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  • Pakistan’s defense minister says that there is now ‘open war’ with Afghanistan

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    Pakistan’s defense minister early Friday said that his country had run out of “patience” and now considers itself in an “open war” with neighboring Afghanistan after both sides launched strikes following what Islamabad described as an Afghan cross-border attack.In a post on X, Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said Pakistan had hoped for peace in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO forces and expected the Taliban to focus on the welfare of the Afghan people and regional stability. Instead, he alleged, the Taliban had turned Afghanistan “into a colony of India,” gathered militants from around the world and begun “exporting terrorism.”Video above: Shiite Muslims take part in a rally to condemn Israeli strikes on Iran “Our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us,” he said. There has been no reaction from Afghan government officials to Asif’s comments.Pakistan has frequently accused neighboring India of backing the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and the Pakistani Taliban, allegations New Delhi denies.His remarks came hours after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, as well as in Kandahar in the south and Paktia province in the southeast, according to Pakistani officials and Afghanistan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. Pakistan says the strikes were in retaliation for Afghan cross-border attacks.The escalation comes months after Qatar and Turkey mediated a ceasefire between the two sides.Both governments have issued sharply differing casualty claims and said they inflicted heavy losses on the other. The claims could not be independently verified.Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said overnight that 55 Pakistani soldiers had been killed, including some whose bodies were taken into Afghanistan, and that “several others were captured alive.” It said eight Afghan soldiers were killed and 11 wounded. The ministry said it destroyed 19 Pakistani army posts and two bases and that the fighting ended around midnight, about four hours after it began Thursday.Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said two Pakistani soldiers were killed and three wounded.Mosharraf Ali Zaidi, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, denied that any Pakistani soldiers had been captured. In a post on X, he said at least 133 Afghan fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded. He also said 27 Afghan posts were destroyed and nine fighters captured. He did not specify where the casualties occurred but said additional losses were estimated in strikes on military targets in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar.In Islamabad, two senior security officials said Afghan forces at some border posts had raised white flags, a gesture typically interpreted as a request to halt firing. The officials said Pakistani forces were continuing what they described as a strong retaliatory response to “unprovoked aggression” by the Afghan Taliban and had destroyed several key Taliban posts along the border.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.Asif also accused the Taliban government of denying Afghans basic human rights, including rights for women that he said are guaranteed under Islam, without providing details or evidence.He said Pakistan had tried to maintain stability both directly and through friendly countries. “Today, when attempts were made to target Pakistan with aggression, by the grace of God, our armed forces are giving a decisive response,” he said.Authorities in Pakistan said dozens of Afghan refugees who were waiting to return home from the northwestern Torkham border have been taken back to safer places following the eruption of clashes.Pakistan launched a sweeping crackdown in Oct. 2023 to expel migrants without documents, urging those in the country to leave of their own accord to avoid arrest and forcible deportation and forcibly expelling others. Iran also began a crackdown on migrants at around the same time.Since then, millions have streamed across the border into Afghanistan, including people who were born in Pakistan decades ago and had built lives and created businesses there.Last year alone, 2.9 million people returned to Afghanistan, the U.N. refugee agency has said, with nearly 80,000 having returned so far this year.Afghan reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, Eduardo Castillo in Beijing and Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, also contributed to this story.

    ISLAMABAD, Islamabad Capital Territory —

    Pakistan’s defense minister early Friday said that his country had run out of “patience” and now considers itself in an “open war” with neighboring Afghanistan after both sides launched strikes following what Islamabad described as an Afghan cross-border attack.

    In a post on X, Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said Pakistan had hoped for peace in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO forces and expected the Taliban to focus on the welfare of the Afghan people and regional stability. Instead, he alleged, the Taliban had turned Afghanistan “into a colony of India,” gathered militants from around the world and begun “exporting terrorism.”

    Video above: Shiite Muslims take part in a rally to condemn Israeli strikes on Iran

    “Our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us,” he said. There has been no reaction from Afghan government officials to Asif’s comments.

    Pakistan has frequently accused neighboring India of backing the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and the Pakistani Taliban, allegations New Delhi denies.

    His remarks came hours after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, as well as in Kandahar in the south and Paktia province in the southeast, according to Pakistani officials and Afghanistan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. Pakistan says the strikes were in retaliation for Afghan cross-border attacks.

    The escalation comes months after Qatar and Turkey mediated a ceasefire between the two sides.

    Both governments have issued sharply differing casualty claims and said they inflicted heavy losses on the other. The claims could not be independently verified.

    Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said overnight that 55 Pakistani soldiers had been killed, including some whose bodies were taken into Afghanistan, and that “several others were captured alive.” It said eight Afghan soldiers were killed and 11 wounded. The ministry said it destroyed 19 Pakistani army posts and two bases and that the fighting ended around midnight, about four hours after it began Thursday.

    Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said two Pakistani soldiers were killed and three wounded.

    Mosharraf Ali Zaidi, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, denied that any Pakistani soldiers had been captured. In a post on X, he said at least 133 Afghan fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded. He also said 27 Afghan posts were destroyed and nine fighters captured. He did not specify where the casualties occurred but said additional losses were estimated in strikes on military targets in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar.

    In Islamabad, two senior security officials said Afghan forces at some border posts had raised white flags, a gesture typically interpreted as a request to halt firing. The officials said Pakistani forces were continuing what they described as a strong retaliatory response to “unprovoked aggression” by the Afghan Taliban and had destroyed several key Taliban posts along the border.

    The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

    Asif also accused the Taliban government of denying Afghans basic human rights, including rights for women that he said are guaranteed under Islam, without providing details or evidence.

    He said Pakistan had tried to maintain stability both directly and through friendly countries. “Today, when attempts were made to target Pakistan with aggression, by the grace of God, our armed forces are giving a decisive response,” he said.

    Authorities in Pakistan said dozens of Afghan refugees who were waiting to return home from the northwestern Torkham border have been taken back to safer places following the eruption of clashes.

    Pakistan launched a sweeping crackdown in Oct. 2023 to expel migrants without documents, urging those in the country to leave of their own accord to avoid arrest and forcible deportation and forcibly expelling others. Iran also began a crackdown on migrants at around the same time.

    Since then, millions have streamed across the border into Afghanistan, including people who were born in Pakistan decades ago and had built lives and created businesses there.

    Last year alone, 2.9 million people returned to Afghanistan, the U.N. refugee agency has said, with nearly 80,000 having returned so far this year.

    Afghan reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, Eduardo Castillo in Beijing and Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, also contributed to this story.

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  • A Florida airport shares it wants to ban pajamas. It was a joke, the airport says

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    Tampa International Airport said on social media Thursday that it wanted to ban people from wearing pajamas at the Florida facility. No, it wasn’t being serious.A post on the airport’s official X account said that after successfully going “Crocs-free,” Tampa International had “seen enough” of pajamas.“The madness stops today. The movement starts now,” reads the post, which had been viewed 5.7 million times by mid-afternoon Eastern time and generated a debate about airport attire in the comments.Beau Zimmer, an airport spokesperson, told The Associated Press the post was part of the airport’s longstanding social media persona — a tongue-in-cheek voice it has cultivated since its early days on Twitter, before the platform rebranded as X. The account has attracted a loyal global following, he said.“Our regular social media followers just eat this stuff up,” Zimmer said. “But obviously this is all in fun, and we encourage our travelers to be comfortable.”U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reacted to the post with a GIF of actor John Krasinski from the TV show “The Office” looking into the camera and saying, “Yes!”Duffy has been encouraging passengers to dress more formally while flying, part of a civility campaign he launched last November — called “the Golden Age of Travel Starts with You.” The Transportation Department said the campaign was “intended to jumpstart a nationwide conversation around how we can all restore courtesy and class to air travel.”The airport released a statement Thursday clarifying its post was intended as a joke.“Today’s post about ‘banning’ pajamas was another playful nod to day-of-travel fashion debates,” it said. “We encourage our passengers to travel comfortably and appreciate our loyal followers who enjoy the online humor.”Zimmer said the airport’s online personality has been around for at least a decade. In the earlier days of what was then Twitter, a young intern started posting light-hearted jokes, like poking fun at rival sports teams and fans, “and it really took off.”Earlier this month, the day after the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat the Boston Bruins 6-5 in an NHL Stadium Series game in Tampa, the airport shared on X: “Oh, and safe flight home to all the Bruins fans today :)”Last month, alluding to an ongoing joke about passengers mixing up the airport’s code of TPA with TIA, an airport in Albania, the Tampa airport shared a New Year’s resolution “to stress out less.”“Unfortunately,” the post continued, “some of y’all’s resolutions is to continue calling us TIA so we will not be meeting our goal.”One X user responded that Tampa airport should just change its code to “GOAT so people don’t get confused,” referring to the acronym for “greatest of all time.”

    Tampa International Airport said on social media Thursday that it wanted to ban people from wearing pajamas at the Florida facility. No, it wasn’t being serious.

    A post on the airport’s official X account said that after successfully going “Crocs-free,” Tampa International had “seen enough” of pajamas.

    “The madness stops today. The movement starts now,” reads the post, which had been viewed 5.7 million times by mid-afternoon Eastern time and generated a debate about airport attire in the comments.

    Beau Zimmer, an airport spokesperson, told The Associated Press the post was part of the airport’s longstanding social media persona — a tongue-in-cheek voice it has cultivated since its early days on Twitter, before the platform rebranded as X. The account has attracted a loyal global following, he said.

    “Our regular social media followers just eat this stuff up,” Zimmer said. “But obviously this is all in fun, and we encourage our travelers to be comfortable.”

    U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reacted to the post with a GIF of actor John Krasinski from the TV show “The Office” looking into the camera and saying, “Yes!”

    Duffy has been encouraging passengers to dress more formally while flying, part of a civility campaign he launched last November — called “the Golden Age of Travel Starts with You.” The Transportation Department said the campaign was “intended to jumpstart a nationwide conversation around how we can all restore courtesy and class to air travel.”

    The airport released a statement Thursday clarifying its post was intended as a joke.

    “Today’s post about ‘banning’ pajamas was another playful nod to day-of-travel fashion debates,” it said. “We encourage our passengers to travel comfortably and appreciate our loyal followers who enjoy the online humor.”

    Zimmer said the airport’s online personality has been around for at least a decade. In the earlier days of what was then Twitter, a young intern started posting light-hearted jokes, like poking fun at rival sports teams and fans, “and it really took off.”

    Earlier this month, the day after the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat the Boston Bruins 6-5 in an NHL Stadium Series game in Tampa, the airport shared on X: “Oh, and safe flight home to all the Bruins fans today :)”

    Last month, alluding to an ongoing joke about passengers mixing up the airport’s code of TPA with TIA, an airport in Albania, the Tampa airport shared a New Year’s resolution “to stress out less.”

    “Unfortunately,” the post continued, “some of y’all’s resolutions is to continue calling us TIA so we will not be meeting our goal.”

    One X user responded that Tampa airport should just change its code to “GOAT so people don’t get confused,” referring to the acronym for “greatest of all time.”

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  • Washington Post publisher Will Lewis says he’s stepping down

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    Washington Post publisher Will Lewis said Saturday that he’s stepping down, ending a troubled tenure three days after the newspaper said that it was laying off one-third of its staff.Lewis announced his departure in a two-paragraph email to the newspaper’s staff, saying that after two years of transformation, “now is the right time for me to step aside.” The Post’s chief financial officer, Jeff D’Onofrio, was appointed temporary publisher.Neither Lewis nor the newspaper’s billionaire owner Jeff Bezos participated in the meeting with staff members announcing the layoffs on Wednesday. While anticipated, the cutbacks were deeper than expected, resulting in the shutdown of the Post’s renowned sports section, the elimination of its photography staff and sharp reductions in personnel responsible for coverage of metropolitan Washington and overseas.They came on top of widespread talent defections in recent years at the newspaper, which lost tens of thousands of subscribers following Bezos’ order late in the 2024 presidential campaign pulling back from a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, and a subsequent reorienting of its opinion section in a more conservative direction.Martin Baron, the Post’s first editor under Bezos, condemned his former boss this week for attempting to curry favor with President Donald Trump and called what has happened at the newspaper “a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.”The British-born Lewis was a former top executive at The Wall Street Journal before taking over at The Post in January 2024. His tenure has been rocky from the start, marked by layoffs and a failed reorganization plan that led to the departure of former top editor Sally Buzbee.His initial choice to take over for Buzbee, Robert Winnett, withdrew from the job after ethical questions were raised about both he and Lewis’ actions while working in England. They including paying for information that produced major stories, actions that would be considered unethical in American journalism. The current executive editor, Matt Murray, took over shortly thereafter.Lewis didn’t endear himself to Washington Post journalists with blunt talk about their work, at one point saying in a staff meeting that they needed to make changes because not enough people were reading their work.This week’s layoffs have led to some calls for Bezos to either increase his investment in The Post or sell it to someone who will take a more active role. Lewis, in his note, praised Bezos: “The institution could not have had a better owner,” he said.“During my tenure, difficult decisions have been taken in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can for many years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news to millions of customer each day,” Lewis said.D’Onofrio, who joined the paper last June after serving as the financial chief for the digital ad management company Raptive, said in a note to staff that “we are ending a hard week of change with more change.“This is a challenging time across all media organizations, and The Post is unfortunately no exception,” he wrote. “I’ve had the privilege of helping chart the course of disrupters and cultural stalwarts alike. All faced economic headwinds in changing industry landscapes, and we rose to meet those moments. I have no doubt we will do just that, together.”

    Washington Post publisher Will Lewis said Saturday that he’s stepping down, ending a troubled tenure three days after the newspaper said that it was laying off one-third of its staff.

    Lewis announced his departure in a two-paragraph email to the newspaper’s staff, saying that after two years of transformation, “now is the right time for me to step aside.” The Post’s chief financial officer, Jeff D’Onofrio, was appointed temporary publisher.

    Neither Lewis nor the newspaper’s billionaire owner Jeff Bezos participated in the meeting with staff members announcing the layoffs on Wednesday. While anticipated, the cutbacks were deeper than expected, resulting in the shutdown of the Post’s renowned sports section, the elimination of its photography staff and sharp reductions in personnel responsible for coverage of metropolitan Washington and overseas.

    They came on top of widespread talent defections in recent years at the newspaper, which lost tens of thousands of subscribers following Bezos’ order late in the 2024 presidential campaign pulling back from a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, and a subsequent reorienting of its opinion section in a more conservative direction.

    Martin Baron, the Post’s first editor under Bezos, condemned his former boss this week for attempting to curry favor with President Donald Trump and called what has happened at the newspaper “a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.”

    The British-born Lewis was a former top executive at The Wall Street Journal before taking over at The Post in January 2024. His tenure has been rocky from the start, marked by layoffs and a failed reorganization plan that led to the departure of former top editor Sally Buzbee.

    ALLISON ROBBERT

    A protester holds a cutout of Jeff Bezos’ face outside of the Washington Post office following a mass layoff, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.

    His initial choice to take over for Buzbee, Robert Winnett, withdrew from the job after ethical questions were raised about both he and Lewis’ actions while working in England. They including paying for information that produced major stories, actions that would be considered unethical in American journalism. The current executive editor, Matt Murray, took over shortly thereafter.

    Lewis didn’t endear himself to Washington Post journalists with blunt talk about their work, at one point saying in a staff meeting that they needed to make changes because not enough people were reading their work.

    This week’s layoffs have led to some calls for Bezos to either increase his investment in The Post or sell it to someone who will take a more active role. Lewis, in his note, praised Bezos: “The institution could not have had a better owner,” he said.

    “During my tenure, difficult decisions have been taken in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can for many years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news to millions of customer each day,” Lewis said.

    D’Onofrio, who joined the paper last June after serving as the financial chief for the digital ad management company Raptive, said in a note to staff that “we are ending a hard week of change with more change.

    “This is a challenging time across all media organizations, and The Post is unfortunately no exception,” he wrote. “I’ve had the privilege of helping chart the course of disrupters and cultural stalwarts alike. All faced economic headwinds in changing industry landscapes, and we rose to meet those moments. I have no doubt we will do just that, together.”

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  • Trump says ‘dilapidated’ Kennedy Center will close for two years for renovations

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    Less than a year after taking over the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and appointing himself chairman, President Trump has announced that the venue will shut down for two years, beginning July 4, to undergo a major renovation.

    “This important decision … will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before,” Trump wrote Sunday on his social media website.

    Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who serves as an ex officio member of the center’s board of trustees, condemned Trump’s decision to close the venue in a statement issued early Monday.

    “As President Trump continues his demolition tour of Washington, he’s now setting his sights on one of America’s great cultural institutions,” Whitehouse said. “And yet again, he’s bucking rules and convention to do so. If he succeeds, it will be because of a series of suspect and illegal actions to commandeer the Kennedy Center as a clubhouse for his friends and political allies and install leadership who will satisfy his every whim.”

    Whitehouse attributed Trump’s decision to an attempt to cover up “his failures by shuttering a national landmark that belongs to the American people” and noted that the president announced his intentions without getting input from “the Board, Congress, and others, as law and precedent dictate.”

    The president’s announcement came in the wake of a cascade of Trump-initiated changes for the center that began in mid-December when its board voted to rename the venue the Trump-Kennedy Center and quickly added the president’s name above Kennedy’s on the building’s exterior.

    Prominent artists soon began canceling performances, including jazz drummer Chuck Redd, who pulled out of a Christmas Eve show, and the jazz group the Cookers, which canceled two New Year’s Eve performances.

    Additional cancellations included banjo player Béla Fleck and “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz, who announced he no longer intended to host a May 15 gala at the center. Opera star Renée Fleming followed, although scheduling conflicts were the reason given.

    There was also the stunning news last month that the Washington National Opera’s board approved a resolution to leave the venue, which it has occupied since 1971.

    Last week brought a new low for the center’s calendar when renowned composer Philip Glass added his name to the growing list of protest cancellations. Glass sent a letter to the Kennedy Center board saying that he would no longer stage June’s world premiere of Symphony No. 15 “Lincoln” at the center.

    “Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony. Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership,” Glass wrote in the letter, which was shared with The Times.

    The National Symphony Orchestra had commissioned the piece and appeared to be caught off guard by Glass’ announcement. Executive Director Jean Davidson said the orchestra only learned of the news at the same time as the press.

    Arts watchers soon began wondering about the orchestra’s future at the center. Would it leave like the Washington National Opera? Roma Daravi, Kennedy Center head of communications, said that wasn’t a possibility.

    “The relationship is strong, and we have a wonderful season here with Maestro [Gianandrea Noseda] in his 10th year leading the NSO,” Daravi wrote in an email, noting the “record-breaking success at the recent Gala benefiting the NSO which launched the new season. The event raised $3.45 million, marking an all-time fundraising record for the organization.”

    Daravi’s email did not hint at the prospect of the center closing. Trump also did not appear to be leaning in that direction early last week when he posted on his social media site that he was intent on bettering the arts complex.

    “People don’t realize that the Trump Kennedy Center suffered massive deficits for many years and, like everything else, I merely came in to save it, and, if possible, make it far better than ever before!” Trump wrote.

    In Sunday’s post announcing the Kennedy Center’s imminent closure, Trump didn’t acknowledge the recent cancellations, nor did he make mention of myriad reports that ticket sales at the venue had been plummeting. He simply said the closure would result in extraordinary results.

    “[I]f we don’t close, the quality of Construction will not be nearly as good, and the time to completion, because of interruptions with Audiences from the many Events using the Facility, will be much longer. The temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result!” Trump wrote.

    Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell confirmed the news on X, writing, “I am grateful for President Trump’s visionary leadership. I am also grateful to Congress for appropriating an historic $257M to finally address decades of deferred maintenance and repairs at the Trump Kennedy Center.”

    It remains unclear whether the National Symphony Orchestra will perform elsewhere during the closure. The orchestra did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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    Jessica Gelt

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  • Trump didn’t write ‘only criminals carry guns.’ It’s fake.

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    After federal immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, social media users shared a screenshot of what appeared to be a Truth Social post, leaving some people confused about an apparent shift in President Donald Trump’s gun control views. 

    But Trump never shared such a post. It was fabricated. 

    X, Facebook and Threads users shared on Jan. 24 and 25 images of the supposed Truth Social post and tagged the National Rifle Association’s social media accounts. 

    “He had a gun, only criminals carry guns on our streets, we need law and order. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President Donald J. Trump,” reads what looks like a screenshot of the Truth Social post. 

    (Screenshot of a Threads post showing a fabricated Truth Social post.)

    A Facebook user shared the screenshot in a Facebook group writing, “Yo, Second Amendment bros. I’m so confused.”

    This post is not on Trump’s Truth Social account or in an archive that saves his current and deleted Truth Social posts. 

    After Pretti was killed, Trump posted a picture and long message on Truth Social, writing, “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go – What is that all about?”

    The NRA issued a “fake news alert” on X advising users not to believe the screenshot of the Truth Social post circulating online.

    “As bad actors among us attempt to further divide our country, it is now more important than ever to be vigilant against AI-generated content meant to mislead Americans,” the NRA wrote Jan. 25.

    We rate the claim that Trump posted on Truth Social that “only criminals carry guns on our streets” Pants on Fire!

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  • Gun rights groups fiercely criticize top L.A. federal prosecutor for response to Minneapolis shooting

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    Top Los Angeles federal prosecutor Bill Essayli faced blistering criticism from gun rights groups, including the NRA, after he posted on X Saturday about the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers.

    Essayli, the first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, wrote: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”

    Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, was believed to be a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,” according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. Bystander videos show Pretti holding a phone, but nothing appearing to be a weapon appeared in those that circulated in the hours after the shooting.

    In response to Essayli’s tweet, the NRA posted on X: “This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong.”

    The post continued: “Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”

    After receiving significant backlash, Essayli accused another gun rights organization of “adding words to mischaracterize my statement.”

    “I never said it’s legally justified to shoot law-abiding concealed carriers,” he posted on X. “My comment addressed agitators approaching law enforcement with a gun and refusing to disarm.

    “My advice stands: If you value your life, do not aggressively approach law enforcement while armed. If they reasonably perceive a threat and you fail to immediately disarm, they are legally permitted to use deadly force.”

    A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in L.A. referred The Times to Essayli’s post on X clarifying what he initially said. He declined further comment.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom joined in the criticism, writing on X, “Wow. Even the NRA thinks Trump’s DOJ stooge in California has gone too far for claiming federal agents were ‘legally justified’ to kill Alex Pretti.”

    Earlier, a 2nd Amendment lobbying group, Gun Owners of America, also criticized Essayli.

    “We condemn the untoward comments of @USAttyEssayli. Federal agents are not ‘highly likely’ to be ‘legally justified’ in ‘shooting’ concealed carry licensees who approach while lawfully carrying a firearm,” the group posted on X. “The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting — a right the federal government must not infringe upon.”

    Essayli’s post received a community note — a crowdsourced fact-check — noting that “the U.S. Constitution (particularly the 2nd, 4th, and 14th amendments) prohibit officers from shooting citizens merely for possessing a weapon that is not an “imminent threat.”

    The shooting drew a large crowd of protesters in a city that had already seen widespread demonstrations after the fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7.

    Essayli, a former Riverside County assemblyman, was appointed as the region’s interim top federal prosecutor by U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi last April.

    Since taking office, he has doggedly pursued President Trump’s agenda, championing hard-line immigration enforcement in Southern California, often using the president’s language verbatim at news conferences.

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    Brittny Mejia

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  • Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, dies at 80

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    Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan and a conservative commentator, has died. He was 80.Video above: Remembering those we lost in 2025The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute announced his death in a post on the social platform X on Tuesday, calling him “a steadfast guardian of his father’s legacy.”“Michael Reagan lived a life shaped by conviction, purpose, and an abiding devotion to President Reagan’s ideals,” the foundation said.His cause of death was not immediately announced.Reagan was a contributor to the conservative Newsmax television network and was known for his talk radio program, “The Michael Reagan Show.”Reagan was born to Irene Flaugher in 1945 and adopted just hours after his birth by Ronald Reagan and his then-wife, actor Jane Wyman.The young Reagan followed in his parents’ footsteps.After attending Arizona State University and Los Angeles Valley College, Reagan took up acting, built his syndicated radio show and authored several books, including two about his personal journey titled “On the Outside Looking in” and “Twice Adopted.”Throughout his life, Reagan also focused his time on several charities, raising money in powerboat racing and serving as chair of the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation board for three years.Ronald Reagan, who was known for trying to scale back government and devoting his presidency to winning the Cold War, died in 2004 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Michael Reagan pushed his father’s ideas forward as chair of the Reagan Legacy Foundation.Michael Reagan’s second marriage was to Colleen Stearns, with whom he had two children.

    Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan and a conservative commentator, has died. He was 80.

    Video above: Remembering those we lost in 2025

    The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute announced his death in a post on the social platform X on Tuesday, calling him “a steadfast guardian of his father’s legacy.”

    “Michael Reagan lived a life shaped by conviction, purpose, and an abiding devotion to President Reagan’s ideals,” the foundation said.

    His cause of death was not immediately announced.

    Reagan was a contributor to the conservative Newsmax television network and was known for his talk radio program, “The Michael Reagan Show.”

    Reagan was born to Irene Flaugher in 1945 and adopted just hours after his birth by Ronald Reagan and his then-wife, actor Jane Wyman.

    The young Reagan followed in his parents’ footsteps.

    After attending Arizona State University and Los Angeles Valley College, Reagan took up acting, built his syndicated radio show and authored several books, including two about his personal journey titled “On the Outside Looking in” and “Twice Adopted.”

    Throughout his life, Reagan also focused his time on several charities, raising money in powerboat racing and serving as chair of the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation board for three years.

    Ronald Reagan, who was known for trying to scale back government and devoting his presidency to winning the Cold War, died in 2004 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Michael Reagan pushed his father’s ideas forward as chair of the Reagan Legacy Foundation.

    Michael Reagan’s second marriage was to Colleen Stearns, with whom he had two children.

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  • Garden Grove police officer hospitalized after being hit by a vehicle while responding to call

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    A Garden Grove Police officer was in the hospital in critical but stable condition Sunday after being hit by a vehicle while responding to a call of an assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Police Department.

    Shortly after midnight on Sunday morning, officers were in the area of Brookhurst Street and Stanford Avenue investigating a report of a man threatening people with a knife at a small commercial strip mall, according to Sgt. Nick Jensen, a public information officer.

    Police arrived, and as they attempted to arrest him, he took off running and there was a pursuit on foot. The officer was then struck by a vehicle.

    Anaheim, Orange and Westminster police were part of the response, according to post on Instagram by Garden Grove police.

    The suspect was arrested and has been charged with several felonies, including assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats. Jensen identified him as Lonnie Johnson, 34, with no permanent address.

    Police were not yet releasing the name of the injured officer, as relatives were being notified.

    The driver of the vehicle that hit the officer stayed on the scene and cooperated with police, Jensen said. He was not arrested.

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    Los Angeles Times

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  • Trump calls Democrats ‘traitors’ for urging military to ‘refuse illegal orders’

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    WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday said he believed Democratic lawmakers who publicly urged active service members to “refuse illegal orders” amounted to seditious behavior, which he said should be punishable by death.

    “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand — We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET,” Trump said in a social media post.

    Trump went on to amplify more than a dozen social media posts from other people, who in reaction to Trump’s post called for the Democrats to be arrested, charged and in one instance hanged. Trump then continued: “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

    The president’s remarks were in reaction to a joint video released by six Democrat lawmakers in which they urged military and intelligence personnel to “refuse illegal orders.”

    The Democratic lawmakers who released the video — Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Michigan Sen. Alyssa Slotkin, Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Deluzio, New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander, Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan and Colorado Rep. Jason Crow — served in the military or as intelligence officers.

    They did not specify which orders they were referring to. But they said the Trump administration was “pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professional against American citizens” and that threats to the Constitution were coming “from right here at home.”

    The video, which was posted on Tuesday, quickly drew criticism from Republicans, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who characterized it as “Stage 4 [Trump Derangement Syndrome].” But Trump, who first reacted to the video on Thursday, saw the video as more than partisan speech.

    “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” Trump said in another post.

    When asked Thursday if the president wanted to execute members of Congress, as suggested in one of his social media posts, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “no.”

    But, Leavitt said, the president does want to see them be “held accountable.”

    “That is a very, very dangerous message and it is perhaps punishable by law,” Leavitt said. “I’ll leave that to the Department of justice and the Department of War to decide.”

    What the law says

    Under a federal law known as “seditious conspiracy,” it is a crime for two or more individuals to “conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States” or to “prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States” by force.

    A seditious conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

    Federal courts and legal scholars have long emphasized that seditious conspiracy charges apply only to coordinated efforts to use force against the government, rather than political dissent.

    The last time federal prosecutors pursued seditious conspiracy charges was in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges for plotting to prevent by force the transfer of presidential power to Joe Biden.

    Among the convicted individuals was former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, whose 22-year sentence was the stiffest of any of the Jan. 6 rioters. Trump pardoned him earlier this year.

    Hours after the president’s posts, the six Democratic lawmakers issued a joint statement, calling on Americans to “unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence.”

    “What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law,” the lawmakers said in a statement posted to X. “Our service members should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders.”

    Democratic leaders in Washington and across the country denounced Trump’s post.

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement with other Democratic leaders that Trump’s comments were “disgusting and dangerous death threats against members of Congress.” They added that they had been in contact with U.S. Capitol Police to ensure the safety of the Democrat lawmakers and their families.

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom reacted to the posts by saying Trump “is sick in the head” for calling for the death of Democratic lawmakers.

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    Ana Ceballos

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  • US military’s 20th strike on alleged drug-running boat kills 4 in the Caribbean

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    The U.S. military’s 20th strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs has killed four people in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. military said Friday, coming as the Trump administration escalates its campaign in South American waters.The latest strike happened Monday, according to a social media post on Friday by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in the Caribbean and Latin America. The latest strike brings the death toll from the attacks that began in September to 80, with the Mexican Navy suspending its search for a survivor of a strike in late October after four days.Southern Command’s post on X shows a boat speeding over water before it’s engulfed in flames. The command said intelligence confirmed the vessel “was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.”Southern Command’s post marked a shift away from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s practice of typically announcing the attacks on social media, although he quickly reposted Southern Command’s statement.Hegseth had announced the previous two strikes on Monday after they had been carried out on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is expanding the U.S. military’s already large presence in the region by bringing in the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier. The nation’s most advanced warship is expected to arrive in the coming days after traveling from the Mediterranean Sea.Hegseth on Thursday formally named the mission “Operation Southern Spear,” emphasizing the growing significance and permanence of the military’s presence in the region. Once the Ford arrives, the mission will encompass nearly a dozen Navy ships as well about 12,000 sailors and Marines.The Trump administration has insisted that the buildup of warships is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S., but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists.” The strikes have targeted vessels largely in the Caribbean Sea but also have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled.Some observers say the aircraft carrier is a big new tool of intimidation against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S. Experts disagree on whether American warplanes may bomb land targets to pressure Maduro to step down.Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, as the leader of Venezuela and has called the government a “transshipment organization” that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs toward the U.S.Maduro has said the U.S. government is “fabricating” a war against him. Venezuela’s government this week touted a “massive” mobilization of troops and civilians to defend against possible U.S. attacks.Trump has justified the attacks by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations that are flooding America’s cities with drugs.Lawmakers, including Republicans, have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes.Rubio and Hegseth met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers who oversee national security issues last week, providing one of the first high-level glimpses into the legal rationale and strategy behind the strikes.Senate Republicans voted a day later to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorization.

    WASHINGTON —

    The U.S. military’s 20th strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs has killed four people in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. military said Friday, coming as the Trump administration escalates its campaign in South American waters.

    The latest strike happened Monday, according to a social media post on Friday by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in the Caribbean and Latin America. The latest strike brings the death toll from the attacks that began in September to 80, with the Mexican Navy suspending its search for a survivor of a strike in late October after four days.

    Southern Command’s post on X shows a boat speeding over water before it’s engulfed in flames. The command said intelligence confirmed the vessel “was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.”

    Southern Command’s post marked a shift away from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s practice of typically announcing the attacks on social media, although he quickly reposted Southern Command’s statement.

    Hegseth had announced the previous two strikes on Monday after they had been carried out on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is expanding the U.S. military’s already large presence in the region by bringing in the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier. The nation’s most advanced warship is expected to arrive in the coming days after traveling from the Mediterranean Sea.

    Hegseth on Thursday formally named the mission “Operation Southern Spear,” emphasizing the growing significance and permanence of the military’s presence in the region. Once the Ford arrives, the mission will encompass nearly a dozen Navy ships as well about 12,000 sailors and Marines.

    The Trump administration has insisted that the buildup of warships is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S., but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists.” The strikes have targeted vessels largely in the Caribbean Sea but also have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled.

    Some observers say the aircraft carrier is a big new tool of intimidation against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S. Experts disagree on whether American warplanes may bomb land targets to pressure Maduro to step down.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, as the leader of Venezuela and has called the government a “transshipment organization” that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs toward the U.S.

    Maduro has said the U.S. government is “fabricating” a war against him. Venezuela’s government this week touted a “massive” mobilization of troops and civilians to defend against possible U.S. attacks.

    Trump has justified the attacks by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations that are flooding America’s cities with drugs.

    Lawmakers, including Republicans, have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes.

    Rubio and Hegseth met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers who oversee national security issues last week, providing one of the first high-level glimpses into the legal rationale and strategy behind the strikes.

    Senate Republicans voted a day later to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorization.

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  • Trump says Americans will receive $2,000 tariff dividend

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    President Trump said Sunday that most Americans would receive a $2,000 dividend payment as a result of his administration’s tariffs levied against foreign countries.

    Trump announced the potential payments on his Truth Social platform, calling opponents of his tariffs “FOOLS” in a post.

    “We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion,” the president wrote. “Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

    Congressional approval would likely be necessary to provide the payments. There is no specific plan at this point for the dividends, which could cost the government hundreds of billions of dollars.

    The post by Trump comes after a difficult week for the president.

    The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that questions whether Trump exceeded his authority in levying tariffs against foreign nations without congressional support. Most of the justices on the bench, including conservative justices such as Chief Justice John G. Roberts, appeared skeptical of the president’s authority under the Constitution.

    Most of the justices seemed to take the view that the Constitution gives Congress the power to raise taxes, duties and tariffs, not the president.

    That blow came on the heels of Democratic wins throughout the country on Tuesday.

    Since taking office, Trump has implemented steep tariffs on specific goods as well as particularly high tariffs on goods from specific countries such as India and Brazil.

    Trump said in remarks on Thursday at the White House that revocation of the tariffs would be “devastating” for the U.S.

    On Sunday in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that he had not yet spoken with Trump about the proposed dividend.

    “The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms and lots of ways,” Bessent said.

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    Noah Goldberg

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  • California D.A. retweets 9/11 attack images as he slams Mamdani

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    A California district attorney reposted on social media 9/11 images along with comments blasting the election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s first Muslim mayor. Despite the gory images and strong denunciation of Mamdani, Dan Dow insists that he has no issues with the Muslim community in San Luis Obispo County, where he is the top prosecutor.

    He has “strong ties” with the community, Dow said in an emailed statement Thursday to The Times.

    But his posts have drawn backlash, and a Muslim advocacy organization is demanding an apology and an investigation.

    On Wednesday, Dow retweeted a post on X from a popular right-wing account that appeared to show a snapshot moments after flames jutted from the South Tower, the second of the twin towers struck by a plane on Sept. 11, 2001.

    A second visual tweet, more graphic than the first, displayed footage from two angles of a plane barreling into one of the towers. That was posted by the leader of an activist organization, described as a hate group by some, that claims to “combat the threats from Islamic supremacists, radical leftists and their allies.”

    Each was posted in the aftermath of the New York City mayoral election won by 34-year-old democratic socialist Mamdani.

    The posts were retweeted and subtweeted days later and 3,000 miles away by Dow, drawing rebuke from some locals, in a story first broken by the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

    Dow responded to a Times email for comment saying his issue was not with the county’s Muslim population, which numbers around 500, according to the Assn. of Religion Data Archives.

    “I shared the posts because, in my opinion, Mamdani is going to destroy New York being a self-proclaimed socialist,” Dow responded. “I support the Muslim community and have strong ties to our Muslim community in San Luis Obispo.”

    The first post Dow retweeted came from the account @EndWokeness, which vows to its nearly 4 million followers that it’s “fighting, exposing, and mocking wokeness.”

    The second post came from Amy Mekelburg, founder of Rise, Align, Ignite and Reclaim (RAIR) Foundation, which is listed as a hate organization by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

    The council’s Los Angeles office demanded Thursday evening that Dow apologize and “retract his recent anti-Muslim social media posts.” CAIR-LA is also asking for an independent investigation into Dow’s conduct and “his fitness to continue to serve as DA.”

    The organization is incensed at his retweeting of Mekelburg, whom they describe as “a known anti-Muslim extremist.”

    Mekelburg wrote a sizable message on the video post, saying she’d “given my entire self” to warn the world “about the threat of Islam after 9/11.”

    “And now … to see New York — my city — stand in this moment, where someone like Zohran Mamdani could even be elected,” she wrote. “My God, New York, what have you done?”

    CAIR-LA said that Mekelburg “falsely equated the election of Mamdani with 9/11, reinforcing the harmful stereotype that Muslims are inherently tied to terrorism simply because of their faith.”

    Dow subtweeted that specific post with a message that began by highlighting his 32 years of service in the U.S. Army and his four tours overseas.

    “I remember like it was yesterday our nation being attacked by Islamic extremists on 9/11/2001,” he wrote. “I love this country and I do not in any way share the same views as the 33-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani.”

    He added in the tweet: “I am very sad to see the Big Apple torn apart by electing an un-American socialist who wants to trample on the values and freedoms that millions of Americans have fought and died for.”

    “Dow’s decision to repost content that weaponizes bigotry and baselessly ties an elected Muslim official to terrorism is appalling and reflects the deeply rooted dehumanization and fearmongering in this country that American Muslims have had to endure for decades,” CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said in a statement.

    Dow’s posts also struck a nerve with one of his Muslim allies in San Luis Obispo, Dr. Rushdi Cader, who referred to the district attorney as “a personal friend” to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

    Cader told the Tribune the posts were “highly incendiary and puts Muslims at risk for harm, especially hijab-wearing Muslim women like my wife Nisha, whom Dan has himself described as ‘a kind and gentle lady’ who he ‘prayed would be blessed with peace.’”

    Cader added he thought Dow’s “ugly post” was borne “out of disagreement with Mamdani’s politics” rather than any direct attack on Islam.”

    Dow’s tweets drew other rebukes.

    San Luis Obispo County Second District Supervisor Bruce Gibson called Dow a “Christian nationalist.”

    He “occupies a powerful public office that requires decency and discipline,” Gibson said of Dow. “This post is yet another example that he has neither.”

    San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart emailed The Times to say that the city was welcoming to all community members.

    “Dan Dow, as the county’s District Attorney, by definition, should be objective and fair,” she wrote. “For someone in his position to express racism is unacceptable.”

    Dow had his defenders too.

    Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer serves with Dow on the California District Attorneys Assn. Spitzer is the organization’s secretary-treasurer while Dow is the president.

    Spitzer found no fault with Dow’s social media posts.

    “Elected officials have a platform to share their views and be judged by their constituents,” he wrote in an email. “It is heartbreaking to see someone who has expressed such anti-public safety and anti-Semitic sentiments elected as mayor of New York, and we as the elected protectors of public safety have a right to express that.”

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    Andrew J. Campa

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  • Ramen instead of Reese’s? Looming SNAP cuts change what’s offered for Halloween trick-or-treaters

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    When KC Neufeld announced on her Denver neighborhood’s Facebook page that her family would be handing out ramen and packs of macaroni and cheese in addition to candy this Halloween, she wasn’t expecting much of a response.The mother of twin 4-year-olds was just hoping to make a small difference in her working-class neighborhood as food aid funding for tens of millions of vulnerable Americans is expected to end Friday due to the government shutdown.Video above: Before the Candy, Think Safety: Halloween Tips Every Parent Should KnowWithin two days, nearly 3,000 people had reacted to Neufeld’s post, some thanking her and others announcing they would follow suit.”This post blew up way more than I ever anticipated and I’m severely unprepared,” said Neufeld, 33, explaining that she is heading back to the store to get more food despite her family hitting their grocery budget for the week.”I wish I could just buy out this whole aisle of Costco,” she added. “I can’t. But I’ll do what I can.”Neufeld is one of many people across the U.S. preparing to give out shelf-stable foods to trick-or-treaters this year to help fill the void left by looming cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps about one in eight Americans buy groceries. A flurry of widely shared posts have popped up over the last several days as many people look for ways to help offset the surge in need. Some posts suggest foods to give out while others show recently acquired stocks of cheese sticks, mini cereals, canned soup or even diapers ready for trick-or-treaters. Video below: Homemade Halloween treats to be given to childrenPosts are often followed by a string of comments from people announcing similar plans, along with plenty of reminders not to forget the candy.Emily Archambault, 29, and her sister-in-law Taylor Martin, 29, in La Porte, Indiana, will be putting out pasta and sauce, peanut butter and jelly, cereal and other foods, along with diapers and wipes on Halloween. They’re also collecting donations from members of their church.Their plan is to set everything out on a table away from where they’re giving out candy, so families can take what they need without worrying about judgement.”It kind of takes a little bit of pressure off of the parents,” said Martin. “You’re out and about trick or treating and it’s there and your kids probably won’t even notice you’re taking it.”Archambault said she relied on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, after her son’s medical complications forced her to stop working temporarily. Losing that assistance would have meant turning to food pantries. And while she said there are great ones in her area, she expects them to be overrun.”We have to band together,” she said. “I am grateful to have received benefits, and I am even more grateful to be able to give back now.”Erika Dutka, who depends on SNAP to feed herself and her three children in Archbald, Pennsylvania, went to a “trunk or treat” Sunday with people giving out candy from the trunks of cars. She said she was relieved to get packs of ramen, oatmeal, juice, pretzels and fruit snacks in addition to sweet treats.The 36-year-old — who works two jobs and goes to school full-time — said the food means she’ll have plenty of school snacks for her children the rest of the week and can save her last $100 of SNAP funds.”It buys me more time,” she said. “Maybe things will change. Maybe it’ll get turned back on.” Neufeld, the Denver mom stockpiling shelf-stable items for trick-or-treaters, said she relied on a food bank at her college to get through school. She said most people would never have known she was really struggling. And now, with SNAP drying up, she wants people to remember not to assume anything about others.”You truly don’t know what other people are going through,” she said. “So even if they don’t ‘look like they need help,’ it’s still important to just give when you can because it can make a huge difference.”

    When KC Neufeld announced on her Denver neighborhood’s Facebook page that her family would be handing out ramen and packs of macaroni and cheese in addition to candy this Halloween, she wasn’t expecting much of a response.

    The mother of twin 4-year-olds was just hoping to make a small difference in her working-class neighborhood as food aid funding for tens of millions of vulnerable Americans is expected to end Friday due to the government shutdown.

    Video above: Before the Candy, Think Safety: Halloween Tips Every Parent Should Know

    Within two days, nearly 3,000 people had reacted to Neufeld’s post, some thanking her and others announcing they would follow suit.

    “This post blew up way more than I ever anticipated and I’m severely unprepared,” said Neufeld, 33, explaining that she is heading back to the store to get more food despite her family hitting their grocery budget for the week.

    “I wish I could just buy out this whole aisle of Costco,” she added. “I can’t. But I’ll do what I can.”

    Neufeld is one of many people across the U.S. preparing to give out shelf-stable foods to trick-or-treaters this year to help fill the void left by looming cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps about one in eight Americans buy groceries.

    A flurry of widely shared posts have popped up over the last several days as many people look for ways to help offset the surge in need. Some posts suggest foods to give out while others show recently acquired stocks of cheese sticks, mini cereals, canned soup or even diapers ready for trick-or-treaters.

    Video below: Homemade Halloween treats to be given to children

    Posts are often followed by a string of comments from people announcing similar plans, along with plenty of reminders not to forget the candy.

    Emily Archambault, 29, and her sister-in-law Taylor Martin, 29, in La Porte, Indiana, will be putting out pasta and sauce, peanut butter and jelly, cereal and other foods, along with diapers and wipes on Halloween. They’re also collecting donations from members of their church.

    Their plan is to set everything out on a table away from where they’re giving out candy, so families can take what they need without worrying about judgement.

    “It kind of takes a little bit of pressure off of the parents,” said Martin. “You’re out and about trick or treating and it’s there and your kids probably won’t even notice you’re taking it.”

    Archambault said she relied on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, after her son’s medical complications forced her to stop working temporarily. Losing that assistance would have meant turning to food pantries. And while she said there are great ones in her area, she expects them to be overrun.

    “We have to band together,” she said. “I am grateful to have received benefits, and I am even more grateful to be able to give back now.”

    Erika Dutka, who depends on SNAP to feed herself and her three children in Archbald, Pennsylvania, went to a “trunk or treat” Sunday with people giving out candy from the trunks of cars. She said she was relieved to get packs of ramen, oatmeal, juice, pretzels and fruit snacks in addition to sweet treats.

    The 36-year-old — who works two jobs and goes to school full-time — said the food means she’ll have plenty of school snacks for her children the rest of the week and can save her last $100 of SNAP funds.

    “It buys me more time,” she said. “Maybe things will change. Maybe it’ll get turned back on.”

    Neufeld, the Denver mom stockpiling shelf-stable items for trick-or-treaters, said she relied on a food bank at her college to get through school. She said most people would never have known she was really struggling. And now, with SNAP drying up, she wants people to remember not to assume anything about others.

    “You truly don’t know what other people are going through,” she said. “So even if they don’t ‘look like they need help,’ it’s still important to just give when you can because it can make a huge difference.”

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  • Thirteen arrested in West Hollywood operation that raised concerns about ICE

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    Thirteen people were arrested late Friday night during an operation in West Hollywood’s Rainbow District, but the presence of unmarked vehicles and recent immigration raids in the area sparked concerns of a possible ICE raid.

    On Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff officials confirmed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents did not take part in the arrests.

    Multiple social media posts late Friday night warned of ICE agents in the Rainbow District, particularly at the renowned gay bar The Abbey.

    Posts on Instagram, TikTok and X warned people about ICE in the area. One video circulating online showed people cursing at law enforcement officers inside an unmarked white van, hitting the vehicle as it drove away. A sheriff’s patrol car could be seen following behind the van.

    One person posted a video that showed security guards inside The Abbey closing its doors and windows as uniformed deputies walked the street outside. A separate post showed another bar that displayed on a screen, “ICE is at The Abbey!”

    On Sunday, officials confirmed it was not federal agents conducting immigration enforcement but local law enforcement officers.

    Officials said the Friday night operation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was in response to multiple reports of pickpocketing, drug sales and other criminal activity in the area.

    Sheriff officials did not immediately respond to questions on what charges were related to the arrests.

    The activity, said Deputy Alejandra Parra, may have been occurring at some of the establishments in the area or by unpermitted street vendors.

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    Salvador Hernandez

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  • 2 Pennsylvania state police officers shot during vehicle chase, suspect dead

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    Two state police officers in Pennsylvania pursuing a vehicle were shot Wednesday in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect who was killed, authorities said.The troopers were airlifted by a medical helicopter to WellSpan York Hospital to be treated, according to investigators. They are in critical and serious condition, Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement.Officials have not yet released the names of the injured troopers. They were responding to a theft call at a sporting goods store. Several suspects had fled in a vehicle, the statement said. The troopers saw the vehicle and there was a pursuit.Spike strips stopped the vehicle. Two women came out and were taken into custody, the statement said.A man in the vehicle “began shooting at troopers, striking two of them,” the statement said. “Troopers returned fire, fatally wounding the male.”Gov. Josh Shapiro said he and his wife, Lori, were praying for the officers and asked others to join them.“Pennsylvania’s law enforcement officers are the very best of us — running towards danger every day to keep our communities safe,” Shapiro said in a post on the social platform X.The shooting took place in southern Franklin County, which is about 85 miles northwest of Baltimore.

    GREENCASTLE, Pa. —

    Two state police officers in Pennsylvania pursuing a vehicle were shot Wednesday in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect who was killed, authorities said.

    The troopers were airlifted by a medical helicopter to WellSpan York Hospital to be treated, according to investigators. They are in critical and serious condition, Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement.

    Officials have not yet released the names of the injured troopers.

    They were responding to a theft call at a sporting goods store. Several suspects had fled in a vehicle, the statement said. The troopers saw the vehicle and there was a pursuit.

    Spike strips stopped the vehicle. Two women came out and were taken into custody, the statement said.

    A man in the vehicle “began shooting at troopers, striking two of them,” the statement said. “Troopers returned fire, fatally wounding the male.”

    Gov. Josh Shapiro said he and his wife, Lori, were praying for the officers and asked others to join them.

    “Pennsylvania’s law enforcement officers are the very best of us — running towards danger every day to keep our communities safe,” Shapiro said in a post on the social platform X.

    The shooting took place in southern Franklin County, which is about 85 miles northwest of Baltimore.

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  • Bystander recounts jumping in to help after medical helicopter crashes on Highway 50 in Sacramento

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    Bystander recounts jumping in to help after medical helicopter crashes on Highway 50 in Sacramento

    YOU’RE LOOKING AT. SO WE MENTIONED ACTS OF HEROISM TONIGHT. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS VIDEO JUST INTO OUR NEWSROOM. YOU CAN SEE THOSE BYSTANDERS WORKING TO LIFT THAT HELICOPTER OFF OF ONE OF THE VICTIMS. OUR TEAM COVERAGE CONTINUES NOW WITH KCRA 3’S CAROLINA ESTRADA. SHE’S LIVE FOR US ALONG HIGHWAY 50. IT IS REALLY SOMETHING TO SEE THERE. CATALINA. AND YOU HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK WITH WITNESSES AND SOME OF THOSE BYSTANDERS WHO THEY JUMPED IN TO HELP, AND THEY HAD NO PROBLEM HELPING. NO. GULSTAN DART. THEY ACTUALLY TOLD US AND DESCRIBED THE MOMENTS RIGHT WHEN THEY SAW THAT HELICOPTER COMING TOWARDS THEM. THEY SAY IT WAS TERRIFYING. THEN THEY WERE IN DISBELIEF WHEN THEY SAW IT CRASH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY 50, AND THEN THEY DIDN’T DOUBT TO JUMP IN AND HELP WHEN IT WAS NEEDED. WE’LL HEAR FROM THEM IN JUST A SECOND. BUT FIRST, I WANT TO SHOW YOU OUT HERE THE SCENE THAT WE HAVE FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT, WE HAVE SEEN THE SCENE CHANGE A LITTLE BIT, BUT THAT HELICOPTER IS STILL HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY 50. YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO SEE SOME OF THAT DEBRIS AND ALSO THAT MEDICAL EQUIPMENT THAT’S SURROUNDING IT. SO WE HAVE SEEN AT LEAST 15 INVESTIGATORS, OFFICERS TAKING PICTURES. THEY WERE SCANNING THE SCENE. WE SAW THEM JUST MOVE THE LIGHTS TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HELICOPTER. SO IT SEEMS LIKE THEY’RE FOCUSING THEIR INVESTIGATION NOW. ON THE OTHER SIDE. EARLIER TODAY THEY WERE ON THIS SIDE. WE CAN NOW SEE TRAFFIC STARTING TO FLOW. WE’VE SEEN HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICERS GUIDING THESE PEOPLE. YOU CAN SEE THEM DRIVING SLOWLY THERE ON THE SIDE OF THIS CRIME SCENE. SO THAT IS ACTUALLY BECAUSE THEY OPENED THE BARRIERS FROM THE FIX 50 PROJECT, AND THEY’RE ABLE TO LET THOSE VEHICLES THROUGH. AND YOU CAN IMAGINE THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT WERE AT A STOP HERE WHEN THIS CRASH HAPPENED. THERE WAS ACTUALLY ANOTHER INCIDENT THAT CREATED A BACKUP. WE SPOKE TO A WITNESS WHO WAS WITH HIS WIFE WHEN THEY SAW THAT HELICOPTER COMING STRAIGHT AT THEM. TAKE A LISTEN. IT WAS VIOLENTLY SHAKING. THE HELICOPTER ITSELF. THE LANDING GEAR UNDERNEATH THE HELICOPTER ITSELF WAS SHAKING LIKE RATTLING IN THE AIR. SO I KNEW SOMETHING WAS OFF AS IT WAS APPROACHING VERY LOW, I WAS SCREAMING TO MY WIFE, I GO, THIS THING’S COMING DOWN, IT’S GOING DOWN, IT’S GOING DOWN, IT’S GOING DOWN. SURE ENOUGH, IT HIT HIGHWAY 50 AND AFTER THAT, AFTER THAT, WE SAW LOTS OF SMOKE. IT TOOK QUITE A WHILE FOR THAT ENGINE TO, LIKE, WIND DOWN OR EVENTUALLY JUST SHUT OFF. BUT IN THOSE 2 TO 3 MINUTES, IT WAS THERE WAS A LOT OF SMOKE THAT WAS ENTERING HIGHWAY 50. AND THAT PLUME OF SMOKE IS THE ONE THAT WE SAW IN PICTURES AND VIDEOS. BUT I WANT TO BRING YOU BACK OUT HERE LIVE QUICKLY, BECAUSE WE’RE JUST SEEING THAT TOW TRUCK ARRIVING HERE ON SCENE AS WE’RE LIVE. IT JUST PARKED HERE. WE IMAGINE THEY’RE ABOUT TO REMOVE THIS HELICOPTER. THERE’S A SECOND TOW TRUCK THAT I CAN SEE FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT HERE. CREWS ARE ABOUT TO GET OFF AND THEY’RE ABOUT TO START REMOVING THIS FROM THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY 50. THIS IS JUST HAPPENING AS WE’RE HERE LIVE. WE’RE SEEING THE OFFICERS NOW SURROUNDING IT. THEY’RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY HOW THEY’RE GOING TO DO THIS. BUT WHILE WE SEE WHAT THEY’RE GOING TO DO IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MINUTES, I WANT YOU TO TAKE A LESSON FROM THIS BYSTANDER WHO SAYS SHE WAS IN HER CAR, STOPPED HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY 50 WHEN AFTER THAT SMOKE CLEARED, THEY SAW THAT FIRST RESPONDERS NEEDED HELP GETTING SOMEONE WHO WAS PINNED IN THIS HELICOPTER OUT. JUST TAKE A LISTEN TO HER TESTIMONY. IT JUST PLUMMETED OUT OF THE SKY AND IT HIT HARD, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE IT WAS FALLING. AND THEN JUST INSTANTANEOUS BLACK SMOKE EVERYWHERE JUST ENGULFED THE WHOLE THING. AS SOON AS I SAW THAT EVERYBODY WAS MOVING, THE TRYING TO PUSH THE HELICOPTER OUT TO GET HELP, THE FIRST RESPONDERS GET TO THE, THE, THE PASSENGER, I JUST RAN OVER AND I GOT IN ONLINE IN, IN THE LINE OF PEOPLE AND WAS JUST HELP PUSHING IT AS MUCH AS I COULD. AND THEN AND THEN WE HELD IT FOR SEVERAL MINUTES SO THE FIRST RESPONDER COULD GET THE PERSON OUT. AND, YOU KNOW, SHE’S STILL TRYING TO PROCESS EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED. I ASKED HER, YOU KNOW, WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU SEE THAT? SHE SAID, THE ONLY THING THAT WAS GOING THROUGH MY MIND WAS TO HELP. AND YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW HEAVY THIS HELICOPTER IS, SINCE THEY HAVE AT LEAST TWO TOW TRUCKS HERE ON SCENE. AND JUST IMAGINING THAT GROUP OF 15 PEOPLE LIFTING THAT HELICOPTER JUST TO HELP SOMEONE IS REALLY JUST INCREDIBLE TO HEAR. WE NOW KNOW THAT THREE PEOPLE ARE IN CRITICAL CONDITION, AND ONE OF THOSE WAS THE ONE THAT THEY HELPED SAVE. AND JUST BACK OUT HERE LIVE, WE CAN START SEEING THOSE PLASTIC BAGS THAT ARE COMING OUT. THEY’RE GOING TO START PICKING UP ALL OF THAT DEBRIS. SOME OF IT THAT MEDICAL EQUIPMENT THAT WE CAN IMAGINE WAS ON THIS HELICOPTER. WE SAW A LOT OF PAPERS. WE CAN SEE THERE’S SOME CREWS STARTING TO PUT THEM IN THOSE WHITE TRASH BAGS HERE. IT WILL PROBABLY TAKE A WHILE FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO REMOVE ALL OF THIS. WE SEE THAT DOOR FROM THE HELICOPTER CLOSER TO WHERE WE’RE STANDING. SO REMOVAL EFFORTS OF THIS HELICOPTER ARE ABOUT TO START HERE. WE DON’T KNOW HOW LONG THAT’S GOING TO TAKE, BUT THEY ARE LETTING TRAFFIC THROUGH HERE RIGHT NOW. BUT AFTER ALL, YOU KNOW, THERE’S STILL A LOT OF QUESTIONS EDIE GULSTAN DART ABOUT WHAT EXACTLY LED UP TO THIS HELICOPTER CRASHING HERE ON SCENE. BUT WHAT WE REALLY TAKE AWAY AS WELL IS JUST THE HEROISM OF THOSE 15 PEOPLE THAT JUST DECIDED TO MISS THE CHAOS, TO GET OFF AND HELP AND, YOU KNOW, GET THAT PERSON OUT. AND THEY TELL ME THAT REALLY ALL THEY’RE HOPING FOR TONIGHT IS THAT ALL THREE OF THE PEOPLE THAT WERE INSIDE OF THAT HELICOPTER WHEN IT CRASHED MAKE IT. LI

    Bystander recounts jumping in to help after medical helicopter crashes on Highway 50 in Sacramento

    Updated: 11:21 PM PDT Oct 6, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    A medical helicopter crash critically injured three crew members and stopped traffic on Highway 50 in Sacramento on Monday night. Multiple witnesses watched as the helicopter came crashing down on the eastbound lanes of Highway 50 near Stockton Boulevard just after 7 p.m.”It was violently shaking,” said Chad Montgomery. Montgomery was stuck in traffic on Highway 50 with his wife when they saw the crashing helicopter getting closer.”The landing gear under the helicopter itself was just shaking, like rattling in the air,” Montgomery said. “So I knew something was off as it was approaching very low. I was screaming to my wife, I go, ‘This thing’s coming down.’”Montgomery said just after the aircraft came down, smoke immediately poured out.”It took quite a while for that engine to like, wind down or eventually just shut off. But in those two to three minutes, it was—there was a lot of smoke that was entering Highway 50,” he said. The model of the helicopter that crashed was an H130, which is designed to prevent post-crash fires by containing the fuel. Learn more about the helicopter here. Some of those who witnessed the crash also became rescuers.”It just plummeted out of the sky,” said Aimee Braddock, another witness. “It hit hard.”Braddock joined around a dozen others who rushed in to help lift the helicopter off a trapped crew member.”As soon as I saw that everybody was moving to try to push the helicopter out to help the first responders get to the passenger, I just ran over and got in the line of people and was just pushing it as much as I could,” Braddock recounted. “Then we held it for several minutes, so the first responder could get the person out.”Crews later moved construction barriers so the drivers stuck on Highway 50 after the crash could move. Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty shared a post on X thanking the first responders and civilians who jumped in to help.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

    A medical helicopter crash critically injured three crew members and stopped traffic on Highway 50 in Sacramento on Monday night.

    Multiple witnesses watched as the helicopter came crashing down on the eastbound lanes of Highway 50 near Stockton Boulevard just after 7 p.m.

    “It was violently shaking,” said Chad Montgomery.

    Montgomery was stuck in traffic on Highway 50 with his wife when they saw the crashing helicopter getting closer.

    “The landing gear under the helicopter itself was just shaking, like rattling in the air,” Montgomery said. “So I knew something was off as it was approaching very low. I was screaming to my wife, I go, ‘This thing’s coming down.’”

    Montgomery said just after the aircraft came down, smoke immediately poured out.

    “It took quite a while for that engine to like, wind down or eventually just shut off. But in those two to three minutes, it was—there was a lot of smoke that was entering Highway 50,” he said.

    The model of the helicopter that crashed was an H130, which is designed to prevent post-crash fires by containing the fuel. Learn more about the helicopter here.

    Some of those who witnessed the crash also became rescuers.

    “It just plummeted out of the sky,” said Aimee Braddock, another witness. “It hit hard.”

    Braddock joined around a dozen others who rushed in to help lift the helicopter off a trapped crew member.

    “As soon as I saw that everybody was moving to try to push the helicopter out to help the first responders get to the passenger, I just ran over and got in the line of people and was just pushing it as much as I could,” Braddock recounted. “Then we held it for several minutes, so the first responder could get the person out.”

    Crews later moved construction barriers so the drivers stuck on Highway 50 after the crash could move.

    Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty shared a post on X thanking the first responders and civilians who jumped in to help.

    This content is imported from Twitter.
    You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • Deadly rampage at UK synagogue was a terrorist attack, authorities say

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    An assailant drove a car into people outside a synagogue Thursday in northern England and then began stabbing them, killing two and seriously wounding four in a terrorist attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year, police said.Officers shot and killed the suspect outside Manchester, police said, though authorities took some time to confirm he was dead because he was wearing a vest that made it appear as if he had explosives. Authorities later said he did not have a bomb.The Metropolitan Police in London, who lead counter-terrorism policing operations, declared the rampage a terrorist attack.Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said two other suspects were arrested, though he provided no further information on the arrests. He said police believe they know the identity of the man who carried out the attack but have not confirmed it.The attack took place as people gathered at an Orthodox synagogue in a suburban neighborhood of Manchester on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. Police said the two people killed were Jewish.Antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have hit record levels following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, an advocacy group for British Jews that works to eliminate antisemitism.More than 1,500 incidents were reported in the first half of the year, the second-highest six-month total reported since the record set over the same period a year earlier.“This is every rabbi’s or every Jewish person’s worst nightmare,” said Rabbi Jonathan Romain, of Maidenhead Synagogue and head of the Rabbinic Court of Great Britain. “Not only is this a sacred day, the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, but it’s also a time of mass gathering.”Witnesses describe a car driving toward the synagogue and then a stabbing attackGreater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue around 9:30 a.m. — shortly after services had begun.Chief Constable Stephen Watson said the man drove directly at pedestrians outside the synagogue and then attacked them with a knife.Chava Lewin, who lives next to the synagogue, said she heard a bang and thought it might be a firework until her husband ran inside their house and said there had been a “terrorist attack.”A witness told her that she saw a car driving erratically crash into the gates of the house of worship.“She thought maybe he had a heart attack,” Lewin said. “The second he got out of the car, he started stabbing anyone near him. He went for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue.”Minutes later, police fired shots, hitting the assailant.Video on social media showed police with guns pointed at a person lying on the ground beneath a blue Star of David on the brick wall of the synagogue.A bystander could be heard on the video saying the man had a bomb and was trying to detonate it. When the man tried to stand up, a gunshot rang out and he fell to the ground.On the sidewalk outside the synagogue gate nearby, the body of another person lay in a pool of blood.Watson credited security guards and congregants for their bravery in preventing the assailant from getting inside the prayer service.Police later detonated an explosion to get into the suspect’s car.Manchester was the site of Britain’s deadliest attack in recent years, the 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people.Authorities declare an emergencyImmediately after the attack, police declared “Plato,” the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to a “marauding terror attack.”Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was appalled by the attack and that additional police officers would be deployed at synagogues across the U.K.He flew back to London early from a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark, to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee.“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” Starmer said on the X platform.King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “deeply shocked and saddened″ to learn of the attack “on such a significant day for the Jewish community.”“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this appalling incident, and we greatly appreciate the swift actions of the emergency services,’′ he said on his social media feed.___Pylas and Melley reported from London.

    MANCHESTER, England —

    An assailant drove a car into people outside a synagogue Thursday in northern England and then began stabbing them, killing two and seriously wounding four in a terrorist attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year, police said.

    Officers shot and killed the suspect outside Manchester, police said, though authorities took some time to confirm he was dead because he was wearing a vest that made it appear as if he had explosives. Authorities later said he did not have a bomb.

    The Metropolitan Police in London, who lead counter-terrorism policing operations, declared the rampage a terrorist attack.

    Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said two other suspects were arrested, though he provided no further information on the arrests. He said police believe they know the identity of the man who carried out the attack but have not confirmed it.

    The attack took place as people gathered at an Orthodox synagogue in a suburban neighborhood of Manchester on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. Police said the two people killed were Jewish.

    Antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have hit record levels following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, an advocacy group for British Jews that works to eliminate antisemitism.

    More than 1,500 incidents were reported in the first half of the year, the second-highest six-month total reported since the record set over the same period a year earlier.

    “This is every rabbi’s or every Jewish person’s worst nightmare,” said Rabbi Jonathan Romain, of Maidenhead Synagogue and head of the Rabbinic Court of Great Britain. “Not only is this a sacred day, the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, but it’s also a time of mass gathering.”

    Witnesses describe a car driving toward the synagogue and then a stabbing attack

    Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue around 9:30 a.m. — shortly after services had begun.

    Chief Constable Stephen Watson said the man drove directly at pedestrians outside the synagogue and then attacked them with a knife.

    Chava Lewin, who lives next to the synagogue, said she heard a bang and thought it might be a firework until her husband ran inside their house and said there had been a “terrorist attack.”

    A witness told her that she saw a car driving erratically crash into the gates of the house of worship.

    “She thought maybe he had a heart attack,” Lewin said. “The second he got out of the car, he started stabbing anyone near him. He went for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue.”

    Minutes later, police fired shots, hitting the assailant.

    Video on social media showed police with guns pointed at a person lying on the ground beneath a blue Star of David on the brick wall of the synagogue.

    A bystander could be heard on the video saying the man had a bomb and was trying to detonate it. When the man tried to stand up, a gunshot rang out and he fell to the ground.

    On the sidewalk outside the synagogue gate nearby, the body of another person lay in a pool of blood.

    Watson credited security guards and congregants for their bravery in preventing the assailant from getting inside the prayer service.

    Police later detonated an explosion to get into the suspect’s car.

    Manchester was the site of Britain’s deadliest attack in recent years, the 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people.

    Authorities declare an emergency

    Immediately after the attack, police declared “Plato,” the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to a “marauding terror attack.”

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was appalled by the attack and that additional police officers would be deployed at synagogues across the U.K.

    He flew back to London early from a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark, to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee.

    “The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” Starmer said on the X platform.

    King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “deeply shocked and saddened″ to learn of the attack “on such a significant day for the Jewish community.”

    “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this appalling incident, and we greatly appreciate the swift actions of the emergency services,’′ he said on his social media feed.

    ___

    Pylas and Melley reported from London.

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  • Police say four people injured after car ramming and stabbing outside UK synagogue

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    Police say four people have been injured after a car was driven at members of the public and a man was stabbed outside a synagogue in the north of the UK city of Manchester.In a series of posts on X, Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9:30 a.m. by a member of the public. The caller said he witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.It said that minutes later shots were fired by firearms officers.“One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” it added.It said that four members of the public were being treated for injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds.Andy Burnham, the mayor of the Greater Manchester area, told BBC Radio the “immediate danger appears to be over.”The incident came as members of the Jewish community observe Yom Kippur, which is considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

    MANCHESTER, England —

    Police say four people have been injured after a car was driven at members of the public and a man was stabbed outside a synagogue in the north of the UK city of Manchester.

    In a series of posts on X, Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9:30 a.m. by a member of the public. The caller said he witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.

    It said that minutes later shots were fired by firearms officers.

    “One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” it added.

    It said that four members of the public were being treated for injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds.

    Andy Burnham, the mayor of the Greater Manchester area, told BBC Radio the “immediate danger appears to be over.”

    The incident came as members of the Jewish community observe Yom Kippur, which is considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

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  • California police saw an illegal U-turn. But they couldn’t issue a ticket to the self-driving Waymo

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    Police in Northern California were understandably perplexed when they pulled over a Waymo taxi after it made an illegal U-turn, only to find no driver behind the wheel and therefore, no one to ticket.The San Bruno Police Department wrote in now viral weekend social media posts that officers were conducting a DUI operation early Saturday morning when a self-driving Waymo made the illegal turn in front of them.Officers stopped the vehicle, but declined to write a ticket as their “citation books don’t have a box for ‘robot’.”“That’s right … no driver, no hands, no clue,” read the post, which was accompanied by photos of an officer peering into the car.Officers contacted Waymo to report what they called a “glitch,” and in the post, they said they hope reprogramming will deter more illegal moves.The department’s Facebook post has generated more than 500 comments, with many people outraged that police didn’t ticket the company. People also wanted to know how police got the car to pull over.But San Bruno Sgt. Scott Smithmatungol said they can only ticket a human driver or operator for a moving violation, unlike parking tickets that can be left with the vehicle.A new state law that kicks in next year will allow police to report moving violations to the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is figuring out the specifics, including potential penalties, the Los Angeles Times reports.Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina told the LA Times that the company’s autonomous driving system is closely monitored by regulators. “We are looking into this situation and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience,” Ilina said.Waymos currently operate in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco and in areas south of the city, including the suburb of San Bruno.“It blew up a lot bigger than we thought,” Smithmatungol said of the viral post to The Associated Press on Tuesday. “We’re not a large agency like San Francisco.”San Bruno has about 40,000 residents and a sworn police force of 50 officers, he said.Waymo is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    SAN FRANCISCO —

    Police in Northern California were understandably perplexed when they pulled over a Waymo taxi after it made an illegal U-turn, only to find no driver behind the wheel and therefore, no one to ticket.

    The San Bruno Police Department wrote in now viral weekend social media posts that officers were conducting a DUI operation early Saturday morning when a self-driving Waymo made the illegal turn in front of them.

    Officers stopped the vehicle, but declined to write a ticket as their “citation books don’t have a box for ‘robot’.”

    “That’s right … no driver, no hands, no clue,” read the post, which was accompanied by photos of an officer peering into the car.

    Officers contacted Waymo to report what they called a “glitch,” and in the post, they said they hope reprogramming will deter more illegal moves.

    The department’s Facebook post has generated more than 500 comments, with many people outraged that police didn’t ticket the company. People also wanted to know how police got the car to pull over.

    But San Bruno Sgt. Scott Smithmatungol said they can only ticket a human driver or operator for a moving violation, unlike parking tickets that can be left with the vehicle.

    A new state law that kicks in next year will allow police to report moving violations to the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is figuring out the specifics, including potential penalties, the Los Angeles Times reports.

    Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina told the LA Times that the company’s autonomous driving system is closely monitored by regulators. “We are looking into this situation and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience,” Ilina said.

    Waymos currently operate in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco and in areas south of the city, including the suburb of San Bruno.

    “It blew up a lot bigger than we thought,” Smithmatungol said of the viral post to The Associated Press on Tuesday. “We’re not a large agency like San Francisco.”

    San Bruno has about 40,000 residents and a sworn police force of 50 officers, he said.

    Waymo is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • Predator drones shift from border patrol to protest surveillance

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    FT. HUACHUCA, Ariz. — When MQ-9 Predator drones flew over anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles this summer, it was the first time they had been dispatched to monitor demonstrations on U.S. soil since 2020, and their use reflects a change in how the government is choosing to deploy the aircraft once reserved for surveilling the border and war zones.

    Previous news reports said the drones sent by the Department of Homeland Security conducted surveillance on the weekend of June 7 over thousands of protesters demonstrating against raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Predators flew over Los Angeles for at least four more days, according to tracking experts who identified the flights through air traffic control tower communications and images of a Predator in flight.

    Those amateur sleuths, who monitor flight traffic and identified the first flight, which was confirmed by Customs and Border Protection, shared their findings on social media.

    Defenders of using drones to monitor protests say the aircraft, with their high-tech capabilities, can provide authorities useful and detailed information in real time. Human rights advocates fear the new policy will impinge on civil rights.

    The drones, which fly at around 20,000 feet to conduct surveillance, can beam a live video feed to various government agencies — ICE, the military and more . The MQ designation refers to the drone’s abilities and function. In military parlance, M means multi-use and Q indicates it’s an unmanned aerial vehicle.

    When asked about the additional days of flights over Los Angeles, Homeland Security did not directly address the questions but said the flights were meant to protect police and military.

    “CBP’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO) has provided both Manned and Unmanned aerial support to federal law enforcement partners conducting operations in the Greater Los Angeles area,” the department said in a statement.

    “Both platforms provide an unparalleled ability with Electro-optical/infrared sensors and video downlink capabilities that provide situational awareness and communications support that enhance officer safety,” the statement added.

    Protesters march against immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles on June 10, the same day the Department of Homeland Security on X posted video of protests taken by a drone.

    (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

    Homeland Security touted information obtained through drones in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on June 10. The post included footage of vehicles on fire and protesters squaring off with law enforcement personnel, apparently to show why it was necessary for the Trump administration to deploy the National Guard in Los Angeles.

    “WATCH: DHS drone footage of LA rioters,” the post read. “This is not calm. This is not peaceful. California politicians must call off their rioting mob.”

    The post was dated June 10, but it was not clear if the video was from a Predator drone.

    Supporters of civil liberties are asking why this equipment, which has been used to drop laser-guided bombs on targets in countries like Afghanistan, is being used for domestic issues.

    The deployment of Predators over protesters is a significant departure from the U.S. government’s policy not to fly the drones over demonstrations, to avoid the perception they are spying on 1st Amendment rights activity, U.S. officials said.

    The last time Homeland Security sent a Predator to fly over protesters, according to U.S. government officials, was in Minneapolis during the 2020 protests against the killing of George Floyd by a police officer later convicted of his murder.

    Five Democrats on the House Oversight Committee called the deployment a “gross abuse of authority” and asked Homeland Security to explain what had occurred.

    At times the drones are requested by law enforcement or other authorities to fly over a region, say, to help monitor forest fires, or to provide surveillance for the Super Bowl, officials said.

    The Predators come equipped with cutting-edge infrared heat sensors and high-definition video cameras, and can track scores of individuals within a 15-nautical-mile radius.

    Two people in chairs look at screens and panels of buttons.

    In a file photo, an unmanned Predator drone is being guided from a flight operations center at Ft. Huachuca in Arizona in 2013.

    (John Moore / Getty Images)

    The drone uses an artificial intelligence program, called Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar, or VaDER, to detect small objects — a human being, a rabbit, even a bird in flight. The infrared sensors can identify heat signatures even inside some buildings.

    In response to the drone flights over Los Angeles, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) introduced a bill in July that would restrict Predator drones and other unmanned aircraft from being deployed by the U.S. government over demonstrators.

    “My bill to ban military surveillance drones over our cities puts Trump and his administration in check,” said Gomez. “This is not just about Los Angeles, this affects the entire country. I refuse to allow Trump to use these weapons of war, capable of carrying bombs, as tools for law enforcement against civilians.”

    On Sept. 16, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing Gomez’s Ban Military Drones Spying on Civilians Act.

    “Los Angeles will not stand by while the federal government turns weapons of war against our residents,” said Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who introduced the resolution. “Spying on people engaged in peaceful protest is unconstitutional, dangerous and a direct attack on democracy.”

    The drones were first brought to the U.S. southern border in 2005 and retrofitted for surveillance operations. Homeland Security deployed the drones to fly the length of the 2,000-mile, U.S.-Mexico border, searching for drug traffickers and groups of undocumented migrants.

    Just an hour south of Tucson lies Ft. Huachuca, one of four MQ-9 drone bases from which the drones deploy along the southern border and into the interior of the U.S.

    As with the MQ-9, military-grade technology often finds its way into the interior of the country, experts say.

    “It is tested in war zones, the border, tested in cities along the border and tested in the interior of the country,” said Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy rights organization. “That tends to be the trajectory we see.”

    With a drop in migrant crossings into the United States, experts anticipate drones will be deployed more often over demonstrations in the coming years.

    “If somebody in the Trump administration decides there’s a need to use drones in the interior over U.S. citizens, resources won’t be an issue,” said Adam Isaacson, who covers national security for the Washington Office of Latin America, a human rights research group. “Because there’s just not that much to monitor at the border.”

    Fisher is a special correspondent. This story was co-published with Puente News Collaborative, a bilingual nonprofit newsroom dedicated to high-quality news and information from the U.S.-Mexico border.

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    Steve Fisher

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