Category: U.S. News

A newly released AP-NORC poll reveals that a large number of Jewish adults across the United States feel increasingly unsafe, with the majority reporting their sense of personal security has declined since Hamas carried out its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The survey, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, documents a significant shift in how Jewish Americans view their own safety during a period when more Americans have grown critical of the close U.S. relationship with Israel. The ongoing war in Gaza has fueled protests across the country over Israel’s military campaign against Palestinians, and has coincided with a rise in violent incidents targeting Jewish communities in the United States.

The results paint a picture of widespread vulnerability among Jewish adults at a time when bipartisan support for Israel is weakening and sharp disagreements are emerging — even within the Jewish community itself — over what should and should not be considered antisemitism, especially when it involves protests directed at Israel.

Approximately 3 in 10 Jewish adults surveyed said that they or a member of their household had experienced some form of discrimination or attack in the past year — including physical assault, verbal abuse, online harassment, or property damage — specifically because of their Jewish identity.

Hal Guberman, a 30-year-old from New Jersey, now thinks twice before wearing a kippah in public after a stranger in a passing vehicle shouted a slur at him while he was walking down the street last year.

“That person, they don’t know anything about me. They don’t know my politics. They don’t know my beliefs. They don’t know my viewpoints,” Guberman said. “But they saw me being visibly Jewish, and they made an opinion about me.”

Roughly 6 in 10 Jewish adults consider antisemitism an “extremely” or “very” serious problem in the country today. That concern is even stronger among those who describe themselves as emotionally close to Israel.

When asked about their current sense of safety, about one-third of Jewish adults say they feel “very” or “somewhat” safe as a Jewish person in the U.S., while another third say they feel “very” or “somewhat” unsafe. The remaining roughly 3 in 10 say they feel neither safe nor unsafe. Jewish adults who have a strong connection to Israel, or who identify as Jewish by religion rather than by cultural or ethnic background alone, are more likely to report feeling threatened.

About 6 in 10 Jewish adults say they feel less safe now than before the October 2023 Hamas attack, a figure that rises to about 7 in 10 among those who practice Judaism religiously. Around one-third say their sense of safety has remained about the same, and very few say they actually feel safer.

Erin Baskin, a 36-year-old from Pennsylvania, said the October 7 attacks did not change how safe she feels because she had already encountered prejudice long before that day.

“I’ve always grown up with antisemitism,” she said. “Among the rural community I’m in, they conflate Judaism with Zionism all the time. Unfortunately, that’s kind of been my experience. It’s nothing new.”

The survey also found that many Jewish adults have become more cautious about visibly identifying themselves as Jewish since the October 7 attacks. About 4 in 10 say they are less likely than before to wear, carry, or display items that might signal their Jewish identity. About half say their behavior in this regard has not changed, while roughly 1 in 10 say they are actually more likely to display their identity.

Caitlin Rosendorn, a 24-year-old from Illinois, said she used to regularly wear a Star of David necklace but now hesitates, concerned that others might mistakenly assume it signals support for Israel’s military actions against Palestinians.

“I don’t want to wear a Star of David to work if that’s going to alienate somebody who sees the Star of David as a symbol of Israel as opposed to a symbol of Judaism,” she said. “I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about my views.”

About 1 in 10 Jewish adults reported that they or someone in their household had been physically assaulted in the past year because of their Jewish background. A similar proportion reported having property damaged or destroyed. Around 2 in 10 said they or a household member had been called a slur, threatened, or verbally harassed, and a similar share reported experiencing online harassment or cyberbullying. In total, about 3 in 10 Jewish adults said they or someone in their household had faced at least one of these incidents.

Jewish adults who attend religious services at least once a month were considerably more likely than the broader Jewish adult population to report experiencing harassment or attacks. Nearly half of frequent attendees said they or a household member had faced verbal harassment, a similar share reported online harassment, and about one-quarter reported physical attacks or property damage — a finding that reflects a pattern of targeted incidents at Jewish religious spaces in recent years.

Jon Kessler, 38, of California, who was raised in the Conservative tradition of Judaism, said many non-Jewish Americans may not realize how much security planning goes into Jewish community gatherings.

“Most people when they go to church don’t have armed security, but every synagogue has an armed security guard,” Kessler said. “My son’s Jewish daycare has an armed security guard.”

Protests connected to Israel-related events — including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress and appearances by campus speakers viewed as either too supportive or too critical of Israel — became more frequent in the wake of the Gaza war.

Jewish adults themselves are split on whether anti-Israel protests amount to antisemitism. About half say such protests are not a form of antisemitism, while roughly 4 in 10 say they are.

More than 73,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Israel launched its military response to the Hamas attack in 2023, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not separate civilian from militant deaths.

About two-thirds of Jewish adults say criticizing Israel’s military conduct does not constitute antisemitism, though those with a strong emotional attachment to Israel are more likely to view such criticism as antisemitic. Few Jewish adults, however, say that criticizing Israel for any reason at all is inherently antisemitic.

Non-Jewish Americans are generally less likely to label anti-Israel protests or criticism of Israel’s military actions as antisemitism — but they are also far more likely to say they simply don’t have an opinion.

There is broader agreement among Jewish adults on certain behaviors they consider clearly antisemitic: vandalizing synagogues or Jewish-owned businesses over Israel’s actions, denying the Holocaust, blaming American Jews for Israel’s conduct, arguing Israel should not exist as a Jewish state, or claiming that Jewish Americans are more loyal to Israel than to the United States. Non-Jewish Americans show less consensus on these questions, with many saying they are unsure.

Amanda Goldsmith, 53, who lives in Chicago, said she is disturbed by how openly antisemitic views are now being expressed online — content she once believed was confined to extremist corners of the internet.

“Now, it seems like there was an undercurrent, and it’s a free-for-all, and everyone is free to say what they want,” she said. “The freedom with which people say horrible things about Jewish people is appalling.”

The AP-NORC poll was conducted June 11-17 and included 3,040 adults overall, with 1,022 identifying as Jewish. Respondents were drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to represent the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points for all adults and plus or minus 5.0 percentage points for Jewish adults.

A closer look at the finances behind one of the country’s most visible white nationalist groups reveals how Patriot Front manages to bankroll its rallies and public demonstrations.

NPR domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef has been investigating how the group funds its operations, digging into the money trail that keeps Patriot Front active and organizing events nationwide.

The report examines the financial structure that allows the white nationalist organization to continue staging rallies, raising questions about where the money comes from and how it is used to support the group’s activities.

Two people who experienced the prison system from very different vantage points are now speaking out about what life is like once those prison doors close behind you for the last time.

A former corrections officer — someone who once worked inside a prison facility overseeing inmates — and a former prisoner are sharing their personal reflections on incarceration and the road that follows it.

Together, their stories offer a rare dual perspective on a system that affects millions of Americans, exploring what it means to move forward after time spent inside — whether as a guard or as someone serving a sentence.

Investigators are pressing forward in their effort to determine what happened to a Black teenager in Mississippi whose body was recovered after he was left on an island.

The case centers on Nolan Wells, a young man whose death has prompted an ongoing investigation by authorities. His body was found following reports that he had been left on the island, raising serious questions about the events that led to his death.

Details surrounding the case remain under investigation, and officials have not yet released conclusions about the cause or circumstances of his death.

PROVO, Utah — Defense attorneys representing the man charged with fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk are set to call their final witness Friday, as they work to cast doubt on the prosecution’s evidence before a judge decides whether the case should proceed to trial.

A Utah judge is weighing whether there is sufficient evidence to try Tyler Robinson on a charge of aggravated murder. Kirk, who was 31 years old, was shot and killed while addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University on September 10th.

Defense attorney Michael Burt spent Thursday challenging the trustworthiness of ballistics testing conducted on a bullet fragment that was recovered from Kirk’s body. Investigators had hoped to connect that fragment to the suspected murder weapon, but the test results came back inconclusive.

Samantha Karner of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives testified about those results, saying, “Saying anything but inconclusive was inappropriate.”

Earlier in the week, Burt also took aim at DNA evidence that investigators claimed linked Robinson to the crime scene. Scientific experts have maintained that the underlying methods used in DNA testing are reliable.

Robinson has yet to enter a plea in the case. He turned himself in to authorities one day after the shooting. Kirk had been a close ally of President Donald Trump and was widely credited with helping energize young voters for the Republican Party during the 2024 election.

Friday marks the final day of the weeklong preliminary hearing, during which the defense planned to present one more witness. However, state District Judge Tony Graf has indicated he will not issue a ruling until after September 1st, when he has scheduled oral arguments in the matter.

On Thursday, prosecutors played portions of a recorded interview with Robinson’s roommate, Lance Twiggs. According to a recording aired in court, Robinson allegedly told Twiggs the day after Kirk was shot in the neck that “he wishes he hadn’t done it.”

Investigators also presented messages showing that roughly an hour before turning himself in — and on that same day — Robinson posted in a Discord social media chat room, writing “it was me at UVU yesterday.”

Defense lawyers had attempted to block the public release of both Twiggs’ statements and the chat room messages, arguing that prosecutors would frame the material as a confession, which they said could jeopardize Robinson’s right to a fair trial. That effort was unsuccessful.

Prosecutors are arguing that the shooting put other people at the campus event in danger — a factor that, under Utah law, could make the crime eligible for the death penalty. Robinson also faces potential sentence enhancements based on prosecutors’ claims that he targeted Kirk due to his political beliefs.

In his April interview with prosecutors and investigators, Twiggs said Robinson occasionally brought up politics, including discussions about Trump. However, Twiggs noted he had never heard Robinson mention Kirk prior to the shooting. Twiggs also said Robinson rarely discussed gender issues or LGBTQ rights.

Firefighters working to contain a small wildfire in Colorado this week found themselves with an unlikely companion — a goat who decided to join the effort and stick around for hours.

The four-legged visitor, a 4-year-old Nigerian dwarf goat named Goldie — short for Golden Oreo — shadowed crews as they battled the Rock Creek Fire in Colorado Springs and cleared away brush. She even pitched in a little herself, munching on leaves along the way.

According to Colorado Springs Fire Department Lt. Trevor Leland, the brown and white goat led firefighters down a hillside, followed them back to their trucks, watched as they wrapped up for the day, and even trotted behind one of the trucks as it pulled away.

“I don’t know that she necessarily helped with the firefighting effort, but it’s always cool to see an animal like that who doesn’t mind us being there,” Leland said.

Earlier that Thursday, Goldie spotted a U.S. Forest Service crew member eating lunch and tried to poke her head over his shoulder to snag a bite and spend some time with him, Leland added.

Goldie’s owner, Lindsey Glader, described her goat as quite the social butterfly — or, as Glader jokingly put it, a “buttergoat.”

Glader praised the firefighters, saying they did a phenomenal job on the blaze, which was 50% contained by late Friday. Crews were hoping to achieve full containment by the end of Friday, according to Ashley Franco, a spokesperson for the Colorado Springs Fire Department.

That fire is one of several burning across the western United States, with conditions worsened by a record lack of snowfall, elevated temperatures, and unpredictable winds. The Colorado Springs crew was also called to assist with the Aspen Acres Fire southwest of Denver, which forced thousands of residents to evacuate earlier this month.

Glader said Goldie seemed to sense that the crews could use an “extra boost of support” and showed up to deliver it.

“She was able to give some comedic relief and offer some necessary levity for these guys and gals who have worked really, really hard and creating a break for this fire, and keeping a lot of people and a lot of things safe,” Glader said.

The federal agents involved in a deadly ICE shooting in Houston were not equipped with body cameras at the time of the incident, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Thursday.

An ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican homebuilder, during an attempted vehicle stop early Tuesday morning in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Houston. Salgado Araujo had been driving a work van when agents tried to pull him over.

In a separate development, the Harris County District Attorney’s office announced it is opening an investigation into the shooting. A spokesperson for the office, Rafael Lemaitre, said prosecutors are consulting with counterparts in Minneapolis, where federal agents previously fatally shot two U.S. citizens, to learn how to handle investigations involving federal immigration officers.

“Although access to key evidence remains under federal control, we are pursuing investigative avenues available to us and will conduct a review of any information we collect within our reach,” Lemaitre said in a written statement.

DHS, which oversees ICE, said the agents had not yet been issued body cameras, attributing the delay to Democratic opposition during a record-length government shutdown tied to President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement push. The department said those agents are expected to receive body cameras within the next 60 days.

According to DHS, agents had been watching a property where they had previously spotted two white vans as part of a targeted operation to detain someone in the country without legal status. “On July 7, officers were almost at the target’s address when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop,” the department said.

DHS has maintained that Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle and that an agent fired in self-defense. However, Salgado Araujo’s family has disputed that account and is demanding the agency release all available evidence. The family says he had no criminal record and was on the verge of receiving a work permit after living in the United States for more than 35 years without legal status.

Three men, including Salgado Araujo’s brother, were detained by ICE during the traffic stop, according to Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, who has been in contact with the families involved.

Proaño told The Associated Press that LULAC has not been able to obtain clear video footage showing what happened during the shooting and has offered a $5,000 reward for witness information. He said security camera footage the organization has reviewed was partially blocked by the positions of Salgado Araujo’s van and ICE vehicles. “It’s going to make it even more difficult to find the truth in all this,” he said.

The family of Salgado Araujo, along with Democratic lawmakers, is calling for an independent investigation into the shooting. In the wake of the fatal Minneapolis shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Democrats had refused to approve funding for ICE and the Border Patrol without accountability reforms. Republicans in Congress ultimately passed legislation providing three years of funding solely for ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

A man facing charges in the shooting deaths of a National Guard soldier near the White House has been rushed to a hospital after refusing to eat while awaiting trial, federal prosecutors disclosed in a court filing Thursday.

Justice Department prosecutors said they learned Thursday morning that Rahmanullah Lakanwal had been transported to a hospital overnight to receive care for a condition that could threaten his life. The U.S. Marshals Service had already warned prosecutors last month that Lakanwal faced serious health risks — including the possibility of death — because he had gone without adequate food for an extended period of time.

The court filing did not explain the specific reasons behind Lakanwal’s refusal to eat. However, prosecutors pointed out that courts have previously upheld the authority of prison officials to force-feed inmates who are on hunger strikes in order to keep them alive.

The federal judge overseeing the case called an emergency hearing to address the defendant’s medical situation while he remains in federal custody. At the close of that hearing, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta directed prosecutors to draft a proposed court order that would allow them to obtain Lakanwal’s recent medical records.

Defense attorney Shelli Peterson and a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office both declined to speak with reporters following the hearing.

Lakanwal, a citizen of Afghanistan, has entered a not guilty plea to charges that include first-degree murder in connection with a November 2025 shooting that claimed the life of West Virginia National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, who was 20 years old, and left Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, critically injured.

Both Beckstrom and Wolfe had been deployed from West Virginia to Washington, D.C., as part of an expanded federal law enforcement presence in the nation’s capital ordered by President Donald Trump that began last summer.

Lakanwal is accused of traveling from Bellingham, Washington, to the nation’s capital while carrying a stolen firearm, then ambushing the two Guard members outside a subway station just three blocks from the White House. According to a police report, another National Guard member witnessed the attack — watching Beckstrom and Wolfe fall to the ground as Lakanwal fired his weapon and shouted, “Allahu Akbar!”

Lakanwal himself was shot during the confrontation. He appeared at his first court hearing in December via video from a hospital bed. No trial date has been set in the case.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Eight men now face federal murder and terrorism conspiracy charges after a grand jury in Ohio indicted them Thursday for their alleged involvement in a foiled plot to attack a UFC cage-fighting event held at the White House back in June.

The indictment lays out two separate conspiracies: one involving the alleged provision of material support to terrorists, and another involving plans to commit murder on federal government property and to kill a federal government official.

Court records do not make clear how close the alleged attackers may have come to actually carrying out the plan before it was stopped by law enforcement.

According to the indictment, the plot began taking shape in May, when members of the group started gathering money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical supplies, communications gear, and other materials.

Authorities first became aware of a potential threat to President Donald Trump’s UFC event on June 10 — four days before the mixed martial arts show, known as Freedom 250, was set to take place.

Last month, the Justice Department announced a series of criminal complaints filed in several districts across the country in connection with the alleged plot, including cases originating in Ohio, Missouri, Washington, Nebraska, and California. Thursday’s indictment is an effort to consolidate those cases into a single conspiracy prosecution in Ohio.

Officials have said the individuals involved held fringe conspiracy theories and believed the attack would destabilize the U.S. government.

One defendant told investigators the group intended to fly drones loaded with explosives into the event and then open fire on crowd members as they fled in panic, according to a federal affidavit.

Tycen C. Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio, along with four others, was arrested and charged in Missouri, Nebraska, and California during the same weekend as the UFC event. Two additional defendants were arrested about a week later by the FBI in Washington and Missouri.

The Justice Department announced this week that an eighth suspect has been charged: 21-year-old Chandler D. Scaggs of Chapmanville, West Virginia, who was taken into custody in that state. Scaggs is alleged to have been designated as one of the snipers in the planned attack, according to an affidavit.

That same affidavit states that Scaggs was reportedly supposed to be picked up by Proper and transported to Washington, but lost contact after Proper was arrested. Scaggs allegedly signaled to other members of the group that he was still willing to go through with the attack and made arrangements to travel to the event with another co-conspirator.

Federal prosecutors allege the group planned to murder President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, other federal officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, businessman Elon Musk, and what they described as “other high value targets” at the event.

A conviction on charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Conspiring to commit murder can result in a sentence of up to life in prison.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Wally Funk, a groundbreaking figure in aviation history who held the record as the oldest woman to travel to space, has passed away at the age of 87.

Funk died Wednesday at her apartment inside an assisted living facility in Grapevine, Texas, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O’Dell, who described herself as Funk’s caregiver, confirmed the death on Thursday and said she was at Funk’s side when she passed. O’Dell noted that Funk had experienced several falls in recent weeks and was battling an infection in her leg.

“It took its toll,” O’Dell said in a phone interview.

Funk was among 13 female pilots who underwent the same rigorous testing as NASA’s all-male astronaut corps in the early 1960s through the Mercury 13 program — yet none of them were permitted to become astronauts. Decades later, in 2021, Funk finally got her moment in space when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos personally selected her as an “honored guest” aboard his Blue Origin rocket for a brief up-and-down flight from West Texas.

At the time of the flight, Funk was 82 years old, making her the oldest person to have ever traveled into space. That record was later surpassed by “Star Trek” actor William Shatner and Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate, both of whom were 90 when they made their flights.

Following news of her death, Blue Origin posted a tribute on X, calling Funk “a pioneer in every sense of the word” and adding, “We were humbled to be part of her journey.”

O’Dell remembered Funk as someone who refused to be discouraged, no matter how many times she was turned away.

“She was told by many, many, many men, ‘No, you can’t do this. No you can’t do that,’” O’Dell said. “And she never got mad about it. She just was more determined.”

O’Dell described Funk as the “most eternally optimistic person” she had ever known.

According to a brief biography released by the City of Grapevine, Funk was also the first woman to serve as an inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman shared a tribute on X on Thursday, writing: “Wally Funk never stopped believing that one day she would reach space. Her passion for flight, perseverance, and love of exploration will continue to inspire generations of Americans. Godspeed, Wally.”

PROVO, Utah — Folding chairs, sleeping pads, and blankets have become a familiar sight outside a Utah courthouse each morning, as people line up — sometimes through the night — hoping to secure one of just 14 public seats inside a courtroom where a preliminary hearing is underway for the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The hearing for defendant Tyler Robinson has drawn intense national attention and even significant interest from abroad. Continuous livestreams and round-the-clock media coverage have stoked public curiosity, driving spectators to compete fiercely for the limited courtroom access available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The proceeding is expected to conclude Friday. At that point, State District Judge Tony Graf will determine whether prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence to send Robinson to trial on a charge of aggravated murder.

On Thursday morning, Chris Palmer, the court’s director of security, announced that people would no longer be permitted to bring tents or camping gear to the courthouse steps. He also made clear that cutting in line or holding spots for others would not be allowed.

Rules inside the courtroom go beyond basic decorum. Palmer addressed those waiting outside, saying the people attending the hearing deserve to feel comfortable. “These people come here to get justice,” he said. “They don’t need to feel like they’re under a microscope when somebody’s sitting behind them or ahead of them.”

Each morning, sheriff’s deputies and court staff distribute wristbands amid what can only be described as organized disorder. Reporters and bloggers position themselves near the entrances, phones ready, hoping to capture the arrival of Kirk’s family, Robinson’s family, or notable figures such as Donald Trump Jr.

Earlier in the week, court officials announced that wristbands for public seating would be individually labeled after security found that some individuals had purchased matching colored wristbands in an attempt to sneak inside.

Joshua Carr, a local man who described himself as an independent journalist, was first in line Thursday. A friend had arrived at 9 p.m. the previous evening to hold his place until Carr showed up at 2:30 a.m. Carr said he has been following the case and the conspiracy theories surrounding it for several months.

“Being in the courtroom is a different thing because you’re able to actually feel the emotions, see the expressions on people’s faces that aren’t shown in the public feed,” Carr said.

Billie Webb traveled from Salt Lake City to attend. She has followed the investigation since Kirk was shot on September 10 and has been present at earlier hearings on motions filed by both prosecutors and defense attorneys. Webb arrived at 5 a.m. Wednesday and found herself eighth in line, but the afternoon start time meant she still made it inside. On Thursday, despite arriving at 3 a.m., she missed the cutoff — but said she was “absolutely determined” to get in on Friday.

Among the things drawing Webb’s interest was a recorded law enforcement interview with Robinson’s roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs. Attorneys spent much of Wednesday debating whether that recording should be made public.

Webb said she also intends to be present if the case advances to trial. “If I have to camp for 24 hours, I will,” she said.

Massive public and media interest in high-profile court cases is not a new phenomenon. It is typically driven by celebrity, politics, race, or the sensational nature of the crime itself.

One early example dates back to 1935, when a New Jersey trial for the man charged with kidnapping and killing the infant child of legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh drew enormous crowds and press coverage. Decades later, the O.J. Simpson double murder trial in the 1990s became so widely followed it was dubbed the “Trial of the Century.”

More recently, large public gatherings and media attention surrounded the 2021 trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. That same year, lines formed outside a Manhattan federal courthouse for the trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was ultimately convicted of recruiting teenage girls to be sexually abused by American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it is seeking to relax emissions standards for heavy trucks and engines that were established under former Democratic President Joe Biden back in 2023.

As part of the proposal, the EPA is looking to reduce emissions warranty requirements and push back the timeline for when more stringent regulatory useful life standards would kick in.

The agency acknowledged that some manufacturers working on 2027 model-year medium and heavy-duty engine development have run into technical hurdles. In response, the EPA is proposing to let those manufacturers continue selling their existing products while they finish developing engines that meet the 2027 compliance standards.

HOUSTON — A Mexican national was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer while driving his construction workers to a job site in Houston, sparking outrage from his family, civil rights groups, and the Mexican government.

ICE identified the man as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. The agency said officers targeted him on Tuesday because he had entered the country without authorization and, when they attempted to pull him over, he did not stop and instead drove his van into their vehicle. ICE, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, has released no video footage or photographs to support its account of what happened.

Salgado Araujo’s family painted a very different picture. They said he had spent 35 years living and working in the United States and was nearly finished with the lengthy process of obtaining legal immigration status. The family also suggested that ICE officers were using unmarked vehicles and that Salgado Araujo may have believed he was about to be robbed — not confronted by law enforcement.

The family, alongside civil rights advocates, is calling for a thorough and independent investigation into his death.

Bystander Juliet Martinez captured video of the scene after the shooting. The footage shows a black vehicle positioned at an angle near a white van, with both vehicles’ doors open. A bleeding, handcuffed man can be seen on the ground groaning, his leg trembling. Federal officers are seen standing over at least three other men who are also handcuffed.

ICE has not released the names of the other men taken into custody. However, Salgado Araujo’s family identified one of them as his brother. Families of the other two detained men said they were briefly able to speak with them on Wednesday and confirmed they remain in custody.

His son, Ronaldo Salgado, described his father as a hardworking family man who came to America as a young adult with his wife after the two met as teenagers in Mexico. The couple wanted to build a better life for their family. Salgado Araujo went on to work in home construction in the Houston suburbs, eventually starting his own business and leading his own crew. He had no criminal record, according to his family.

Ronaldo, the eldest son, became a teacher. He said one of his brothers works as an engineer, while another is currently studying engineering in college.

Ronaldo described his father as a quiet, gentle man whose wife packed his lunch every morning before he left at sunrise and had a warm dinner waiting when he returned at sunset. He enjoyed sitting on his porch, petting his dog, and listening to music.

“That’s how I want the world to know my father. Not as someone who got shot and killed, but as a family man, a man who understood that good things come to those who put in hard work,” Ronaldo said at a news conference Wednesday.

Salgado Araujo is believed to be at least the eighth person to die during the current administration’s immigration enforcement campaign. No immigration officers have faced criminal charges in any of these deaths, and in several prior cases, video evidence has contradicted the accounts given by federal officers.

Among the most high-profile prior deaths were those of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed during protests in Minnesota during a winter crackdown. Another shooting death involved Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, who was killed during a traffic stop in Texas in March 2025 — a death that was not publicly disclosed for nearly a year. A farmworker also died after falling from the roof of a greenhouse in California and breaking his neck, and two additional deaths involved men who were struck by vehicles while attempting to flee.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded forcefully to Salgado Araujo’s killing, saying it is time for Mexico to move its complaints beyond standard diplomatic channels.

“We are going to do everything in our power, because we cannot stand silent” in the face of the deaths of Mexicans “whose only crime is working honestly in the United States,” Sheinbaum said.

Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco announced Thursday that Mexico will file criminal charges in U.S. courts related to the alleged killings of three Mexican nationals during ICE operations, as well as the deaths of 14 others while in ICE custody. Those complaints will be directed at whoever is found responsible and submitted to state prosecutor offices and the U.S. Department of Justice. Civil actions against companies running detention facilities will also be pursued, Velasco said, with the goal of ending what he described as human rights violations.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Tuesday that its Inspector General’s office has opened an investigation into the shooting.

Salgado Araujo’s family and civil rights leaders are pushing for an independent probe separate from any internal federal review. The League of United Latin American Citizens announced a $5,000 reward for videos or other evidence related to the incident, and warned that turning any such material over to ICE could result in it being hidden or destroyed.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said the family and community deserve answers but acknowledged that federal authorities are currently in sole control of the investigation. Houston Mayor John Whitmire confirmed that city police had no involvement in the pursuit or the shooting and have no authority over federal officers.

New York’s attorney general took legal action Thursday against a group of major chemical and agricultural companies, claiming they deliberately sold dangerous so-called forever chemicals that ended up in everyday products ranging from cosmetics to non-stick cookware.

The suit names 3M, DuPont de Nemours, The Chemours Company, and Corteva, among other manufacturers. It represents the latest in a growing wave of legal battles over PFAS chemicals, which researchers have connected to a higher risk of certain cancers and developmental problems in children.

New York Attorney General Letitia James made clear where she stands: “Big companies like 3M and DuPont knowingly sold toxic products that threatened New Yorkers’ health and polluted our environment for decades. It’s time for them to pay for the damage they caused.”

The case was filed in state court in Albany and demands that the companies help pay for environmental cleanup across New York and provide consumers with proper warnings about their products. The lawsuit contends that, in certain instances, the companies already knew the chemicals were toxic or capable of causing environmental harm.

Representatives for DuPont, 3M, Corteva, and Chemours had not responded to requests for comment as of Thursday.

This isn’t the first time these companies have faced financial consequences over PFAS. Last year, DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva reached an agreement to pay New Jersey as much as $2 billion to resolve environmental claims tied to the same class of chemicals.

PFAS — short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a broad category of man-made chemicals that have been in use for decades and have gradually worked their way into the air, water, and soil across the country.

These chemicals were once considered highly valuable. They made firefighting foam more effective at smothering flames and helped clothing repel water, among countless other applications. The problem is that they don’t break down naturally, meaning they linger in the environment indefinitely and accumulate to harmful levels over time.

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn stood before a D.C. Superior Court judge on Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to a charge of destruction of property.

Hearn is accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.

After his arraignment concluded, Hearn walked out of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia with his attorney, Norman Eisen, where a group of reporters and protesters had gathered to hear from them.

A video interview featuring the roommate of Tyler Robinson, the man charged with killing Charlie Kirk, is scheduled to be shown in a Utah courtroom on Thursday as part of an ongoing preliminary hearing into the September 2025 assassination.

Robinson’s legal team attempted Wednesday to block prosecutors from playing the recorded interview with Lance Twiggs, in which prosecutors say Twiggs describes Robinson allegedly telling him he was responsible for Kirk’s death. That effort failed.

The footage will be presented on the fourth day of the preliminary hearing, where the prosecution is attempting to persuade Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf that there is enough evidence against Robinson to move forward with a trial.

The week-long proceeding marks the first time prosecution evidence in Kirk’s assassination has been tested in a public forum. The killing is among a string of attacks that have heightened alarm about political violence in the United States.

Investigators allege Robinson shot Kirk, who was 31 years old, in front of thousands of onlookers while the prominent ally of President Donald Trump was engaged in a debate with students at Utah Valley University.

An attorney representing Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, called Wednesday for the complete video to be shown, saying it should be played in full “to let the world see what happened.”

Judge Graf ruled that certain portions of the interview could not be played after Robinson’s attorney argued that prosecutors would present the clips as “confessions” and undermine the defendant’s right to a fair trial. Prosecutors agreed to make the edits requested by Graf and proceed with showing the video.

Prosecutor Lauren Hunt said Wednesday that Twiggs agreed to record the April 20 interview with prosecutors and law enforcement instead of appearing as a witness at the preliminary hearing, and was granted immunity for anything he said during that interview.

Robinson, who was training to become an electrician at the time of the shooting, has not yet entered a plea. During this week’s proceedings, his attorneys have suggested that investigators may have overlooked evidence pointing to another person’s involvement in the killing.

Prosecutors have indicated they intend to introduce text messages exchanged between Robinson and Twiggs, as well as messages from a Discord group chat. While some of that material has already appeared in court documents, Robinson’s defense team has argued that broadcasting it poses a serious threat to his constitutional rights.

According to text messages cited by prosecutors, Twiggs asked Robinson after the shooting whether he had shot Kirk, and Robinson said he had. When asked why, Robinson allegedly replied: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Prosecutors argue the messages show Robinson targeted Kirk because of his conservative political beliefs. The defense disputes that interpretation and has moved to limit the use of any evidence suggesting a political motive — a factor that could potentially be used to argue for the death penalty.

A structural emergency in Midtown Manhattan is still causing major disruptions as workers carry out repairs and conduct inspections at an affected building.

The area around the building was cleared out earlier this week after authorities determined the structure was in danger of collapsing. Officials have been working to address the problem since the evacuation was ordered.

Traffic in the surrounding area remains heavily impacted as the repair and inspection work continues at the site.

A decision by President Donald Trump to eliminate a key government food security survey could leave the nation flying blind when it comes to measuring hunger — particularly as millions of Americans lose access to food stamp benefits.

Trump’s tax and spending legislation, signed into law last July, made sweeping changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP or food stamps. The law shifted a significant portion of SNAP costs to individual states and broadened work requirements for recipients, among other changes.

Since those changes took effect, approximately 4.7 million people — roughly 11% of all SNAP participants — have lost their benefits. That number is expected to climb as states continue rolling out the new rules.

Last September, Trump canceled a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey that had been tracking household food security for three decades. The survey measured whether families had reliable access to enough food to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

At the time of the cancellation, the USDA described the survey in a press release as “redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous.”

But Craig Gundersen, an economist at Baylor University, described that same survey as the “gold standard” for understanding food access in America.

Experts say that without the data the survey provided, determining whether Trump’s SNAP reductions are pushing more people into hunger will be extremely challenging.

“It’s definitely going to be a void in information on prevalence of food insecurity,” said Michele Ver Ploeg, a senior fellow at the nonprofit National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, who previously served at USDA’s Economic Research Service, including as head of its food assistance branch.

A USDA spokesperson responded that both the federal government and certain states continue gathering hunger-related data through other means, and argued that the number of SNAP recipients does not directly reflect food insecurity levels.

However, previous USDA-supported research found that increases in SNAP benefits reduced food insecurity among low-income households, while benefit cuts were linked to higher rates of food insecurity. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Nothing Quite Comparable

From 1995 through 2025, the USDA paid the Census Bureau to conduct an 18-question food security survey as part of its broader Current Population Survey. The questionnaire asked things like whether anyone in a household had skipped meals in the past year due to lack of food, or whether they couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals.

While organizations like the Urban Institute and the University of Southern California collect some food security data, Ver Ploeg said “the bottom line is there’s nothing quite comparable” to what the USDA survey provided.

Parke Wilde, a food economist at Tufts University, noted that food banks and nonprofits may release their own survey findings, but those won’t carry the same weight. “It’s not like nobody is going to be reporting relevant statistics; it’s just that the statistics that they report won’t be as good,” Wilde said.

Hunger Already on the Rise

The final edition of the USDA survey, published last December, found that 13.7% of U.S. households experienced food insecurity at some point during the year — the highest level in a decade, capping several years of worsening numbers. The report did not identify causes for the increase, though other research has pointed to the end of pandemic-era food assistance programs and rising inflation.

Matthew Rabbitt, a visiting scholar at Cornell University who worked on the survey at USDA and oversaw its final three years of publication, said policymakers have now lost a critical tool for responding to hunger.

“If we don’t have measures of food insecurity at this point, we can’t make informed policy decisions,” Rabbitt said.

He added that tracking child hunger will be especially difficult going forward, since other available surveys don’t capture comparable data on children. “We’re no longer monitoring child food insecurity in the U.S.,” he said.

States and Congress Push Back

Some states and lawmakers are working to fill the gap. In March, Maine became the first state in the country to pass a law requiring an annual statewide food insecurity survey.

Maine had previously relied on the USDA survey to measure its progress toward a goal of ending hunger by 2030. Jackie Farwell, a spokesperson for Democratic Governor Janet Mills, said the cancellation of the federal report means states can no longer compare their progress to national figures or other states.

“The Trump Administration’s cancellation of the report means states are no longer able to measure progress against the national average and fellow states,” Farwell said in an email.

Farwell said the governor’s office is collaborating with nonprofits and national experts to produce a statewide hunger report by early 2027.

At the federal level, Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation to bring the USDA survey back. Democratic Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, a co-sponsor of a Senate bill to revive the survey, said Trump’s SNAP cuts combined with the survey’s elimination “have weakened federal efforts to address food insecurity and made it more difficult to understand where service gaps exist.”

“Accurate data is critical to ensure we target resources where they’re needed most,” she said.

A coalition of immigrant rights organizations is demanding an independent investigation after an ICE agent fatally shot an unarmed man in Houston.

Several advocacy groups have raised serious concerns about the circumstances surrounding the deadly encounter and are calling for a thorough, impartial review of what took place.

PROVO, Utah — Prosecutors in Utah intend to play audio recordings in open court Thursday of law enforcement officials questioning the roommate of the man accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Defense attorneys pushed back against releasing the statements made by Lance Twiggs, who was both the roommate and romantic partner of defendant Tyler Robinson. They argued that prosecutors would frame the statements as a confession, which could jeopardize Robinson’s right to a fair trial if the recordings were picked up by the media.

Robinson faces a charge of aggravated murder and has yet to enter a plea. He turned himself in to authorities one day after Kirk was shot and killed. Kirk was a close ally of President Donald Trump and was widely credited with helping energize young voters in support of Trump during the 2024 election.

According to prosecutors, Robinson left a note for Twiggs that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” Robinson also allegedly sent Twiggs a text message stating he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”

Twiggs sat down with investigators on September 12 — two days after Kirk was shot and killed while addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University — and spoke with them again on April 20. In exchange for his cooperation, Twiggs was granted immunity, meaning his statements cannot be used against him in any potential criminal proceedings.

State District Judge Tony Graf will determine at the end of this week’s preliminary hearing whether prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence to move Robinson’s case forward to trial.

Robinson’s defense team has not addressed his guilt or innocence publicly but has made unsuccessful attempts to remove the death penalty as a possible punishment.

Attorneys representing Kirk’s family and members of the media urged the judge to allow Twiggs’ statements and other evidence to be made available to the public.

“To not be transparent, to not be open and let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,” Kirk family attorney Jeffrey Neiman told Judge Graf.

According to investigators, Robinson climbed to a rooftop near the venue where Kirk was speaking and fired a single shot that struck Kirk in the neck while the activist was fielding questions from the large crowd gathered below. Kirk was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities recovered what they believe to be the murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle with one spent casing — wrapped inside a towel and hidden in a wooded area close to the shooting scene.

Earlier this week, Robinson’s defense attorneys raised questions about the reliability of DNA analysis used to connect their client to the towel and the firearm. Defense lawyer Michael Burt challenged the conclusions drawn by an FBI DNA analyst, arguing that “she can’t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples.”

However, forensics expert Lawrence Quarino countered that law enforcement agencies rely on “extremely reliable” methods to assess the likelihood that a person’s DNA matches evidence collected at a crime scene. Quarino, a professor and director of the forensic science program at Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania, stated that DNA testing “is the gold standard in forensic science.”

Two 15-year-olds were taken into custody in Northern California after a self-driving Waymo vehicle carried them to a parking lot — guided there remotely by the company — where police were waiting, authorities announced.

San Mateo police officers intercepted the vehicle on Monday afternoon following a tip from a Waymo company representative, according to department spokesperson Jeanine Luna.

Bystander photos shared with a local television station captured the teenagers hanging out of the moving car’s windows. Investigators determined the teens had been consuming alcohol inside the vehicle and firing Orbeez — small, soft water-absorbent polymer beads — out onto the roadway.

Waymo took control of the situation by steering the car into a parking lot and notifying officers as it did so.

“The occupants were not locked in and had every ability to exit the vehicle,” Luna stated in an email to reporters.

Throughout the traffic stop, officers were able to speak directly with a Waymo company representative using the car’s built-in communication system, Luna added.

The San Mateo Police Department shared details of the incident on social media, using the post as an opportunity to caution the public about underage drinking and the hazards associated with water bead projectile toys.

The department’s post drew more than 150 comments from the public, with several people raising questions about privacy and whether it was appropriate for Waymo to redirect the vehicle and hand the teenagers over to police.

Waymo did not answer emailed questions asking how the company became aware of the teens’ behavior or whether the passengers were told the car was being pulled over.

According to information on Waymo’s website, interior cameras in its vehicles are used to check that cars are clean, help locate items left behind by riders, and assist in emergency situations. The company states that facial recognition technology is not used to identify passengers.

“Our Support team may review video under certain circumstances, including after an issue is brought to our attention,” the company’s support page reads. “Occasionally, in more urgent circumstances, Support may access live video during a trip.”

This is not the first time a Waymo vehicle has found itself connected to a law enforcement matter. Last month in San Francisco, a burglar broke into a yoga studio, made off with athletic clothing, and then fled the scene in one of the company’s autonomous vehicles.

A Utah judge has ordered cuts to a recorded interview with the roommate of Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, ruling Wednesday that certain portions cannot be played in open court after the defense argued the clips could be presented as “confessions” and undermine the defendant’s right to a fair trial.

District Court Judge Tony Graf agreed to trim sections of the video that could be shown to the court, though he indicated he would still consider the full recording when deciding whether prosecutors have enough evidence to send Tyler Robinson, 23, to trial. Robinson faces seven criminal charges, including aggravated murder, and prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty.

Investigators say Robinson shot Kirk, 31, in front of thousands of onlookers as the well-known ally of President Donald Trump was engaged in a debate with students at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.

The ruling concerned an interview with Lance Twiggs, Kirk’s roommate, and was issued on the third day of a key preliminary hearing in Provo, Utah. Twiggs has not been charged in connection with the case. Prosecutor Lauren Hunt told the court that on April 20, Twiggs agreed to sit for an interview with prosecutors and law enforcement rather than testify at this week’s hearing.

Robinson’s defense attorney Richard Novak pushed unsuccessfully for the video to be shown only in a closed session, arguing that public viewing could taint the jury pool and infringe on his client’s rights. “We are very concerned that the publication of what the state will call confessions at trial violates Mr Robinson’s due process rights,” Novak told the court.

Erika Kirk, the victim’s widow, was present in the courtroom for the third consecutive day. Her attorney argued the footage should be played in its entirety. “To not be transparent here, to not be open, to not let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,” attorney Jeffrey Neiman stated.

Prosecutor Hunt said her team would make the judge’s requested edits to the video and intended to play the trimmed version in court on Thursday.

Judge Graf signaled that a ruling on whether the case will proceed to trial is unlikely to come this week. “After this hearing I’ll review everything again,” he said.

The preliminary hearing, expected to run the full week, marks the first public examination of prosecution evidence in Kirk’s killing — one of a string of incidents that have heightened concern about political violence in the United States.

Robinson, who was enrolled in an electrician training program at the time of the shooting, has not yet entered a plea. His legal team has suggested this week that investigators may have overlooked evidence pointing to another person’s involvement in the killing.

Prosecutors have indicated they plan to introduce text messages exchanged between Robinson and Twiggs, as well as messages from a Discord group chat, as evidence. Some of this material has already surfaced in court documents. According to those filings, Twiggs texted Robinson after the shooting asking if he had shot Kirk, and Robinson allegedly replied that he had. When asked why, Robinson reportedly responded: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Prosecutors argue the messages and other evidence show Robinson targeted Kirk because of his conservative political beliefs. The defense contests that characterization and has worked to limit the introduction of a political motive, which could factor into arguments for imposing the death penalty.

A member of a federal crime-fighting task force in Memphis, Tennessee shot and killed someone on Wednesday morning — the second time in four days that a task force member has been involved in a fatal shooting.

The incident took place around 8:30 a.m. while U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents were executing a drug warrant out of Shelby County. According to U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron, the suspect was inside a hotel room and refused to open the door, prompting agents to force their way in.

An initial statement from the Marshals Service indicated the man was killed after he pointed a handgun at task force members. However, a follow-up statement from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation — which is now investigating the circumstances — offered fewer details, saying only that “for reasons still under investigation, the situation escalated, resulting in a DEA agent firing into a room, striking a man and killing him.”

No law enforcement officers were hurt in the incident. McCarron confirmed that the DEA team included at least one officer from the Memphis Police Department.

The Memphis Safe Task Force was established last year by President Donald Trump as part of an initiative to deploy National Guard troops and federal agents in Democratic-run cities he characterized as having serious crime problems. While courts blocked plans to send troops to other cities, Tennessee National Guard members have been working with the task force in Memphis since last fall.

The first of the two fatal shootings took place in the early morning hours of Sunday, when two Guardsmen shot and killed 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson. They reported that Johnson turned toward them with a gun during a pursuit in the downtown area.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is responsible for looking into both shootings and will hand over its findings to the local district attorney general.

The family of a Houston man and several immigration advocacy organizations are demanding a thorough, independent investigation after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot and killed him during a traffic stop.

The fatal shooting has prompted calls from both loved ones and immigrant rights groups for a full accounting of what took place during the encounter with ICE agents.

The death of a Mississippi teenager is sparking conversation across the country, and people want to know more about what happened.

NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly sat down with Anita Lee, a reporter for the Sun Herald, to discuss the growing national interest surrounding the case of Nolan Wells, a student-athlete whose body was discovered off the coast of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast region.

Lee spoke about why this particular case has drawn so much attention from people well beyond the local Mississippi community where Wells lived and competed as a student-athlete.

The fatal shooting of a Houston man by a federal immigration officer on Tuesday has become at least the eighth death tied to the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement effort — and the first fatality during what officials describe as a newly intensified push toward mass deportations.

Department of Homeland Security officials released a statement identifying the victim as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national. According to DHS, Araujo refused to comply with commands while attempting to avoid arrest during an enforcement operation, and allegedly tried to use his vehicle to strike an agent. The agent fired in self-defense, officials said.

Araujo’s family, however, said he was simply on his way to a construction job when the encounter occurred. He died before reaching the hospital.

The shooting quickly sparked outrage among immigrant rights organizations and some Democratic lawmakers, who called for an independent investigation and demanded that all video footage, communications, and evidence be preserved.

This is not the first time video evidence has raised questions about federal officers’ accounts. In several earlier fatal shootings, footage emerged that contradicted what agents reported. To date, no immigration officers have faced criminal charges in any of those deadly encounters.

One of the earliest deaths in the immigration crackdown occurred during a late-night traffic stop in Texas in March 2025. It took nearly a year for records related to that shooting to become public. The victim was a 23-year-old U.S. citizen.

A Homeland Security Investigations team working alongside local police stopped Ruben Ray Martinez during a drive from San Antonio to South Padre Island. His family said he had just turned 23 and was traveling with his best friend to celebrate his birthday.

DHS officials stated that Martinez was ordered to get out of the vehicle, refused, and instead “intentionally ran over” an agent. A second agent fired through the open driver’s window, striking Martinez, who later died at a hospital. The HSI agent involved sustained a knee injury, the nature of which was not disclosed.

Martinez’s mother said investigators with the Texas Rangers contacted her and told her video existed that contradicted the federal agents’ version of events. Both federal and state authorities have refused to address the reported discrepancies.

On January 24, a Border Patrol officer shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, during a protest against the Metro Surge immigration operation in Minneapolis. Federal authorities quickly labeled Pretti, a U.S. citizen, as an armed agitator who posed a threat to officers.

Bystander video told a different story — it showed Pretti on the ground and holding a cellphone during the encounter. The footage also appeared to show an officer removing a gun from Pretti’s waistband and stepping back before the first shot was fired by a different officer, followed by additional shots. Pretti had a legal permit to carry a firearm.

State and local officials pushed back hard against the federal characterization of events. Gov. Tim Walz called the federal comments “despicable.”

Earlier that month, on January 7, an ICE officer repeatedly shot Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis. Video shows Good turning her car’s wheels away from officer Jonathan Ross at the moment he opened fire. Trump administration officials have continued to defend Ross, arguing his life was endangered by the moving vehicle.

Good’s death ignited a national controversy. The U.S. Justice Department announced it would not share information about the shooting with state authorities. State and local officials later filed lawsuits in an attempt to halt the immigration sweeps, and protesters followed officers through the streets, prompting agents to deploy tear gas and chemical irritants.

On September 12, ICE agents fatally shot Silverio Villegas González during a traffic stop in a suburb of Chicago. Family members said the 38-year-old, a line cook from Mexico, had dropped a child off at daycare earlier that morning.

At the time, DHS said agents were targeting a man with a reckless driving history who was in the country illegally, and alleged that Villegas González had tried to evade arrest and dragged an officer with his vehicle. Homeland Security said the agent fired out of fear for his life and was hospitalized with “serious injuries.” Local police video, however, showed the agent moving around and describing his injuries as “nothing major.” DHS has said the case remains under investigation.

On July 10, immigration authorities were arresting dozens of farmworkers at Glass House Farms in southern California when Jaime Alanis fell from the roof of a greenhouse and broke his neck. The 57-year-old laborer from Mexico died at a hospital two days later.

Relatives said Alanis had worked at the farm in Camarillo — about an hour east of Los Angeles — for a decade. During the raid, he called family members to say he was hiding. Officials said he fell approximately 30 feet from the greenhouse roof. Homeland Security stated that Alanis was never taken into custody and was not being pursued by agents at the time.

On August 14, a man fleeing immigration officers near a Home Depot in southern California was struck and killed by an SUV while attempting to cross a freeway. Police in Monrovia, northeast of Los Angeles, said ICE agents were conducting enforcement operations when the man ran across the eastbound lanes of Interstate 210 and was hit. The man was later identified by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network as Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, 52, of Guatemala. He died at a hospital. Homeland Security said Montoya Valdez was not being actively chased by agents when he ran.

Most recently before Tuesday’s Houston shooting, Josué Castro Rivera, 24, of Honduras, was struck and killed by a pickup truck on a highway in Norfolk, Virginia, on October 23, while trying to flee officers during a traffic stop. His brother, Henry Castro, said Castro Rivera had been heading to a gardening job with three passengers when ICE officers pulled the vehicle over. State and federal authorities confirmed he ran from the scene on foot and was hit by a pickup truck on Interstate 264. Homeland Security said the stop was part of a “targeted, intelligence-based” operation and that Castro Rivera had “resisted heavily and fled.”

HOUSTON — The family of a Mexican national killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Houston says the man had no criminal record after decades of living in the United States and was on his way to a home construction job when he was shot and killed.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was in the process of obtaining legal immigration status and had prepared himself for what to do if he were ever stopped by ICE, according to his son.

Ronaldo Salgado told reporters at a news conference that his father may have panicked when he saw people approaching in unmarked vehicles, fearing they were there to rob the tools he had used for 35 years to build homes — tools that helped put his three American-born sons through college.

“He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of Mexican man shot and killed by ICE. He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father and a job creator for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream,” Salgado said at the news conference.

The fatal shooting occurred Tuesday in Magnolia Park, a neighborhood that has served as a center of Houston’s Mexican American community for more than a century.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said in a statement Tuesday that Salgado Araujo ignored commands and tried to run over an officer, who fired in self-defense. The department said ICE was targeting him because he was in the country without legal authorization, and that his vehicle struck an ICE vehicle during the encounter.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia confirmed that Salgado Araujo had no criminal convictions on his record.

Houston firefighters reported he was shot in the abdomen. He later died at a hospital.

According to Ronaldo Salgado, three other men — one of whom was his uncle — appeared to be detained while his father lay moaning on the ground. He said no one has heard from any of those men since.

Federal officials have not released any video footage or photographs of the shooting or the claimed vehicle damage. Salgado joined civil rights organizations and Democratic officials in calling on federal authorities to make all footage and related information public.

In previous incidents involving federal officers, early accounts from immigration officials have later been contradicted by video evidence.

A bystander named Juliet Martinez captured video showing a black vehicle positioned at an angle near a white van, with both vehicles’ doors open. In the footage, a bleeding, handcuffed man can be heard groaning loudly on the ground as his leg shakes. Several federal officers stand over at least three other handcuffed individuals nearby.

League of United Latin American Citizens President Roman Palomares said at the news conference that the federal crackdown has turned the country into a place where it is “open season on Latinos” — where officers believe they can “shoot and explain later.”

Palomares said ICE’s handling of past investigations shows the agency has not earned the public’s trust to take its statements at face value without supporting evidence such as video.

“Your pattern has been one of inaccuracies of prejudicial leaks before the facts are known, of twisting the narrative to fit your version of events,” Palomares said.

The league announced a $5,000 reward for witness information and video footage, while also calling for an independent investigation. Other civil rights leaders urged anyone with video not to hand it over to ICE, warning that such evidence could be destroyed.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said the family and community deserve answers, but noted that federal authorities are currently handling the investigation exclusively.

Representatives for ICE and DHS did not respond to repeated requests for comment Wednesday.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin took over leadership of the department in March with the stated goal of avoiding the controversies that had defined his predecessor Kristi Noem’s time in the role.

Following two fatal shootings in Minnesota that sparked significant public backlash, immigration arrests nationwide declined and ICE appeared to adjust its approach. However, in late June, arrests surged to 10,000 over a five-day period, driven in part by a major increase in Congressional funding.

This shooting is believed to be at least the eighth death resulting from an encounter with federal immigration officers since the Trump administration launched its immigration enforcement crackdown.

Ronaldo Salgado said his mother received word around 7 a.m. Tuesday that something had happened to his father. After rushing to the job site and finding his father’s empty van, he came across a video online.

“I recognized him, not from his appearance but from his voice crying for help as he lay on the street,” Salgado said.

Salgado Araujo met his future wife as a teenager in Mexico. The couple came to the United States and built their own home in Houston with the help of friends and family members from his work crew. His wife prepared his lunch each morning before he left and had a full meal waiting when he returned. He would relax on his porch listening to music and petting his dog, his son recalled.

“After nearly 35 years of working to give us the American dream, he made the choice to begin the process of obtaining his American dream through a work permit,” Salgado said. “We dotted every I, crossed every T, filled every document, attended every appointment. He was close to obtaining his legal status.”

Salgado Araujo had completed biometric scans and fingerprinting earlier this year and had carefully studied what to do if ICE pulled him over. His son said that if his father was driving away, it was likely out of fear that his tools were about to be stolen.

“Had my father seen an emblem of ICE or an emblem that says anything about a law enforcement agency, my father would have complied,” his son said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she is weighing legal options and may call on the United Nations to intervene to stop what she described as violence against Mexicans in the United States.

“There has been another tragic death of one of our compatriots in the United States due to detention issues, even though their only ‘offense’ is not yet having proper documentation,” Sheinbaum said.

Houston has seen increased immigration enforcement activity since the crackdown began, and the efforts have not gone without resistance. The Houston City Council passed an ordinance limiting cooperation with ICE, but later reversed the decision after Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, threatened to cut more than $100 million in state funding for public safety.

Pressure is building for an independent inquiry into the fatal shooting of a Houston man by a federal immigration agent, the latest in a series of deadly confrontations involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

ICE released a statement following the Tuesday morning shooting identifying the victim as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national it described as living in the country without legal authorization. According to the agency, Salgado used his vehicle to ram an ICE vehicle and attempted to strike an officer with it, prompting the officer to open fire in what ICE called “self-defense.” Salgado was transported to a hospital, where he later died. Reuters was unable to independently confirm his immigration status or the specific circumstances surrounding the shooting.

At a press conference held Wednesday, Salgado’s son, Ronaldo, painted a very different picture of his father — describing him as a peaceful construction worker who had lived in the United States for 35 years. “He dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream,” Ronaldo said. He added that his father had been working toward legal immigration status and was close to obtaining it.

Ronaldo said he only found out what had happened after stumbling upon a social media video. “I recognized him immediately, not from his appearance, but from his voice, crying for help as he lay on the street, bleeding out,” he said, visibly emotional.

Surrounded by members of Congress, Latino community leaders, and Houston officials, Ronaldo called for “a full investigation” into his father’s death.

Roman Polares, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, also addressed the press conference with sharp words. “It is un-American to use a fatal force against a human being, then lock away the evidence,” he said. “For too long, we have watched an open season declared on Latinos, and communities of color, under the guise of public safety.”

ICE announced Tuesday that its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, would oversee an investigation into the shooting, while the FBI would separately examine the “potential assault on a law enforcement officer.”

That wasn’t enough for many Houston officials. Alejandra Salinas, a member of the Houston City Council, wrote in a newspaper opinion piece Wednesday: “I am calling for an immediate and impartial investigation, with all available video and findings released as soon as possible.”

U.S. Representative Sylvia Garcia, a Texas Democrat whose district includes the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, echoed that call. She framed the incident as further evidence that Congress needs to reform ICE. “We need independent investigations, we need body cameras, clear identification, no masks and an end to paramilitary-style immigration enforcement in our streets,” Garcia said at the press conference.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire, speaking at a City Council meeting Wednesday, said he has been in “constant touch” with federal officials. He called for a “transparent, independent” investigation but said the city would not lead its own separate probe, stating there “could not be two ongoing investigations.”

The shooting adds a new layer of tension to the mayor’s already complicated relationship with immigration enforcement. Months ago, Whitmire clashed with Texas Governor Greg Abbott over whether Houston police officers could work alongside ICE. Political analysts say he has since tried to sidestep direct confrontations on the issue. “If the mayor can ignore this then he’ll try to, with the effort to try to focus on things that he can more directly control,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

This incident is part of a broader and troubling pattern. At least six people have been shot and killed by federal immigration agents since January 2025, when President Donald Trump began his second term and launched large-scale deportation operations. Immigration arrests have surged in recent weeks, with officers detaining roughly 2,000 migrants per day last week, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no video of the actual shooting had surfaced, and it remained unclear whether the agents involved were equipped with body cameras. The Trump administration has moved slowly on expanding body camera use among immigration officers and significantly reduced oversight staffing over the past year, raising concerns about accountability.

This is not the first time federal agencies’ accounts of use-of-force incidents have come under scrutiny. In October, a Chicago-area woman named Marimar Martinez was accused of ramming law enforcement officers with her vehicle and was shot five times. She survived, charges against her were eventually dropped, and video evidence indicated the agents may have actually caused the collision.

Earlier this year, Trump administration officials maintained that two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — who were shot and killed by federal agents on the streets of Minneapolis in January had threatened the officers beforehand. Video evidence appeared to contradict that account. In May, a Minnesota prosecutor filed charges against an ICE agent in connection with a separate non-fatal shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis during the same enforcement operation.

The family of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells has hired well-known civil rights attorney Ben Crump as they seek answers surrounding the young man’s death.

Wells’ body was recovered Monday off Horn Island, Mississippi — the same location where he had last been seen with friends on Saturday.

Attorney Crump has stated that the family is looking for answers regarding the circumstances of the teenager’s death.

Workers labored through the night to reinforce a towering apartment building under construction in Manhattan after support columns gave way and floors began to droop, setting off a wave of evacuations and road closures amid fears the structure could collapse.

City officials say the building — once home to the headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer — has been brought to a stable condition. However, as of Wednesday, several neighboring buildings remained under evacuation orders and a number of normally busy midtown streets were still off-limits while crews continued their work at the scene.

Ahmed Tigani, commissioner of the city’s Department of Buildings, addressed the situation late Tuesday. “The two most important things right now is making it stable and safe for the people who are working inside, for the people who are nearby,” he said.

Emergency responders were called to the building early Tuesday and found two badly damaged support beams along with sagging floors on the 21st level. The building itself and a large section of the surrounding neighborhood — located near the Grand Central transit hub and the Chrysler Building — were cleared of people and closed to foot traffic.

After city officials conducted a floor-by-floor inspection of the structure, contractors working on-site were eventually permitted back inside to carry out emergency repairs. No one other than those workers was inside the building at the time.

The renovation project is being promoted as the largest conversion of office space into residential housing in the city’s history, with plans to create roughly 1,600 housing units. The project involves transforming two office towers — adding more than a dozen new stories to one of them and redesigning the other.

MetroLoft, the developer behind the project, has stated the building is not in danger of collapsing and that no debris fell from the structure. Still, the firm’s founder, Nathan Berman, acknowledged that the additional weight placed on the building from expanding the upper 15 or so floors likely caused the structural damage.

A preliminary hearing for the man charged in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is scheduled to resume Wednesday afternoon, with defense attorneys continuing to challenge the DNA evidence prosecutors say connects the defendant to the weapon believed to have been used in the shooting.

Prosecutors are working to persuade state District Judge Tony Graf that sufficient evidence exists to bring Tyler Robinson to trial on an aggravated murder charge. Once the hearing wraps up, Graf will decide whether the case moves forward — something legal experts say is the likely outcome.

Robinson, 23, faces an aggravated murder charge in the September 10 shooting death of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus. Prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty in the case. Robinson has not yet entered a plea, and his attorneys have made no statements regarding his guilt or innocence, though they have attempted — without success so far — to have the death penalty removed as a possible punishment.

During the hearing, defense attorney Richard Novak attempted to prevent prosecutors from introducing a statement outlining the traditional Christian values of Turning Point USA, the organization Kirk founded. “This doesn’t say anything about Mr. Robinson’s state of mind,” Novak said regarding the statement from Turning Point USA board member David Engelhardt. “I don’t think that this court should be deciding — based on the record before it — where, if at all, politics and religion intersect.”

Judge Graf ruled the Turning Point USA statement was relevant and would be “provisionally admitted,” with a final ruling to come at a later point.

FBI analyst Amanda Bakker testified that after Robinson’s roommate submitted a DNA sample for comparison, she was able to rerun her analysis and attribute all of the DNA found to two individuals.

Investigators discovered the suspected murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle with one spent round — wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near where Kirk was shot. Jennifer Faumuina of the State Bureau of Investigation testified that DNA found on the towel matched two people: Robinson’s roommate, Lance Twiggs, and another individual very likely to be Robinson.

Defense attorney Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst’s findings, stating, “She can’t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples.”

Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride pushed back, arguing that questions about the reliability of the DNA testing are better suited for a full trial. “The point is there are explanations that are susceptible to different interpretations and arguments,” McBride said. “The court is going to determine if it meets the threshold of reliability at trial.”

The weeklong preliminary hearing is expected to continue with defense attorneys pressing further on the DNA evidence.

Southbound travelers on Atlanta Road (Road 30) are facing intermittent lane restrictions between Tull Drive and Oak Street due to ongoing construction work.

The lane closure is expected to remain in effect until 3:30 PM. Drivers in the area should anticipate possible delays and consider using an alternate route if possible.

No additional details about the nature of the construction work were provided. Motorists are encouraged to stay alert and follow any posted signage in the work zone.

Honda Motor America is pulling back more than 325,000 minivans from U.S. roads after federal safety regulators identified a problem with the rearview camera display system.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Wednesday that 325,588 Odyssey vehicles are included in the recall, specifically those from the 2018, 2019, and 2020 model years.

According to the NHTSA, moisture can seep into the rearview camera, causing it to stop working properly. When that happens, drivers backing up may not see any image on the display screen — a situation that raises the risk of a collision.

To fix the problem, Honda dealerships will swap out the rearview camera at no charge to vehicle owners. Affected owners should contact their local Honda dealer to schedule the repair.

PROVO, Utah — Defense attorneys for the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk are continuing to challenge the reliability of DNA testing that prosecutors say ties the defendant to the suspected murder weapon, as a weeklong preliminary hearing resumed Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a member of Tyler Robinson’s legal team questioned an FBI DNA analyst about the methods she used to link Robinson to a bolt-action rifle discovered wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near Utah Valley University, where Kirk was fatally shot in September during a speaking event.

Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst’s findings, stating bluntly: “She can’t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples.”

Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride pushed back, arguing that the preliminary hearing was not the appropriate venue to debate the reliability of DNA testing. “The point is there are explanations that are susceptible to different interpretations and arguments,” McBride said. “The court is going to determine if it meets the threshold of reliability at trial.”

FBI analyst Amanda Bakker testified that after Robinson’s roommate provided a DNA sample for comparison, she was able to rerun her analysis and attribute all DNA found to two individuals.

Jennifer Faumuina with the State Bureau of Investigation testified that DNA on the towel matched two people — Robinson’s roommate, Lance Twiggs, and someone very likely to be Robinson himself.

Surveillance footage shown in court from the day of the shooting depicted Robinson climbing over a railing onto a rooftop, crouching down, and moving to a position overlooking the area where Kirk was speaking, according to testimony from Utah State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull.

Hull testified that following the shooting, Robinson ran back across the rooftop, dropped to the ground, and fled on foot. Robinson later turned himself in to authorities.

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester questioned Hull’s handling of the crime scene and raised questions about a bullet found on campus in a location separate from the alleged shooting site. Hull explained that bullet was traced to a law enforcement officer who had “cleared” his weapon, ejecting an unused round.

Prosecutors contend the shooting put others at Kirk’s campus event in danger — an aggravating factor that could make the crime eligible for the death penalty under Utah law. Robinson also faces potential sentence enhancements based on the prosecution’s claim that he targeted Kirk because of his political beliefs.

Investigators say that on September 10, during one of several visits Robinson made to campus, he went to the amphitheater where Kirk was later shot and made contact with representatives of Turning Point USA, a conservative organization co-founded by Kirk.

Prosecutors allege Robinson left a written note for Twiggs — who was also his romantic partner — that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” He also allegedly sent a text message saying he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”

Robinson’s defense team pushed back against the notion that he harbored hostility toward Kirk’s political views. Defense attorney Richard Novak sought to block prosecutors from introducing a statement describing the traditional Christian values of Turning Point USA. “This doesn’t say anything about Mr. Robinson’s state of mind,” Novak argued. “I don’t think that this court should be deciding — based on the record before it — where, if at all, politics and religion intersect.”

Judge Tony Graf ruled the Turning Point USA statement was relevant and would be “provisionally admitted,” with a final decision to come at a later date. Robinson has not yet entered a plea, and his attorneys have not addressed his guilt or innocence. Efforts by the defense to remove the death penalty as a possible punishment have so far been unsuccessful.

A man was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Houston on Tuesday after he allegedly tried to escape arrest using his vehicle during an enforcement operation, according to the agency.

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement saying the man disregarded orders to stop and attempted to use his car to ram one of the agents. The agent opened fire in self-defense, and the man’s vehicle collided with an ICE vehicle. DHS, which oversees ICE, confirmed the details in its statement.

The man was identified in the statement as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who was living in the United States without legal authorization. Federal agents had specifically targeted Araujo in the operation. He was transported to a hospital, where he later died.

The FBI’s Houston field office has opened an investigation into a potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer, according to spokesperson Connor Hagan. He also noted that the office’s evidence response team went to the scene at DHS’s request to collect and process evidence.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia stated that the shooting took place within her Texas congressional district during what she described as an “ICE enforcement operation.” In a post on the social media platform X, she acknowledged that ICE had released an initial account of events but stressed that the information must be independently confirmed and thoroughly investigated.

“All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed as part of a full and impartial investigation,” she wrote.

This incident marks at least the sixth deadly shooting involving federal officers since the start of the current administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement push.

In a prior incident, a federal immigration agent shot and killed a 23-year-old U.S. citizen named Ruben Ray Martinez during a late-night traffic stop. A grand jury chose not to bring criminal charges against the agent. DHS stated the agent fired after the driver “intentionally ran over” a fellow agent, though video released by authorities does not clearly show the vehicle making contact with the agent.

Earlier this year in January, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen named Renee Good was shot in the head by a federal immigration agent during an enforcement action in Minneapolis. DHS claimed Good had attempted to strike the agent with her vehicle, but local officials and witnesses disputed that account, saying she was simply trying to drive away.

The Federal Communications Commission announced Tuesday that it is placing a California-based technology company called Digitalsystem Technology on its list of firms considered threats to U.S. national security.

The Los Angeles-based IT company has been denied permission to provide international telecommunications services, with the FCC pointing to the company’s connections to Chinese telecom firms and the fact that it is owned by a Chinese national.

“There is significant risk that the government of China and other threat actors could exploit any vulnerabilities to the detriment of U.S. national security and law enforcement interests,” the FCC stated, raising alarms about the potential collection, disruption, or misrouting of American communications.

Neither Digitalsystem Technology nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington responded to requests for comment.

Among the concerns raised by the FCC were the company’s business partnerships with Hong Kong-based PCCW, as well as China Unicom and China Mobile — two carriers that the FCC had previously barred from providing international telecom services to the United States on national security grounds.

On October 15, the FCC also moved to revoke the ability of HKT, a major Hong Kong telecom carrier and subsidiary of PCCW, to continue operating in the United States.

The Trump administration has taken an aggressive stance toward Chinese telecommunications companies overall. The FCC has put forward a proposal that would prohibit U.S. telecom carriers from connecting their networks with Chinese firms flagged as national security risks — a move Chinese companies have warned could cause serious disruptions to global communications.

Last month, the FCC announced a ban on importing additional equipment from several Chinese manufacturers, including Huawei, Dahua, ZTE, and Hikvision. New models of Chinese-made drones and routers were also prohibited from being imported into the country.

Regulators also noted that Digitalsystem Technology’s website had previously listed Huawei, Dahua, Hikvision, ZTE, and others as company partners. The site was later changed to refer to those companies as clients instead.

A judge in California has dismissed all charges against a radiologist who was accused of trying to kill his family in 2023 by deliberately driving off a cliff along the Northern California coastline, after the man completed a court-ordered mental health treatment program.

Dharmesh Patel, 45, faced attempted murder charges after steering his Tesla off a 250-foot drop along the Pacific Coast Highway at a location known as “Devil’s Slide,” injuring his wife and their two young children. Remarkably, all four family members survived the January 2, 2023 crash — something one official described as an “absolute miracle.”

A San Mateo County judge tossed the charges on Monday following Patel’s successful completion of a two-year mental health diversion program that included work with a Stanford University psychiatrist and a family therapist. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe confirmed the dismissal, noting that the judge had no choice under the law.

“The judge was required by the law to dismiss the charges,” Wagstaffe said.

A separate judge had ruled in 2024 that Patel would undergo mental health treatment rather than face trial. His defense attorneys argued that at the time of the crash, Patel was experiencing episodes of severe depression accompanied by hallucinations, and that he qualified for mental health diversion under a California law that took effect in 2023.

“If the person who’s given mental health diversion follows the treatment plan, there’s nothing that can be done and at the end of the two years he gets it wiped out of his record,” Wagstaffe said.

Prosecutors in San Mateo County had fought against allowing Patel to enter the diversion program but were unsuccessful. Wagstaffe and fellow California district attorneys have been pushing state lawmakers to change the law so that attempted murder charges would no longer be eligible for mental health diversion.

“We’ll try again in the future,” Wagstaffe said. “We’re not giving up.”

Patel’s attorney, Joshua Bentley, had not responded to a request for comment as of Tuesday.

A Pasadena resident, Patel was on a family road trip in the Bay Area when the crash occurred. According to Wagstaffe, Patel told a psychiatrist after his arrest that he had been suffering from depression and had developed delusions that kidnappers would traffic his children, who were 4 and 7 years old at the time.

Patel remained behind bars without bail until 2024, when he was released to participate in an outpatient mental health treatment program. He then moved in with his parents in San Mateo County and was monitored with a GPS ankle bracelet. He was also required to give up his driver’s license and passport, and had to check in with the court on a weekly basis.

Wagstaffe said Patel’s wife and children also relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, and the court eventually permitted him to spend time with his family and take them on drives.

Patel’s wife took the stand to say she had forgiven her husband and opposed his prosecution. She told the court that her children missed their father and wanted him back at home.

After Monday’s dismissal, Patel walked from the courtroom to the gallery where his wife was waiting, and the two departed the building together, according to the Mercury News.

Following his arrest, the Medical Board of California had prohibited Patel from practicing medicine while the attempted murder charges were pending. The board announced Tuesday that Patel surrendered his California medical license in December.

A federal immigration agent fatally shot a man in Houston on Tuesday while officers attempted to stop his vehicle, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE identified the man killed as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, describing him as a Mexican national and an “illegal alien” who tried to flee during what the agency called a “targeted enforcement operation.”

However, a man named Ronaldo Salgado, who told Spanish-language television station Telemundo Houston that he is the victim’s son, offered a different account. He said his father was in the area looking to hire workers at the time of the shooting.

ICE’s version of events states that Salgado “rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer.” The agency said the confrontation led to “our officer firing his weapon in self-defense,” striking the driver. Salgado was taken to a hospital, where he later died from his wounds.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the man’s immigration status or the exact circumstances surrounding the shooting.

This incident comes amid a pattern over the past year in which initial statements from immigration enforcement agencies have been called into question by video recordings or other evidence, sometimes in legal proceedings.

In one notable case from October, a woman from the Chicago area named Marimar Martinez was accused of ramming law enforcement officers with her vehicle. She was shot five times but survived. The charges against her were eventually dropped, and video evidence raised questions about whether agents may have struck her vehicle themselves.

As of Tuesday, neither the FBI nor ICE’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, had responded to requests for comment on the Houston shooting.

A multi-lane closure is in effect on US Route 202 southbound at Powder Mill Road following a crash, according to transportation officials.

Three right lanes on that stretch of roadway have been shut down as crews respond to the incident. Motorists traveling in the area are advised to allow extra time or seek an alternate route to avoid significant delays.

No additional details about the crash, including the number of vehicles involved or any injuries, were immediately available. Drivers should remain alert and follow the guidance of any traffic control personnel on scene.

CHICAGO (AP) — George E. Johnson Sr., a trailblazer in the Black hair care industry whose company became the first Black-owned business ever listed on the American Stock Exchange, has passed away at the age of 99, his family announced.

Johnson died Monday at his residence in downtown Chicago. No cause of death was provided.

Together with his late wife, Joan, Johnson launched Johnson Products in 1954 on Chicago’s South Side, starting with just a $250 loan. Over the decades, that small venture grew into a massive hair care empire serving a predominantly Black customer base, featuring well-known brands such as Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen.

The company also gained widespread recognition as a national sponsor of the popular 1970s music and dance television program “Soul Train.”

“Johnson Products became a fixture in homes and salons around the world and a source of pride throughout Black America,” the family said in a written statement.

In 2024, Johnson published his memoir, titled “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street.”

“I had an epiphany,” Johnson said in a statement released by the book’s publisher, Little, Brown and Company. “In that experience, I clearly heard five words: ‘You must tell your story.’ I believed it was the voice of the Lord. I made a 180 degree turn and immediately sought a writer.”

Born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi, Johnson relocated to Chicago as a child alongside his family. Their journey north took place during what historians call the First Great Migration — a period between 1910 and 1940 when tens of thousands of Black Southerners moved to northern and midwestern cities seeking employment and relief from racial oppression.

As a young man, Johnson contributed to his family’s finances by shining shoes, busing tables at local eateries, and setting up pins at a bowling alley.

“Those early experiences shaped the values that guided him throughout his life: humility, determination, personal responsibility, and the golden rule: treating everyone the way he wished to be treated, with dignity and respect,” his family stated.

Beyond his hair care empire, Johnson went on to establish Independence Bank and made history as the first Black person to serve on the board of directors of Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison. Through the George E. Johnson Educational Fund, more than 1,000 college scholarships were awarded to students.