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Tag: Courts

  • Supreme Court will decide on use of warrants that collect the location history of cellphone users

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    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide the constitutionality of broad search warrants that collect the location history of cellphone users to find people near crime scenes.

    The case involves what is a known as a “geofence warrant” that was served on Google in a police hunt for a bank robber in suburban Richmond, Virginia. Geofence warrants, an increasingly popular investigative tool, seek location data on every person within a specific location over a certain period of time.

    Police used the information to arrest Okello Chatrie in the 2019 robbery of the Call Federal Credit Union in Midlothian. Chatrie eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison.

    Chatrie’s lawyers challenged the warrant as a violation of his privacy because it allowed authorities to gather the location history of people near the bank without having any evidence they had anything to do with the robbery. Prosecutors argued that Chatrie had no expectation of privacy because he voluntarily opted into Google’s Location History.

    A federal judge agreed that the search violated Chatrie’s rights, but still allowed the evidence to be used because the officer who applied for the warrant reasonably believed he was acting properly.

    The federal appeals court in Richmond upheld the conviction in a fractured ruling. In a separate case, the federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled that geofence warrants violate the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches.

    The case is expected to be argued later this year, either in the spring or in October, at the start of the court’s next term.

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  • Julio Iglesias denies sexual abuse allegations, calling them ‘absolutely untrue’

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    MADRID — Grammy-winning singer Julio Iglesias on Friday denied allegations that he sexually assaulted two former employees, calling the accusations “absolutely untrue.”

    Media reports from earlier this week alleged Iglesias had sexually and physically assaulted two women who worked at his residences in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas between January and October 2021. A day later, Spanish prosecutors said they were studying the allegations.

    “With deep sorrow, I respond to the accusations made by two people who previously worked at my home. I deny having abused, coerced or disrespected any woman. These accusations are absolutely false and cause me great sadness,” Iglesias said on Instagram.

    Spanish online newspaper elDiario.es and Spanish-language television channel Univision Noticias published the joint, three-year investigation on Jan. 13 into Iglesias’ alleged misconduct.

    A Spanish high court received formal allegations against Iglesias by an unnamed party on Jan. 5, according to officials there. Iglesias could potentially be taken in front of the Madrid-based court, which can try alleged crimes by Spanish citizens while they are abroad, according to the court’s press office.

    The 82-year-old Iglesias is one of the world’s most successful musical artists, having sold more than 300 million records in more than a dozen languages. After making his start in Spain, he won immense popularity in the United States and wider world in the 1970s and ’80s. He’s the father of pop singer Enrique Iglesias.

    In 1988, he won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance for his album “Un Hombre Solo.” He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2019.

    “I had never experienced such malice, but I still have the strength for people to know the full truth and to defend my dignity against such a serious affront,” Iglesias said on social media.

    He also thanked those who had sent messages of support.

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  • Spanish prosecutors studying allegations of sexual assault by singer Julio Iglesias

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    BARCELONA, Spain — Spanish prosecutors are studying allegations that singer Julio Iglesias sexually assaulted two former employees at his residences in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

    The Spanish prosecutors’ office told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the allegations were related to media reports from earlier this week that alleged Iglesias had sexually and physically assaulted two women who worked in his Caribbean residences between January and October 2021.

    Iglesias has yet to speak publicly regarding the allegations. Russell L. King, a Miami-based entertainment lawyer who lists Iglesias as a client on his website, did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the AP.

    The Spanish prosecutors’ office that handles cases for Spain’s National Court said that it had received formal allegations against Iglesias by an unnamed party on Jan. 5. Iglesias could potentially be taken in front of the Madrid-based court, which can try alleged crimes by Spanish citizens while abroad, according to the court’s press office.

    Spanish online newspaper elDiario.es and Spanish-language television channel Univision Noticias published the joint investigation into Iglesias’ alleged misconduct.

    The 82-year-old Iglesias is one of the world’s most successful musical artists after having sold more than 300 million records in more than a dozen languages. After making his start in Spain, he won immense popularity in the United States and wider world in the 1970s and ’80s. He is the father of pop singer Enrique Iglesias.

    ___

    Suman Naishadham contributed to this report from Madrid.

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  • ‘Dances with Wolves’ actor Nathan Chasing Horse standing trial in Las Vegas

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    LAS VEGAS — The jury trial for Nathan Chasing Horse, the former “Dances with Wolves” actor accused of sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls, is expected to begin Tuesday in Las Vegas.

    Prosecutors allege he used his reputation as a spiritual leader and healer to take advantage of his victims over two decades. Chasing Horse has pleaded not guilty to 21 charges, including sexual assault, sexual assault with a minor, first degree kidnapping of a minor and the use of a minor in producing pornography.

    The case sent shock waves across Indian Country when he was arrested and indicted in early 2023. There were many setbacks and delays, but the case finally proceeded to trial after prosecutors added allegations that he filmed himself having sex with a child.

    Best known for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the 1990 movie “Dances with Wolves,” Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.

    After starring in the Oscar-winning film, according to prosecutors, Chasing Horse proclaimed himself to be a Lakota medicine man while traveling around North America to perform healing ceremonies.

    Prosecutors claim Chasing Horse led a cult called The Circle, and his followers believed he could speak with spirits. His victims went to him for medical help, according to a court transcript from a grand jury hearing.

    One victim was 14 years old when she approached him hoping he would heal her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer. Chasing Horse previously had treated the victim’s breathing issues and her mother’s spider bite, according to a court transcript. He allegedly told her the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity in exchange for her mother’s health. He allegedly had sex with her and said her mother would die if she told anyone, according to the victim’s testimony to the grand jury.

    The original indictment was dismissed in 2024 after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled prosecutors abused the grand jury process when they provided a definition of grooming as evidence without any expert testimony.

    The high court, specifying that the dismissal had nothing to do with his innocence or guilt, left open the possibility of charges being refiled. In October 2024, the charges were refiled with new allegations that he recorded himself having sex with one of his accusers when she was younger than 14.

    Prosecutors have said the recordings, made in 2010 or 2011, were found on cellphones in a locked safe inside the North Las Vegas home that Chasing Horse is said to have shared with five wives, including the girl in the videos.

    Jury selection will begin Tuesday. The trial is expected to last four weeks, and prosecutors plan to call 18 witnesses. A week before the trial, Chasing Horse attempted to fire his private defense attorney, saying his lawyer hadn’t come to visit him. Judge Jessica Peterson removed Chasing Horse from the courtroom when he tried to interrupt her, and she denied his request.

    This case is a reminder that violence also occurs within Native communities and is not just something committed by outsiders, said Crystal Lee, CEO and founder of the organization United Natives, which offers services to victims of sexual abuse.

    Chasing Horse’s trial requires hard conversations about Native perpetrators, she said.

    “How do we hold them accountable?” she said. “How do we start these tough conversations?”

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  • FBI Says It Has Found No Video of Border Patrol Agent Shooting 2 People in Oregon

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    PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The FBI said in a court document made public Monday that it had found no surveillance or other video of a Border Patrol agent shooting and wounding two people in a pickup truck during an immigration enforcement operation in Portland, Oregon, last week.

    Agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire Thursday after the driver put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper. The agents said they feared for their own safety and that of the public, the document said.

    The FBI has interviewed four of the six agents on the scene, the document said. It did not identify the agent who fired the shots.

    None of the six agents was recording body camera footage, and investigators have uncovered no surveillance or other video footage of the shooting, FBI Special Agent Daniel Jeffreys wrote in an affidavit supporting aggravated assault and property damage charges against the driver, Luis David Nino-Moncada.

    The truck drove away after the shooting, which occurred in the parking lot of a medical office building. Nino-Moncada called 911 after arriving at an apartment complex several minutes away. He was placed in FBI custody after being treated for a gunshot wound to the arm and abdomen.

    During an initial appearance Monday afternoon in federal court in Portland, he wore a white sweatshirt and sweatpants and appeared to hold out his left arm gingerly at an angle. An interpreter translated the judge’s comments for him. The judge ordered that he remain in detention and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Wednesday.

    The agent’s affidavit said that after being read his rights, Nino-Moncada “admitted to intentionally ramming the Border Patrol vehicle in an attempt to flee, and he stated that he knew they were immigration enforcement vehicles.”

    His passenger, Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, was hospitalized after being shot in the chest and on Monday was being held at a private immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, according to an online detainee locator system maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras are Venezuela nationals and entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and 2023, respectively, the Department of Homeland Security said. It identified Nino-Moncada as an associate of Tren de Aragua and Zambrano-Contreras as involved in a prostitution ring run by the gang.

    “Anyone who crosses the red line of assaulting law enforcement will be met with the full force of this Justice Department,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday in a news release announcing charges against Nino-Moncada. “This man — an illegal alien with ties to a foreign terrorist organization — should NEVER have been in our country to begin with, and we will ensure he NEVER walks free in America again.”

    Oregon Federal Public Defender Fidel Cassino-DuCloux, whose office represents Nino-Moncada, did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press seeking comment. He told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the federal shooting of and the subsequent accusations against Nino-Moncada and his passenger follow “a well-worn playbook that the government has developed to justify the dangerous and unprofessional conduct of its agents.”

    Portland Police Chief Bob Day confirmed last week that the pair had “some nexus” to the gang. Day said the two came to the attention of police during an investigation of a July shooting believed to have been carried out by gang members, but they were not identified as suspects.

    Zambrano-Contreras was previously arrested for prostitution, Day said, and Nino-Moncada was present when a search warrant was served in that case.

    Johnson reported from Seattle.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

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  • WCSB Sues Cleveland State, Alleging it Had ‘Secret Plan’ To Shut Station Down – Cleveland Scene

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    Monday morning, supporters and ex-DJs of the axed college radio station WCSB filed a lawsuit against their former host, Cleveland State University, in county court.

    In a 14-page complaint filed in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, WCSB DJs claim that CSU President Laura Bloomberg covertly schemed to quiet the station’s criticism by transferring the antenna to Ideastream.

    And then, they allege, making it seem like a win-win situation: Ideastream gets a new terrestrial signal; CSU students get a swath of new internship opportunities.

    Bloomberg “grew weary of the independent voices at WCSB, their nonconformist attitudes, their complaints about university operations and their protests against university policy,” the court document reads.

    “At some unknown point as those protests were ramping up,” it states, CSU “began secret deliberations and discussions to sandbag WCSB with a plan to shut it down.”

    The suit comes roughly three months after Bloomberg announced, on October 3, that WCSB’s offices off Chester Ave. would be vacated, after nearly five decades of broadcasting. And three months after former station manager Alison Bomgardner, who is one of the plaintiffs, was barred from the studio.

    Well-attended protests, like the one that took place outside the City Club in mid-October, followed. Former DJs banded together around XCSB, a guerrilla recreation of the station — vowing to keep its programming alive, be it online or at weekly shows at the Happy Dog in Gordan Square.

    But Monday’s filing marks the first serious legal involvement between the two entities. Bomgardner and crew are asking not only for transparency surrounding Bloomberg’s so-called plan—via the release of public records—but also for CSU to “invalidate” the operating agreement between them and Ideastream. (And return it to WCBS DJs.)

    Their claim is that Bloomberg and Cleveland State knowingly violated civil rights law when it held supposed private talks, with and without Ideastream, to figure out how it could do away with WCSB. A “discriminatory” practice, the suit alleges, that targeted WCSB DJs “because of the content of their speech.”

    If the suit progresses, Cleveland State could reach an agreement, or proceed to a trial by jury later this year or in 2027. Both CSU and Bomgardner refused to comment at length to Scene about the case.

    If the DJs are successful, its possible that the thousands of items still locked on the fourth floor of the Campus International building—from Hungarian records to vintage comic books—would be returned to the students and volunteers that once had access to them.

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    Mark Oprea

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  • UN Court to Begin Hearings on Whether Myanmar Committed Genocide Against the Rohingya

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    THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Myanmar will face accusations Monday it is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority at the top court of the United Nations, as long-awaited hearings are set to begin.

    The West African country of Gambia first filed the case at the International Court of Justice in 2019, arguing a so-called “clearance operation” by Myanmar’s military in 2017 violated the 1948 Genocide Convention.

    Myanmar, which has since been taken over by the military, has denied the allegations.

    Without the ICJ, the military “will be accountable to no one and there will be no constraints on their persecution and ultimate destruction of the Rohingya,” lawyer Paul S. Reichler argued on behalf of Gambia during a preliminary hearing in 2022.

    The Southeast Asian country launched the campaign in Rakhine state in 2017 after an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. Security forces were accused of mass rapes, killings and torching thousands of homes as more than 700,000 Rohingya fled into neighboring Bangladesh.

    “Myanmar’s case before the ICJ is a beacon of hope for hundreds of thousands of people like myself that our plight for justice will not go unheard,” Lucky Karim of Refugee Women for Peace and Justice, an organization that advocates for justice for the Rohingya, said in a statement.

    Myanmar was initially represented at the court by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who denied her country’s armed forces committed genocide, telling the ICJ in 2019 that the mass exodus of Rohingya people from the country she led was the unfortunate result of a battle with insurgents.

    The pro-democracy icon is now in prison after being convicted of what her supporters call trumped-up charges after a military takeover of power.

    Myanmar contested the court’s jurisdiction, saying Gambia was not directly involved in the conflict and therefore could not initiate a case. Both countries are signatories to the genocide convention, signed in the wake of World War II, and in 2022, judges rejected the argument, allowing the case to move forward.

    Whatever the court ultimately decides in the Myanmar case will impact the South African case, Juliette McIntyre, an expert on international law at the University of South Australia, told The Associated Press. “The legal test for genocide is very strict but it is possible the judges broaden the definition,” she said.

    Despite the length of the proceedings, McIntyre said they are still important for the victims. “It validates their experiences and can provide support for other legal actions.”

    A finding of genocide would bolster the ongoing investigation and another court based in The Hague, the International Criminal Court. In 2024, the court’s chief prosecutor asked judges to issue an arrest warrant for the head of Myanmar’s military regime Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against the Rohingya. That request is still pending.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

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  • New York Attorney General Sues Trump Administration Over Offshore Wind Project Freeze

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    NEW YORK (AP) — New York‘s attorney general sued the Trump administration on Friday over its decision to halt two major offshore wind projects expected to power more than 1 million homes in the state.

    State Attorney General Letitia James said in legal challenges filed in federal court in Washington that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Dec. 22 order suspending construction on the projects off Long Island, citing national security concerns, was arbitrary and unwarranted.

    The Democrat said Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind projects had already cleared more than a decade of security and safety reviews by federal, state and local authorities. She said pausing them now threatens New York’s economy and energy grid, and she asked the court to intervene.

    “New Yorkers deserve clean, reliable energy, good-paying jobs, and a government that follows the law,” James said in a statement. “This reckless decision puts workers, families, and our climate goals at risk.”

    Spokespersons for the Interior Department and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which are both named in the litigation, declined to comment Friday, citing the pending litigation.

    The Interior Department’s order last month suspended Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind and three other offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast. The department maintains that the movement of massive turbine blades can cause radar interference called “clutter” that can obscure legitimate moving targets and generate false ones.

    Empire Wind is located about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) southeast of Long Island and is projected to power more than 500,000 homes. Equinor, the Norwegian company developing the project, has said it’s about 60% complete.

    Sunrise Wind is located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Montauk and is expected to power about 600,000 homes. Orsted, the Danish energy company developing the project, has said it’s roughly 45% complete.

    James previously led a coalition of attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., in challenging Trump’s executive order pausing approvals, permits and loans for all wind energy projects, both onshore and offshore.

    Last month, a federal judge in Massachusetts sided with the attorneys general and vacated the Jan. 20, 2025, order. Days later, the Trump administration issued the stop-work order on the East Coast projects.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

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  • Supreme Court will take up Cisco’s bid to shut down lawsuit by Falun Gong

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    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up an appeal from tech giant Cisco seeking to shut down a lawsuit claiming that the company’s technology was used to persecute members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in China.

    The justices, who will hear arguments in the spring, will review an appellate ruling that would allow the lawsuit against Cisco to go forward in U.S. courts.

    The court acted after the Trump administration weighed in on Cisco’s behalf to urge the justices to hear the case.

    An Associated Press investigation last year showed that American tech companies, to a large degree, designed and built China’s surveillance state, encouraged by Republican and Democratic administrations, even as activists warned such tools were being used to quash dissent, persecute religious groups and target minorities.

    In 2008, documents leaked to the press showed Cisco saw the “Golden Shield,” China’s internet censorship effort, as a sales opportunity. The company quoted a Chinese official calling the Falun Gong an “evil cult.” A Cisco presentation reviewed by AP from the same year said its products could identify over 90% of Falun Gong material on the web.

    Other presentations reviewed by AP show that Cisco represented Falun Gong material as a “threat” and built out a national information system to track Falun Gong believers. In 2011, Falun Gong members sued Cisco, alleging the company tailored technology for Beijing that it knew would be used to track, detain and torture believers.

    The issue before the Supreme Court is whether an American company can be held liable under two separate laws for aiding and abetting human rights violations. Cisco argues it isn’t liable under those laws, the 18th-century Alien Tort Statute (ATS) or the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), first enacted in 1991.

    In recent years, the Supreme Court and presidential administrations of both parties have been skeptical of lawsuits seeking to use U.S. courts as a venue to seek justice over the acts of foreign governments, especially those that took place abroad. To try to overcome that skepticism, Falun Gong members have argued that a substantial portion of Cisco’s activities involving China took place in the United States.

    A decision is expected by early summer.

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  • ICE Officer Who Shot Renee Good in Minneapolis Has Served Decades in Military and Law Enforcement

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    The federal agent who shot and killed a driver in Minneapolis is an Iraq War veteran who has served for nearly two decades in the Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

    Jonathan Ross, who shot and killed Renee Good on Wednesday, has served as a deportation officer with ICE since 2015, records show. He was seriously injured last summer when he was dragged by the vehicle of a fleeing suspect whom he shot with a stun gun.

    Federal officials have not named the officer who shot Good, a 37-year-old mother who was shot as she tried to drive away from federal agents. But Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said the agent who shot Good had been dragged by a vehicle last June, and a department spokesperson confirmed Noem was referring to the Bloomington, Minnesota, case in which documents identified the injured officer as Ross.

    Attempts to reach Ross, 43, at phone numbers and email addresses associated with him were not immediately successful.

    Here are some things to know about him:


    Experienced military and law enforcement officer

    In courtroom testimony last month, Ross said he deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005 with the Indiana National Guard. Ross said he served as a machine gunner on a gun truck as part of a combat patrol team.

    He said he returned from Iraq in 2005, went to college and joined the Border Patrol in 2007 near El Paso, Texas. He worked there until 2015, serving as a field intelligence agent gathering and analyzing information on cartels and drug and human smuggling.

    Ross said he has served as a deportation officer based in Minnesota since he joined ICE in 2015. He is assigned to fugitive operations, seeking to arrest “higher value targets” in the ICE region that includes Minneapolis, he testified last month. He said that he was also a team leader with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

    “So I develop the targets, create a target package, surveillance, and then develop a plan to execute the arrest warrant,” he said.

    Ross said that he was also a firearms instructor, an active shooter instructor, a field intelligence officer and member of the SWAT team. He said that he attended the Border Patrol’s academy in New Mexico, where he learned to speak Spanish.


    Seriously injured last June

    Ross was a leader of a team of agents who went to arrest a man who was in the U.S. illegally in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington on June 17. Agents had gathered outside the home of the man, Roberto Munoz-Guatemala, who left in his car, according to court records.

    FBI agents activated emergency sirens and lights instructing him to pull over but he did not. Ross pulled his vehicle diagonally in front of Munoz-Guatemala to force him to stop.

    Ross and an FBI agent identified themselves as police and pointed guns at Munoz-Guatemala, who raised his hands. Ross then approached Munoz-Guatemala’s vehicle and ordered him to put it in park.

    Ross told the driver to lower his window all the way down and warned that he would break it if he did not. Ross used a device known as a “spring-loaded window punch” to break the rear driver’s side window and reached inside the car to unlock the driver’s door.

    Munoz-Guatemela drove off while Ross’ arm was caught in the vehicle and accelerated, dragging Ross down the street. Ross fired his Taser, striking Munoz-Guatemala with prongs in the head, face and shoulder.

    Munoz-Guatemela was not incapacitated by the Taser, prosecutors said, and kept driving, taking Ross the length of a football field in 12 seconds. Ross was knocked free from the vehicle by force after Munoz-Guatemala drove onto a curb for a second time and back to the street.

    Ross’ right arm was bleeding, and an FBI agent applied a tourniquet. Eventually, he received dozens of stitches at a hospital. Prosecutors said he had “suffered multiple large cuts, and abrasions to his knee, elbow, and face.”

    “It was pretty excruciating pain,” Ross testified.

    Munoz-Guatemela was bleeding from his injuries and had a woman call 911, saying that he was assaulted and didn’t know whether the person trying to stop him was an officer. He was arrested and charged with assault on a federal officer with a dangerous or deadly weapon.

    A jury found Munoz-Guatemala guilty at a trial last month, finding he “should reasonably have known that Jonathan Ross was a law enforcement officer and not a private citizen attempting to assault him.”


    Federal officials defend the agent without identifying him

    Vice President J.D. Vance praised the agent’s service to the country Thursday without naming him, saying the ICE officer “deserves a debt of gratitude.”

    “This is a guy who’s actually done a very, very important job for the United States of America,” Vance said. “He’s been assaulted. He’s been attacked. He’s been injured because of it.”

    DHS assistant Tricia McLaughlin declined to confirm the agent’s identity Thursday, saying doing so would be dangerous for the safety of him and his family. But she noted that he had been selected for ICE’s special response team, which includes a 30-hour tryout and additional training on specialized skills such as breaching techniques, perimeter control, hostage rescue and firearms.

    “He acted according to his training,” she said. “This officer is a longtime ICE officer who has been serving his country his entire life.”

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Harvey Weinstein says jurors were bullied into convicting him. A judge is set to rule

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein returns to court Thursday, seeking to get his latest sex crime conviction thrown out because anger and apprehensions flared among jurors during deliberations last spring.

    It’s the latest convoluted turn in the former Hollywood honcho’s path through the criminal justice system. His landmark #MeToo-era case has spanned seven years, trials in two states, a reversal in one and a retrial that came to a messy end in New York last year. Weinstein was convicted of forcing oral sex on one woman, acquitted of forcibly performing oral sex on another, and the jury didn’t decide on a rape charge involving a third woman — a charge prosecutors vowed to retry yet again.

    Weinstein, 73, denies all the charges. They were one outgrowth of a stack of sexual harassment and sex assault allegations against him that emerged publicly in 2017 and ensuing years, fueling the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. Early on, Weinstein apologized for “the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past,” while also denying that he ever had non-consensual sex.

    At trial, Weinstein’s lawyers argued that the women willingly accepted his advances in hopes of getting work in various capacities in show business, then falsely accused him to net settlement funds and attention.

    The split verdict last June came after multiple jurors took the unusual step of asking to brief the judge on behind-the-scenes tensions.

    In a series of exchanges partly in open court, one juror complained that others were “shunning” one of the panel members; the foreperson alluded to jurors “pushing people” verbally and talking about Weinstein’s “past” in a way the juror thought improper; yet a third juror opined that discussions were “going well.” The foreperson later came forward again to complain to the judge about being pressured to change his mind, then said he feared for his safety because a fellow panelist had said he would “see me outside.” The foreperson eventually refused to continue deliberating.

    In court, Judge Curtis Farber cited the secrecy of ongoing deliberations and reminded jurors not to disclose “the content or tenor” of them. Since the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers have talked with the first juror who openly complained and with another who didn’t.

    In sworn statements, the two said they didn’t believe Weinstein was guilty, but had given in because of other jurors’ verbal aggression.

    One said that after a fellow juror insulted her intelligence and suggested the judge should remove her, she was so afraid that she called two relatives that night and “told them to come look for me if they didn’t hear from me, since something was not right about this jury deliberation process.” All jurors’ identities were redacted in court filings.

    Weinstein’s lawyers contend the tensions amounted to threats that poisoned the process, and that the judge didn’t look into them enough before denying the defense’s repeated requests for a mistrial. Weinstein’s attorneys are asking him to discard the conviction or, at least, conduct a hearing about the jury strains.

    Prosecutors maintain that the judge was presented with claims about “scattered instances of contentious interactions” and handled them appropriately. Jurors’ later sworn statements are belied, prosecutors say, by other comments from one of the same jury members. He told the media right after the trial that there “was just high tension” in the group.

    Prosecutors also said the foreperson’s concerns about discussions of Weinstein’s past were vague and the topic wasn’t entirely off-limits. Testimony covered, for example, 2017 media reports about decades of sexual harassment allegations against him.

    The judge is expected to respond Thursday. He could set the conviction aside, order a hearing or let the verdict stand without any further action. Whatever he decides could be appealed.

    Meanwhile, prosecutors have said they’re prepared to retry Weinstein on the rape charge the jury couldn’t decide last spring. Currently being held in New York, he also is appealing a rape conviction in Los Angeles.

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  • Gov. Ron DeSantis Calls for Special Session in April to Redraw Florida’s Congressional Districts

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    ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he plans to call a special session in April for the Republican-dominated legislature to draw new congressional districts, joining a redistricting arms race among states that have redrawn districts mid-decade.

    Even though Florida’s 2026 legislative session starts next week, DeSantis said he wanted to wait for a possible ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling in Louisiana v. Callais could determine whether Section 2, a part of the Voting Rights Act that bars discrimination in voting systems is constitutional.

    “I don’t think it’s a question of if they’re going to rule. It’s a question of what the scope is going to be,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Steinhatchee, Florida. “So, we’re getting out ahead of that.”

    Congressional districts in Florida that are redrawn to favor Republicans could carry big consequences for President Donald Trump’s plan to reshape congressional districts in GOP-led states, which could give Republicans a shot at winning additional seats in the midterm elections and retaining control of the closely divided U.S. House.

    Nationwide, the unusual mid-decade redistricting battle has so far resulted in a total of nine more seats Republicans believe they can win in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio — and a total of six more seats Democrats expect to win in California and Utah, putting Republicans up by three. But the redrawn districts are being litigated in some states, and if the maps hold for 2026, there is no guarantee the parties will win the seats.

    In 2010, more than 60% of Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting the drawing of district boundaries to unfairly favor one political party in a process known as gerrymandering.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Nick Reiner to be arraigned in killing of parents Rob and Michele Singer Reiner

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    LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nick Reiner is set to be arraigned and enter a plea Wednesday in the killing of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.

    His scheduled appearance in a Los Angeles Superior Court comes 3 1/2 weeks after the beloved actor-director and his wife of 36 years were found dead with stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles, authorities said.

    Nick Reiner, 32, the youngest of Rob Reiner’s four children, was arrested hours later, and has been held without bail since. He was charged two days later with two counts of first-degree murder. He did not enter a plea during a brief first court appearance Dec. 17, when he wore shackles and a suicide prevention smock.

    His attorney, Alan Jackson, has given no indication of the plans for his defense. Nearly all defendants in criminal cases plead not guilty at this stage. Jackson could also ask for another delay before a plea is entered.

    If Nick Reiner pleads not guilty, the case would normally head toward a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for him to stand trial. His mental competence for trial could also be a factor.

    A decade ago, Nick Reiner publicly discussed his severe struggles with addiction and mental health after making a movie with his father, “Being Charlie,” that was very loosely based on their lives.

    Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were killed early on the morning of Dec. 14, and they were found in the late afternoon, authorities said. The LA County Medical Examiner said in initial findings that they died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” but released no other details, and police have said nothing about possible motives.

    Jackson is a high-profile defense attorney and former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts. After the initial Reiner hearing, Jackson called the case “a devastating tragedy.” He said the proceedings will be very complex and asked that the circumstances be met “not with a rush to judgment.”

    The counts against Reiner come with special circumstances of multiple murders and an allegation that he used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.

    Prosecutors have said they have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

    The prosecution is being led by Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers’ attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.

    Rob Reiner was a prolific director whose work included some of the most memorable and endlessly watchable movies of the 1980s and ’90s. His credits included “This is Spinal Tap,” “Stand By Me,” “A Few Good Men,” and “When Harry Met Sally,” during whose production he met Michele Singer, a photographer, and married her soon after.

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  • Suspect in Vandalism of Vice President JD Vance’s Ohio Home Is Behind Bars

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    COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An individual accused of vandalizing the Ohio home of Vice President JD Vance in the dark of night and causing other property damage was behind bars Tuesday, awaiting action in separate state and federal cases.

    William D. DeFoor, 26, appeared in two different courtrooms after being detained early Monday by Secret Service agents assigned to Vance’s Cincinnati home in the upscale East Walnut Hills neighborhood east of downtown. The vice president and his family were not home.

    According to an affidavit filed in federal court, the Secret Service saw someone run along the front fence of Vance’s residence and breach the property line around midnight. The person later identified as DeFoor was armed with a hammer and tried to break out the window of an unmarked Secret Service vehicle on the way up the driveway before moving toward the front of the home and breaking its glass windows, the affidavit says.

    Fourteen historic window panes were broken and damage was done to security enhancements around the windows valued at $28,000, according to the filing.

    A judge set bonds totaling $11,000 on state charges of vandalism, criminal trespass, criminal damaging and obstruction of official business that were brought in Hamilton County court. There, DeFoor was previously deemed incompetent to face trial on a 2023 criminal trespassing charge and referred for treatment after a 2024 vandalism charge. A grand jury hearing was scheduled for Jan. 15.

    A hearing in the federal case to determine whether DeFoor can be released on bond from the Hamilton County jail was set for Friday in federal District Court in Cincinnati.

    The U.S. Attorney’s office in Ohio’s southern district brought charges of damaging government property, engaging in physical violence against property in a restricted area and assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers.

    The first two charges are each punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

    Messages left with possible relatives and with DeFoor’s attorney were not immediately returned.

    Vance expressed gratitude in a post Monday on the social platform X to the public for all the well wishes and to the Secret Service and Cincinnati police for their quick response to the incident.

    “As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows,” he wrote.

    According to his office, Vance and his family were home in Cincinnati over the weekend. Court filings indicate that they left to return to Washington around 3 p.m. Sunday.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Suspects plead not guilty in Southern California bombing plot

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    LOS ANGELES — Three of the four suspects accused of plotting to bomb several Southern California business locations on New Year’s Eve have pleaded not guilty.

    Audrey Carroll, 30, and Zachary Page, 32, entered their pleas in federal court Monday. Tina Lai, 41, entered her plea in court a few days earlier. Their attorneys did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

    The fourth person, Dante Anthony-Gaffield, 24, will enter his plea Jan. 20.

    The suspects, all from the Los Angeles area, were arrested Dec. 12 in the Mojave Desert east of Los Angeles as they were rehearsing their plot, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said last month. Officials said they made the arrests before the suspects assembled a functional explosive device.

    Essayli said Carroll created a detailed plan to bomb five or more business locations owned by two companies across Southern California on New Year’s Eve described as “Amazon-type” logistical centers. He did not identify the alleged targets.

    A grand jury indicted the four on multiple counts of providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists and possession of unregistered firearms. Carroll and Page were also indicted on one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.

    Officials said they are members of an offshoot of an anti-capitalist and anti-government group dubbed the Turtle Island Liberation Front. The group calls for decolonization, tribal sovereignty and “the working class to rise up and fight back against capitalism,” according to the criminal complaint.

    They also are members of what one of the defendants characterized as a “radical” faction of the group that communicated using a chat called “Order of the Black Lotus,” according to the indictment.

    The term “Turtle Island” is used by some Indigenous peoples to describe North America in a way that reflects its existence outside of the colonial boundaries put in place by the U.S. and Canada. It comes from Indigenous creation stories where the continent was formed on the back of a giant turtle.

    Two of the group’s members also had discussed plans for future attacks targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles with pipe bombs, according to the criminal complaint.

    Photos included in the court documents show the desert campsite where they were arrested with what investigators said were bomb-making materials strewn across plastic folding tables.

    Trial for Carroll, Page, and Lai is scheduled to begin Feb. 17. Anthony-Gaffield’s trial will be scheduled once he enters his plea.

    If convicted, Carroll and Page could face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison, and Anthony-Gaffield and Lai could face a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison.

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  • The First 48 Hours of Nicolás Maduro’s Detention in New York

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    On Saturday night, the White House posted to social media footage of Maduro’s perp walk in New York. In Donald Trump’s own account, the extraction of the Venezuelan leader had all the elements of a cinematic thriller. “I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show,” he told Fox News. Afterward, Trump posted an image of Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed.

    By Monday, Maduro and Flores were sitting in navy and orange prison garb in a courtroom, their legs shackled as they were flanked by their attorneys. If it seemed to Maduro like an occasion to publicly reflect on the remarkable circumstances of the occasion—to engage in the stakes at the same level of theater that Trump had—the 92-year-old judge in the case, Alvin Hellerstein, reminded him that the 30-minute hearing amounted to something more procedural. As Maduro stood and began to speak in Spanish about his capture, Hellerstein interrupted and said, “There will be time and place to get into all of this.” For now, he was asking for only the basic details: a confirmation of identity and an entry of a plea.

    “I’m innocent. I’m not guilty,” Maduro said through an interpreter. “I am a decent man,” he added. “I am still president of my country.”

    “Not guilty,” Flores said. “Completely innocent.”

    Outside the courthouse, Shawn Michael, a content creator among the throng of Venezuelan protesters cheering Maduro’s arrest, stood in Tom Ford aviators, a denim jacket from a collaboration between Supreme and Louis Vuitton, and a baseball hat reading “We the People” on the front and “The Constitution” on the back. Michael was livestreaming in between chants and gleefully sparred with a passerby who objected to his support for Trump.

    “I think it’s sad,” Michael said, unable to contain a grin. “Even though I’m combative against the people across the way, my heart really is open for them because they really are lost. They have so much hatred for the president of the United States of America that they put that as a precedent over the safety and security of their own families.”

    In his view, the celebrations surrounding him were proof of Trump’s greatness. He had his objections to the president—“Sometimes I shut my ears too—Oh my God, Donald, stop”—but as he surveyed the spectacle, a new round of chants broke out. He thought the compromise was worth it.

    “Look what this man has done,” Michael said.

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  • Founder of Indonesian ride-hailing app Gojek stands trial over Chromebooks procurement

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    JAKARTA, Indonesia — An Indonesian court on Monday opened the trial of a co-founder of the country’s ride-hailing and payments company Gojek, who is accused of corruption in a government project to procure Google Chromebook laptops for schools.

    Nadiem Anwar Makarim, 41, was a former education, culture, research and technology minister when he was arrested Sept. 7. His arrest came during an investigation by the attorney general’s office in Jakarta into an alleged $125 billion corruption scandal linked to the project.

    The laptop procurement initiated under the government’s “digitalization of schools” policy aimed to equip schools in remote areas with digital devices and infrastructure.

    Makarim, who was education minister between 2019 and 2024, allegedly favored Google’s Chromebook despite a ministry research team refusing to recommend the laptop model due to ineffectiveness in regions lacking internet access.

    The indictment claims Makarim steered the nationwide procurement in 2020–2021 “entirely for personal business interests.” Prosecutors said he pressed Google to invest in PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa, known as PT AKAB. The company is the parent of Gojek.

    Makarim received about 809 billion rupiah ($48.2 million) in connection with the program, prosecutors claimed.

    He faces a possible sentence of life imprisonment for causing state losses and misusing public funds under Indonesia’s 2001 Corruption Law.

    “The procurement ignored proper pricing benchmarks and technical needs, especially for remote or under-resourced regions,” lead prosecutor Muhammad Fadli Paramajeng told a panel of three judges at Jakarta’s Corruption Court on Monday.

    The purchase of more than 1.2 million Chromebooks was designed to strengthen Google’s dominance in Indonesia’s education tech ecosystem and linked to subsequent Google investments of about $787 million in PT AKAB through Google Asia Pacific, he said.

    Makarim, a Harvard University graduate, was a tech CEO who co-founded Gojek in 2009 and remained until 2019, when the company was valued at over $10 billion. He stepped down to join the cabinet of former Indonesia President Joko Widodo.

    Prosecutors allege his resignation from PT AKAB and Gojek was a “strategic concealment” to mask conflicts of interest while Makarim appointed close associates as directors and “beneficial owners,” allowing him to maintain indirect control over company decisions.

    Makarim has denied the allegations, saying he did not personally receive funds from the Chromebook procurement or related services.

    Makarim’s defense attorneys argue Google’s investment largely predated his ministerial tenure and was routine corporate activity that was not tied to the laptop deal.

    Makarim divested from PT AKAB upon taking office, his wealth fell by more than 50% during his term and procurement decisions were made by technical teams and officials, not the minister, they said.

    “The defendant was not involved in the procurement process, as his role was limited solely to formulating policy,” defense lawyer Ari Yusuf Amir told the court. He called the indictment “unclear, inaccurate and incomplete,” saying it conflated Makarim’s ministerial authority with the work of other government officials.

    Two former education ministry officials and a former tech consultant also were charged in the case, while another staff member is wanted by authorities but remains at large.

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  • Paris court to rule in case involving alleged cyberbullying of Brigitte Macron

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    PARIS — A Paris court is to rule on Monday in a case involving 10 people accused of cyberbullying French first lady Brigitte Macron by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, allegations her daughter said damaged her health and family life.

    The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 65, are accused of posting “numerous malicious comments” falsely claiming that President Emmanuel Macron ’s wife was born a man and linking the 24-year age gap with her husband to pedophilia. Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.

    Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October.

    Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about what she described as the “deterioration” of her mother’s life since the online harassment intensified. “She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auzière told the court. She said the impact has extended to the entire family, including Macron’s grandchildren.

    Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, who is known as Amandine Roy and describes herself as a medium and an author, is considered as having played a major role in spreading the rumor after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.

    The X account of Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoé Sagan on social media, was suspended in 2024 after his name was cited in several judicial investigations.

    Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were intended as humor or satire and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted. They face up to two years in prison if convicted.

    The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother. The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.

    The Macrons, who have been married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, 24 years her husband’s senior, was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.

    Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been France’s president since 2017.

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  • Guinea’s junta leader is confirmed president-elect after first vote since a 2021 coup

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    CONAKRY, Guinea — The Supreme Court in Guinea on Sunday upheld the election victory of Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya, cementing the junta leader’s transition to a democratically elected president four years after staging a coup in the West African nation.

    Doumbouya won the country’s first election since the 2021 coup after polling 86.7% of the votes, according to the General Directorate of Elections. His victory, which had been predicted by analysts, was confirmed by the Supreme Court in the capital Conakry.

    “Today, there are neither winners nor losers. There is only one Guinea, united and indivisible,” Doumbouya said in a broadcast late Sunday, calling on citizens to “build a new Guinea, a Guinea of ​​peace, justice, shared prosperity, and fully assumed political and economic sovereignty.”

    Yero Baldé, the runner-up who won 6.59% of the vote, had filed a petition accusing the electoral body of manipulating the results in Doumbouya’s favor. But authorities said he withdrew the petition a day before the Supreme Court verdict.

    The Dec. 28 election was held under a new constitution that revoked a ban on military leaders running for office and extended the presidential mandate from five years to seven years.

    Critics say Doumbouya has clamped down on political opponents and dissent since the 2021 coup, leaving him with no major opposition among the eight other candidates in the race.

    The weakened opposition “focused attention on Mamadi Doumbouya as the only key figure capable of ensuring the continuity of the state,” said N’Faly Guilavogui, a Guinean political analyst. “Guineans are waiting to see what efforts he will make to ensure political stability and reconciliation,” Guilavogui added.

    Despite the country’s rich mineral resources including the world’s biggest exporter of bauxite, which is used to make aluminum, more than half of its 15 million people are experiencing record levels of poverty and food insecurity, according to the World Food Program.

    The junta’s most important initiative has been a mega-mining project at Simandou, the world’s largest iron ore deposit. The 75% Chinese-owned project began production in December after decades of delays.

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  • Paris Court to Rule in Case Involving Alleged Cyberbullying of Brigitte Macron

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    PARIS (AP) — A Paris court is to rule on Monday in a case involving 10 people accused of cyberbullying French first lady Brigitte Macron by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, allegations her daughter said damaged her health and family life.

    The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 60, are accused of posting “numerous malicious comments” falsely claiming that President Emmanuel Macron ’s wife was born a man and linking the 24-year age gap with her husband to pedophilia. Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.

    Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October.

    Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about what she described as the “deterioration” of her mother’s life since the online harassment intensified. “She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auzière told the court. She said the impact has extended to the entire family, including Macron’s grandchildren.

    Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, who is known as Amandine Roy and describes herself as a medium and an author, is considered as having played a major role in spreading the rumor after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.

    The X account of Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoé Sagan on social media, was suspended in 2024 after his name was cited in several judicial investigations.

    Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were intended as humor or satire and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted. They face up to two years in prison if convicted.

    The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother. The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.

    The Macrons, who have been married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, 24 years her husband’s senior, was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.

    Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been France’s president since 2017.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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