Trump campaign and top Ohio Republicans to come together, for the good of the entire Republican ticket from presidential to congressional candidates.

“Trump needs and wants every Republican he can get. He needs to be above 90 percent of Republicans to get the votes he needs. … A lot of that is going to be the result of the party coming together after this convention,” Avella told FoxNews.com. “As far as Goveor Kasich, he has a right to support whoever he wants, but this is a binary choice and if you’re not for Donald Trump, you’re for Hillary Clinton.”

At the same time, he said this election has shown “voters don’t care who the politicians are supporting,” and time will tell what the impact of lackluster support from Ohio officials may be.

In a state like Ohio, small shifts in support could make the difference. One recent Quiipiac University poll showed Clinton and Trump tied at 41-41 percent in the state.

Former Arkansas GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee acknowledged Wednesday that the Republican path to the White House indeed goes through Ohio. But he argued this year’s unconventional race suggests history might not have to repeat itself for a GOP win.

“Everything this year has been tued on its head,” said Huckabee, while calling Kasich’s actions this week “very embarrassing.”

“He could have at least shown up and said hello,” he said, arguing the goveor at least owes a personal thanks to the police officers who have come from across the country to protect convention-goers in his state.

FoxNews.com’s Judson Berger and Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

Breitbart joualist Milo Yiaopoulos lashed back at Twitter Wednesday after it baed the political provocateur for life, calling the 140-character platform a “safe space only for leftist ideology.”

Yiaopoulos condemned the social media site for silencing conservatives while freely carrying the hateful messages of anti-police groups. The openly gay conservative bomb thrower’s ouster had the hashtag #FreeMilo trending Wednesday as users from the left and right call for his retu.

“[Twitter] targets conservatives while letting the left, Islamists, and in particular the social justice warrior vanguard of the milleial generation get away scot-free with abusive, racist and harassing behavior,” Yiaopoulos, a darling of the young conservative movement, told FoxNews.com in an email.

@Lesdoggg Hi Leslie, following, please DM me when you have a moment

— Jack (@jack) July 19, 2016

Although Yiaopoulos himself didn’t post explicitly racist language, he was blamed when some of his followers directed a storm of racist tweets at “Ghostbusters” actress Leslie Jones following his scathing movie review in which he criticized her character for perpetuating black stereotypes.

Yiaopoulos said he doesn’t take responsibility for the tweets, and said the situation only escalated because Jones responded by “attempting to call her trolls names.”

Insisting he didn’t break Twitter’s terms of service, Yiaopoulos highlighted extreme ideology that has been permitted on the site, pointing to posts that call for the “celebration of the deaths of police” and offensive tweets against whites from Jones herself.

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Leslie Jones was the object of Twitter derision after Yiaopoulos' scathing "Ghostbusters" review.

“Besides ISIS and every other Islamist group plaing and organizing on Twitter, you have the highest-ranking white member of Black Lives Matter, Shaun King, calling for a coup if Trump is elected,” he said, adding Jones ironically retweeted a message that called him “a gay Uncle Tom.”

Jones, who aounced Monday she was quitting Twitter, had retweeted the racist messages she received, prompting a volley of disparaging tweets between Yiaopoulos and herself.

Yiaopoulos referred to Jones as a “black dude” and pegged her “barely literate.” The ban followed shortly after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted at Jones to privately message him.

“People should be able to express diverse opinions and beliefs on Twitter. But no one deserves to be subjected to targeted abuse online,” a Twitter spokesman told FoxNews.com in an email. “We know many people believe we have not done enough to curb this type of behavior on Twitter.”

According to Yiaopoulos, Twitter hasn’t baed Jones for racist language for the same reason it baed him, since the site “actively works to stifle opinions it doesn’t like.”

“The only important part of the equation is the politics and identify groups of the person sending the tweet---not the content of their message,” he said.

A group of firefighters in Riverside County, Califoia wanted to honor police officers killed in Baton Rouge and Dallas.

So firefighter Eric Hille decided to display a pro-police flag on one of the fire engines at Suymead Ranch Station 48.

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You’ve probably seen the flag — it’s black and white with a blue stripe through the middle — symbolizing the “thin blue line.”

He posted the flag on July 17 -- just a few hours after a gunman attacked officers in Baton Rouge, killing three.

“We just wanted to show our support for law enforcement,” Mr. Hille told me. “We wanted them to know that we stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with them.”

Police officers appreciated the goodwill gesture — but some people did not.

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The following day the fire chief sent an email to the firefighters — telling them the flag had to come down.

And your friendly neighborhood columnist received an exclusive copy of the email written by Chief John Hawkins.

“Our foremost conce was whether the flag could create a safety risk for emergency responders due to extremists targeting the fire engine or for people following the fire engine and not being able to see the waing lights,” the chief wrote.

He also said the fire department had to “look at the big picture.”

“How is this perceived by not only the public, but also those that would seek to do harm to those in public safety?” he wrote. “Some feel the flag is an attempt to incite further violence against those who, to our very core, have dedicated our lives to protecting all lives.”

The fire chief called the decision to remove the pro-police flag a “difficult” and “painful” decision.

“Should we potentially increase the risk for our firefighters by flying flags, baers or signs in this time of divisiveness,” he asked. “Sadly, in this unsettled time the danger is possible.”

What a load of Grade-A fertilizer, folks.

It’s pretty clear to me the fire department big wigs were more conceed with the feelings of the anti-police crowd.

“The type of flag -- while strongly supporting our LE (law enforcement) family -- could increase tension or cause a negative response within the community,” the chief wrote.

The fire chief went to great lengths in his email to defend the decision — and took great offense at the criticism that he has rightfully received.

“It is beyond belief to suggest ‘management’ isn’t acutely aware of or sensitive to the attacks on our LE brothers and sisters,” he wrote.

It seems to me that the fire department management is more conceed about the feelings of a bunch of anti-police agitators than they are about showing their public support for law enforcement.

Mr. Hille was so disturbed by the incident he decided to post a message on Facebook. His story created massive outrage — so much so — that the fire department asked him to remove photos of the flag from his social media accounts.

“As you can tell, the pictures are still posted and will remain posted to show our support for our brothers and sisters in blue,” he wrote.

As we say back home in the South — good on you, Mr. Hille — good on you.

Todd Staes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. His latest book is "God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values." Follow Todd on Twitter@ToddStaes and find him on Facebook.