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US figure skating power couple makes history with record breaking seventh national championship
U.S. figure skating stars Madison Chock and Evan Bates made history on Saturday with their record-setting seventh U.S. Figure Skating title in their final competition before the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The three-time reigning world champions, performing a flamenco-style dance to a version of the Rolling Stones hit "Paint It Black" from the dystopian sci-fi Western show "Westworld," produced a season-best free skate and finished with 228.87 points.
"The feeling that we got from the audience today was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before," Chock said.
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They’ll be the heavy favorites to win gold next month in Italy.
"I felt so much love and joy," Chock continued, "and I’m so grateful for this moment."
U.S. Figure Skating will announce its selections on Sunday.
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik were second with 213.65 points and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko were third with 206.95, making those two pairs the likely choices to join Chock and Bates on the American squad for the upcoming Winter Games.
The men’s medals also were to be decided on Saturday, though two-time world champion Ilia Malinin had built such a lead after his short program that the self-styled "Quad God" would have to stumble mightily to miss out on a fourth consecutive title.
The U.S. also has qualified the maximum of three men’s spots for the Winter Games, and competition is tight between second-place Tomoko Hiwatashi, fan favorite Jason Brown, Andrew Torgashev and Maxim Naumov to round out the nationals podium.
The last time Chock and Bates competed in the Olympics in 2022 in Beijing, they watched their gold initially go to an opponent who was later disqualified for doping violations.
Chock and Bates initially had to settle for team silver with their American teammates on the podium at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Team Russia and Kamila Valieva, who was 15 at the time, stood above them with their gold medals.
It wasn't until the end of January 2024, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found Valieva guilty of an anti-doping rule violation, when Chock, Bates and the U.S. were declared the rightful 2022 gold medalists.
UN URGES COUNTRIES TO HONOR TRUCE DURING WINTER OLYMPICS, NOT DENY VISAS TO ANY NATION'S ATHLETES
Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance, during an anti-doping test at the Russian Figure Skating Championships in December 2021. She was suspended for four years and stripped of all competitive results since that date.
Chock and Bates spoke about what their message to Valieva would be today during an interview at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee media summit in October.
"It's hard to, I think, imagine what a 15-year-old has gone through and under that kind of situation," Bates said. "And I know how stressful it is, being an elite athlete as an adult, as a 36-year-old. And I think that grace should be given to humans across the board. And we can never really know the full situation, at least from our point of view. … I genuinely don't know what I would say to her."
Chock added, "I would just wish her well like as I would. I think life is short. And, at the end of the day, we're all human just going through our own human experience together. And regardless of what someone has or hasn't done and how it has affected you, I think it's important to remember we're humans as a collective, and we're all here for this, our one moment on earth, at the same time. And I just wish people to have healthy, happy lives, full of people that love them."
Chock and Bates had to wait more than two years after the initial Olympics to get their rightful gold medals, and they were finally presented with them during a ceremony at the Paris Olympics last summer.
Chock, Bates and teammates Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim and Vincent Zhou were given a specialized gold medal ceremony to receive the medals in front of more than 13,000 fans.
Chock and Bates became the first ice dancers to win three consecutive world championships in nearly three decades in March when they defeated Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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DC pipe bomb suspect pleads not guilty to planting devices at DNC and RNC headquarters
The man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican parties' headquarters five years ago pleaded not guilty in a court appearance on Friday.
Brian J. Cole, Jr was arrested by the FBI at his home in Virginia in early December, and faces two counts of transporting and attempting to use explosives.
The suspect was indicted on federal charges this week, FOX 5 reported.
He allegedly admitted to planting the bombs, which failed to detonate, in downtown Washington, D.C. on the eve of the Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
FEDS SAY MAN ACCUSED OF PLANTING DC PIPE BOMBS CONFESSED, ADMITTING HE TARGETED BOTH PARTIES
Despite initially denying his involvement to investigators, he eventually allegedly admitted to planting the bombs when he was reminded that lying was an additional crime after being shown alleged surveillance video of him at the scene, according to the Justice Department.
"According to the defendant, he was not really thinking about how people would react when the bombs detonated, although he hoped there would be news about it," court documents said, adding that he said he was "relieved" when he heard they hadn’t detonated.
Regarding his motive, Cole said "something just snapped" after "watching everything, just everything getting worse" after the 2020 election, and he wanted to do something, "to the parties" because "they were in charge."
DC PIPE BOMB SUSPECT IDENTIFIED AT BRIAN COLE JR
"Ultimately, it was luck, not lack of effort, that the defendant failed to detonate one or both of his devices and that no one was killed or maimed due to his actions," court documents said. "Indeed, the defendant admitted that he set both devices to detonate 60 minutes after he placed them. His failure to accomplish his objectives does not mitigate the profoundly dangerous nature of his crimes."
Cole also continued to purchase bomb-making materials following the failed Jan. 5 attack, prosecutors said.
He faces 10 years in prison for one charge and 20 years in prison if convicted of the second charge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Matthew Stafford’s late heroics lift Rams past Panthers in wild-card thriller
Matthew Stafford learned of his first-ever first-team All-Pro selection on Saturday.
Several hours later, Stafford jogged onto the field in Charlotte shortly before the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers opened this year’s NFL postseason.
Stafford, an NFL MVP candidate, proceeded to engineer two fourth-quarter scoring drives to rally for a 34-31 win. The wild-card round victory also punched the Rams a ticket to next week’s NFC divisional round.
While the Rams were the favorites entering Saturday's game, it took a 19-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to tight end Colby Parkinson in the game's final minute to secure the victory.
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After a quick start, Stafford did appear to injure a finger on his throwing hand before halftime. The Rams nursed a slim three-point lead when both teams headed to their respective locker rooms at the end of the second quarter.
The Panthers and Rams exchanged field goals in the third quarter to maintain Los Angeles' narrow lead heading into the game's final frame. The third quarter was highlighted by Stafford's lone interception of the afternoon.
Bryce Young’s touchdown pass to Jalen Coker put the Panthers ahead 31-27 with less than three minutes remaining, but Stafford drove the Rams 71 yards in two minutes. The drive was capped by Parkinson’s tightrope catch for the winning score, and the defense held.
The Rams are back in the divisional round for the second straight season. Last year, they were 13 yards away from eliminating Philadelphia before a sack and an incomplete pass ended their season with a 28-22 loss.
The Rams now await the remainder of the wild-card round results to learn who they will face in the divisional round.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Trump says Venezuela has begun releasing political prisoners ‘in a BIG WAY’
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Venezuela has begun releasing political prisoners "in a BIG WAY," crediting U.S. intervention for the move following last week’s American military operation in the country.
"Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Thank you! I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done."
He added a warning directed at those being released: "I HOPE THEY NEVER FORGET! If they do, it will not be good for them."
The president’s comments come one week after the United States launched Operation Absolute Resolve, a strike on Venezuela and capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro as well as his wife Cilia Flores, transporting them to the United States to face federal drug trafficking charges.
US WARNS AMERICANS TO LEAVE VENEZUELA IMMEDIATELY AS ARMED MILITIAS SET UP ROADBLOCKS
Following the military operation, Trump said the U.S. intends to temporarily oversee Venezuela’s transition of power, asserting American involvement "until such time as a safe, proper and judicious transition" can take place and warning that U.S. forces stand ready to escalate if necessary.
At least 18 political prisoners were reported freed as of Saturday and there is no comprehensive public list of all expected releases, Reuters reported.
Maduro and Flores were transported to New York after their capture to face charges in U.S. federal court. The Pentagon has said that Operation Absolute Resolve involved more than 150 aircraft and months of planning.
TRUMP ADMIN SAYS MADURO CAPTURE REINFORCES ALIEN ENEMIES ACT REMOVALS
Trump has said the U.S. intends to remain actively involved in Venezuela’s security, political transition and reconstruction of its oil infrastructure.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Iran flips ‘kill switch’ to hide alleged crimes as death toll rises amid protests
The Iranian regime triggered an internet "kill switch" in an apparent effort to hide alleged abuses by security forces and as protests against it surged nationwide, a cybersecurity expert has claimed.
The blackout slashed internet access to a fraction of normal levels on the 13th day of the protests as rights groups, including Amensty International, accused the regime of using lethal force against protesters.
"This is Iran’s war against its own population using digital means," NetBlocks CEO Alp Toker told Fox News Digital.
"This was a piecemeal measure that eventually encompassed the entire country, with the government willing to use this kind of measure for an extended period of time," he said.
"There would be an attempt by the regime to cover up crimes that it may have committed, so this blackout could potentially last for days or weeks," Toker added.
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At least 65 people have been killed in the protests, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, which said late Friday that the death toll had more than doubled since earlier in the week.
The group also reported that more than 2,300 people have been arrested and that demonstrations have spread to at least 180 cities nationwide. Most of those killed were protesters, the group said.
"People in Iran daring to express their anger at decades of repression and demand fundamental change are once again being met with a deadly pattern of security forces unlawfully firing at, chasing, arresting and beating protesters," Amnesty International also said in a statement Thursday.
"The single kill switch is the censorship mechanism that is centrally controlled by the regime, so there are no legal procedures or mechanisms for people to push back," Toker said.
"We know now that they’ve centralized all of this into a one-step operation," he explained, calling it "very much a top-down mechanism."
"It’s been in development since the Cold War, and it means they are able to triangulate the ground terminal in satellite transmissions. Some governments implement this kind of kill switch in their cyber operations rooms," he said.
ARMED IRAN PROTESTERS BATTLE POLICE IN TEHRAN STREETS AS TRUMP WARNS OF FORCEFUL US RESPONSE
"We know that in 2019, for example, it used to be a painstaking measure when the government had to switch off businesses one by one, city by city."
NetBlocks said the current blackout is among the most severe it has ever recorded in Iran.
"We are tracking near-total disconnection of internet service across Iran right now, and connectivity is below 2% of ordinary levels," Toker said.
"This is a nationwide disruption that is impacting almost all services, all connectivity and all avenues of life, extending beyond just mobile phones and computers," he said.
"It’s impacting banks, essential services, and there’s very little communication within the country, so people are unable to reach the outside world and nobody has the ability to communicate."
Despite the sweeping restrictions, some limited communication channels remain available, Toker revealed.
"There are a few gaps, so it's possible to communicate with those close to the borders through Wi-Fi or mobile service that crosses borders," he said.
"It’s also occasionally possible to find a part in the service, in a fixed-line service, where they can tunnel through all those, but that is increasingly rare and no longer an option.
"Another mechanism we’ve seen is access via satellite internet, namely the Starlink network, but the equipment is banned by the Iranian regime."
"The technology that the Iranian regime uses to trace links is essentially anti-espionage technology," he said.
"These measures are typically imposed by the most authoritarian regimes, the most controlling governments that seek to silence and oppress their own populations," Toker said.
"NetBlocks tracked very similar multi-week disruption in 2019, during which thousands were killed, and this was also done in 2022 when people were protesting the killing of Mahsa Amini."
IRANIAN MILITARY LEADER THREATENS PREEMPTIVE ATTACK AFTER TRUMP COMMENTS
"In past incidents, we did observe that the government attempted to keep a baseline of service available.
"In this recent case, they pulled the plug, so there’s a far more extreme measure in place here, which suggests that the regime is scared and isn’t taking risks when it comes to the possibility of information reaching the outside world."
President Donald Trump warned Iran’s leaders Friday against using force on protesters.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, he warned Iran was in "big trouble."
"I just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that’s a very dangerous place right now," Trump said. "You’d better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting, too."
"The U.S. has encouraged democracy in Iran, and that’s a positive thing at this point," Toker said.
"There’s very little that can be done from the outside, but it’s important to continue to support positive efforts.
"A free and open internet in Iran, and indeed in other countries, can encourage democracy and support basic liberties," he added.
Justice urges ‘stand up for our girls’ as Supreme Court weighs fate of his 'Save Women’s Sports Act'
EXCLUSIVE: As governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice in 2021 signed the Save Women’s Sports Act – prohibiting transgender girls from competing in women’s sports. Now that he represents the state in the U.S. Senate, his law faces Supreme Court scrutiny next week with national implications.
Justice spoke Saturday to Fox News Digital – after he coached the Greenbrier East High School girls’ basketball team to a win over Hedgesville – about the high stakes of the case, and why banning states from keeping biological males out of female scholastic sports would unfairly disadvantage young women.
A transgender girl from the Bridgeport area named in court documents as "B. P. J." sued to overturn it and be able to play on girls’ sports teams, and the case has made its way up the chain to the nation's highest court.
A trial court upheld the law in 2023, but it was overturned on appeal in April 2024 and the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case, scheduling arguments for Tuesday.
"Why in the world don't we step up and stand behind all the young girls and all the women who are trying to participate in athletics?" Justice told Fox News Digital courtside at the Spartans’ match near Berkeley Springs.
"It is unbelievable what they've done, and I am so proud of them -- And to absolutely just walk away, turn our back and say, ‘Oh, well, it's OK for us to [let] boys participate against their girls" -- I am off-the-chart absolutely standing with our women."
Citing his own experience coaching girls from Greenbrier East in Lewisburg, Justice said he sees every day how hard they work and maintained "they absolutely don’t deserve to be disadvantaged."
SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW STATE BANS ON TRANSGENDER ATHLETES' PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL SPORTS
"This court case is hugely important," he said, accompanied by his celebrity canine companion Babydog. "At the end of the day, if we can't stand up for our girls; stand up for our women; I don't know what in the world is wrong with us."
Justice was one of several lawmakers who filed an amicus brief in support of West Virginia and Attorney General JB McCuskey as he and Justice’s successor, Gov. Patrick Morrisey, bring the case before the bench.
The brief signaled Justice’s assertion that Congress must be the one to offer any expansion of Title IX – the 1972 civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination – beyond biological sex to include gender identity.
TRANS ATHLETE'S FAMILY FILES RESPONSE IN SUPREME COURT WOMEN'S SPORTS CASE
"I think absolutely that Congress should be the one to expand it, but beyond that, I don't know why we’d even consider it," Justice said.
"You should see how hard our girls work all the time to perfect what they're doing, to absolutely have a dream of going to college and playing ball. My daughter played college basketball. I've been there," Justice said.
"We've seen a situation where a man basically is competing against our girls or our women and absolutely prevails. And then we see the tragedy of how… tough that is on our girls and women," he said.
Always quick to tout the virtues of his home state, Justice also spoke about how important it is to see Mountaineers leading the charge on the transgender sports issue.
ATTORNEY GENERAL LEADING THE SUPREME COURT TRANS ATHLETE CASE DEFENSE SPEAKS OUT
"West Virginia is so good in so many ways," the famed Greenbrier proprietor said, adding that the arguments McCuskey’s team is preparing to make on Tuesday fit right into the state’s modus operandi:
"I've said it over and over, we are bound with logic, common sense, goodness, good neighbors, people that are appreciative and loving -- It is absolutely unbelievable how we stepped up during COVID, all the different things we did, we led the nation over and over."
"Now the nation is awakening, the world is awakening just how great West Virginia truly is. But our people are the real deal. That's all there is to it," he said.
On the other side of the case, B.P.J. is seeking to play on her high school sports teams with girls.
This past year, B.P.J. qualified for the West Virginia girls high school state track meet, finishing third in the discus-throw and eighth in the shot-put in the Class AAA division.
She has identified as female since third grade and has been taking puberty-blocking medication. The plaintiffs have complained of harassment and intimidation over their lawsuit.
The Supreme Court will formally decide on both West Virginia's law and an Idaho policy. The Justice Department supports the laws and will be allotted time during oral arguments.
The Save Women’s Sports Act was spearheaded in the West Virginia legislature by GOP Dels. Evan Worrell of Barboursville, Wayne Clark of Charles Town and Jonathan Pinson of Ravenswood.
Fox News Digital’s Olivia Palombo and Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
Legendary Olympian Michael Phelps sides with Michael Jordan in renewed NBA GOAT debate
The 2025-26 NBA season is in full swing, renewing the long-running debate over the league’s greatest player.
In the past two decades, much of the often spirited discussion has centered on Michael Jordan and four-time league MVP LeBron James.
Decorated former U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps suggested the six-time NBA champion Jordan was the clear leader in the league’s hierarchy.
"[No.] 23, the original, the original GOAT," he replied, when asked at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year ceremony to choose between the Chicago Bulls legend and the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
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Phelps said he drew inspiration from Jordan’s game and applied it to swimming.
"For me, Michael Jordan was always the one I looked up to and wanted to do what he did in basketball in the sport of swimming. So, Jordan."
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Phelps also picked Jordan when asked to decide between Jordan and 15-time major golf champion Tiger Woods.
Serena Williams, who won the U.S. Open singles title six times during her storied career, also could not dethrone Jordan from Phelps’ list. "Going to say MJ for the sweep."
WNBA icon Diana Taurasi and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady were also compared to Jordan, with both falling short — in Phelps’ opinion.
Phelps' name was even mentioned, but he admitted that even he could not measure up to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer.
"For me, he was my childhood idol. Again, watching him on and off the court, what he did, how he handled himself," Phelps said. "No matter what he went through, when he was on the court, everything was left behind, and he was able to be who he was trying to be… the best version of himself. There were no excuses and, for me, that's kind of how I modeled my career."
Phelps won 28 Olympic medals — the most of all time by a single athlete. He is widely considered the greatest Olympian in history.
In 1996, the NBA unveiled its 50 Greatest Players list, recognizing the top players in league history up to that point.
The list became known as the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. A quarter-century later, the league debuted another anniversary list, its 75th Anniversary Team, featuring legendary athletes from different eras.
Notably, the list of names was not ranked in any specific order.
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Who is Michael David McKee, the man accused of killing ex-wife and dentist husband in Ohio
Michael David McKee was arrested on Saturday, accused of fatally shooting his ex-wife and her dentist husband at their home in Columbus, Ohio, in late December.
Police responded to the home in Weinland Park on the morning of Dec. 30, after Spencer Tepe didn’t show up for work and found the 37-year-old dentist and Monique Tepe, 39, both dead of gunshot wounds.
McKee, 39, is a vascular surgeon who lives in Chicago, where he was taken into custody on Saturday.
He and Tepe were married from 2015, until she filed for divorce in 2017, which appeared to be amicable, according to the Columbus Dispatch. He was living in Virginia at the time the divorce was finalized.
Tepe and her husband were just about to celebrate their fifth anniversary when they were killed, a family member told WSYX.
McKee was booked at the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office in Illinois just before noon on Saturday, records show, and is charged with two counts of murder in Ohio.
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Police tracked McKee through his vehicle, which was caught on neighborhood surveillance feeds, later finding it near where he worked in Rockford, Illinois, court documents said.
His car was seen arriving shortly before the time the murders were believed to have been committed and left shortly after, according to court documents.
A warrant was put out for his arrest on Saturday, shortly before he was taken into custody.
He will next be extradited to Franklin County, Ohio, and is scheduled for a hearing there on Jan. 12, according to the Dispatch.
Police have not given a motive in the shooting.
Before his arrest, a surveillance video allegedly showed McKee, then unidentified, as a person of interest in the murders, after he was seen walking in an alley around the believed timeframe of the murders — 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Dec. 30.
McKee and Tepe had no children together.
However, she shared two young children with her husband, who were found unharmed in the home after police arrived.
McKee has active medical licenses in Illinois and California and graduated from medical school at Ohio State University, according to the Dispatch.
He also has family in Zanesville, Ohio, east of Columbus, the newspaper reported.
Hochul, AOC, Mamdani slam ‘we support Hamas’ chants at Queens protest: ‘Disgusting and antisemitic’
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned chants of "we support Hamas" after demonstrators were filmed chanting the phrase during a protest in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Queens.
Video from the protest shows demonstrators waving Palestinian flags while chanting support for Hamas, which the U.S. government designates as a terrorist organization.
The clip circulated widely on social media and drew swift condemnation from leaders at the city, state and federal levels.
Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized both the chants and the location of the protest.
"Hey so marching into a predominantly Jewish neighborhood and leading with a chant saying ‘we support Hamas’ is a disgusting and antisemitic thing to do," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. "Pretty basic!"
Hochul also shared video of the chants on X, issuing a forceful rebuke.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization that calls for the genocide of Jews," Hochul wrote. "No matter your political beliefs, this type of rhetoric is disgusting, it’s dangerous, and it has no place in New York."
ANTISEMITIC THREATS ESCALATE NATIONWIDE AS PROTESTERS CALL FOR REPEAT OF OCT 7 MASSACRE
The protest featured pro-Hamas demonstrators chanting in unison while holding Palestinian flags.
Mamdani addressed the chants later that day, advocating for public safety while defending the constitutional right to protest.
"As I said earlier today, chants in support of a terrorist organization have no place in our city," Mamdani wrote. "We will continue to ensure New Yorkers’ safety entering and exiting houses of worship as well as the constitutional right to protest."
In an interview with Fox News' Martha MacCallum on Fox News' The Story last October, Mamdani refused to condemn Hamas, instead pivoting to discussing affordability for New Yorkers.
Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, and federal law prohibits providing material support to designated terrorist groups.
New York Attorney General Letitia James also weighed in on social media, posting a brief message condemning the chants.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization. We do not support terrorists. Period."
The incident comes as tensions remain high nationwide over protests related to the Israel-Hamas conflict following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Archaeologists unearth chilling 16th-century gallows where rebels were hung and displayed
French authorities announced a chilling discovery: They found a 16th-century gallows where condemned prisoners were put on display as a warning to others.
The discovery, which was made in 2024 but not announced until December, was carried out by Inrap, France's national institution for preventive archaeology.
The team focused on an archaeological site in Grenoble in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France, ahead of redevelopment work on the city's Esplanade.
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In a press release sent out last month, archaeologists said they were surprised by the gallows, which were built during the Protestant Reformation and targeted "rebels against royal authority, including Protestant opponents of the crown."
"Among them were Benoît Croyet, accused in 1573 of participating in an attack on Grenoble, and Charles du Puy Montbrun, a Huguenot leader who was beheaded and displayed at the site in 1575," the release said.
Archaeologists originally thought the structure was a religious building — until they discovered it was a site "used to display the bodies of executed prisoners," Inrap said.
"Archaeologists uncovered a square masonry structure along with ten burial pits dating to the 16th century," the organization's translated statement read.
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"The graves contained at least 32 individuals, mostly men with a few women, often buried together in groups of two to eight."
The gallows date back as early as 1544 and featured eight stone pillars — a sign that it was royally controlled instead of seigneurially, or feudally.
Nicolas Minvielle-Larousse, a researcher with Inrap, told Fox News Digital that excavated examples of medieval gallows "remain rare" in France.
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"Compared with the few known cases, the Grenoble gallows stands out for its square plan with eight pillars, which reflects its high status within the hierarchy of criminal justice in the kingdom," said Minvielle-Larousse.
"It was under royal jurisdiction, administered by the Parliament of the Dauphiné."
That said, the historian noted that gallows were "very common" in Europe into the early modern era.
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"Each criminal court could therefore have its own gallows, whether it belonged to royal jurisdictions — Grenoble being one example — or more broadly to seigneurial courts," he said.
Minvielle-Larousse added that many burials at the site were "carried out without any care," which presents more questions for researchers to solve.
"Post-excavation studies then provided decisive evidence for the identification: the organization of the burials, traces of violence observed on some individuals, and construction accounts referring to the gallows."
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Minvielle-Larousse said he hopes the excavation will help add to the developing field of research — saying it also sheds light on "anthropological reflections on mortuary practices in past and even present-day societies."
"What constitutes a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ death? What material markers are left to make a bad death visible? And how did earthly condemnation relate to beliefs about the afterlife?" he mused.