Three people were injured in a crash that was followed by a shooting and fight in Arden-Arcade, according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District and Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. A fire engine was also struck by gunfire.Crews initially responded to the report of a rollover crash just after 5:30 p.m. near the intersection of Fulton Avenue and Hurley Way. Sac Metro Fire said one person was critically injured in the crash. The sheriff’s office said another person was critically injured in the shooting. Both were taken to an area hospital. The sheriff’s office said a third person was injured in a fight connected with the incident. The extent of their injuries is unclear.The fire district said its first-arriving engine was damaged by gunfire. No fire personnel were injured. Mark Nunez, a spokesperson for Sac Metro Fire, said the fire personnel had to flee the area to avoid the gunfire.”Our crews are shaken up by this. It’s very rare that we encounter live gunfire in an actual incident,” said Nunez. Sgt. Edward Igoe, spokesperson for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, said two people have been detained in connection with the incident. Footage from LiveCopter 3 showed a wide law enforcement and fire district perimeter in the area, and the parking lot of a nearby shopping center surrounded by crime scene tape. One vehicle could be seen overturned on its side. One person appeared to be detained nearby. KCRA 3’s Andres Valle spoke with witness Elin Pierce, who was working out inside the 24 Hour Fitness when the violence broke out. “I came out here to look, and there’s a car. A big car flipped on its side, literally T-boned behind my car,” said Pierce. Pierce showed a graphic photo of the scene to KCRA 3.”In this picture that one of the bystanders gave me, the man’s pinned under, or it looks like right between my car,” said Pierce.The California Highway Patrol was also on scene investigating the collision.Igoe urged the public to avoid the area as the investigation remains active.This is a developing story. Stay with KCRA 3 for the latest.See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.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
ARDEN-ARCADE, Calif. —
Three people were injured in a crash that was followed by a shooting and fight in Arden-Arcade, according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District and Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. A fire engine was also struck by gunfire.
Crews initially responded to the report of a rollover crash just after 5:30 p.m. near the intersection of Fulton Avenue and Hurley Way.
Sac Metro Fire said one person was critically injured in the crash. The sheriff’s office said another person was critically injured in the shooting. Both were taken to an area hospital.
The sheriff’s office said a third person was injured in a fight connected with the incident. The extent of their injuries is unclear.
The fire district said its first-arriving engine was damaged by gunfire. No fire personnel were injured. Mark Nunez, a spokesperson for Sac Metro Fire, said the fire personnel had to flee the area to avoid the gunfire.
“Our crews are shaken up by this. It’s very rare that we encounter live gunfire in an actual incident,” said Nunez.
Sgt. Edward Igoe, spokesperson for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, said two people have been detained in connection with the incident.
Footage from LiveCopter 3 showed a wide law enforcement and fire district perimeter in the area, and the parking lot of a nearby shopping center surrounded by crime scene tape. One vehicle could be seen overturned on its side. One person appeared to be detained nearby.
KCRA 3’s Andres Valle spoke with witness Elin Pierce, who was working out inside the 24 Hour Fitness when the violence broke out.
“I came out here to look, and there’s a car. A big car flipped on its side, literally T-boned behind my car,” said Pierce.
Pierce showed a graphic photo of the scene to KCRA 3.
“In this picture that one of the bystanders gave me, the man’s pinned under, or it looks like right between my car,” said Pierce.
The California Highway Patrol was also on scene investigating the collision.
Igoe urged the public to avoid the area as the investigation remains active.
This is a developing story. Stay with KCRA 3 for the latest.
See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.
Shocking health announcement coming from the Biden family. Former President Joe Biden diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. His personal office releasing this statement on Sunday saying Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for *** new finding of *** prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. By *** Gleason score of 9 with metastasis to the bone. While this represents *** more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone sensitive, which allows for effective management. The statement went on to say that the 82-year-old and his family are reviewing treatment options. The fact that we’re told that this is metastatic now, the 5 year survival rate on average is about 33%. So you know there are some people that do well and some people that don’t do well. The American Cancer Society estimates 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Because there’s such *** high volume, there’s *** lot of research dedicated to its treatment. Medical experts say cancer that has spread to *** patient’s bones can add further complications. Biden, as I said, has always lived his life. In the public eye and has always thought there was *** value in showing other people going through difficult times. His former Vice President Kamala Harris posting this on X. Joe is *** fighter, and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership. We are hopeful for *** full and speedy recovery. I’m Jen Sullivan reporting.
Former President Joe Biden has started radiation therapy as part of his treatment for prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president told CNN.Video above from May 2025: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer”As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said.The news was first reported by NBC News. A spokesperson for the former president, who turns 83 next month, did not give a timeline for the treatment.Biden’s personal office revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.”The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this,” Biden told CNN in his first comments about the diagnosis two weeks after he received it. “It’s not in any organ, it’s in – my bones are strong, it hadn’t penetrated. So, I’m feeling good.”He added that he had started a pill regimen to treat the cancer.Last month, Biden had Mohs surgery, an operation used to remove skin cancer lesions. In that procedure, thin layers of skin are removed and examined under a microscope until the doctor sees no signs of skin cancer cells. It’s typically used to treat cancerous lesions that have returned after previous treatment, are fast-growing, or are in important areas like the face, hands or genitals.In 2023, while president, Biden had a lesion removed from his chest, which later tested positive for basal cell carcinoma. At the time, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who served as Biden’s physician in the White House, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” and Biden would continue “dermatological surveillance.”Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer. It’s slow-growing and usually curable.
Former President Joe Biden has started radiation therapy as part of his treatment for prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president told CNN.
Video above from May 2025: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer
“As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said.
The news was first reported by NBC News. A spokesperson for the former president, who turns 83 next month, did not give a timeline for the treatment.
Biden’s personal office revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
“The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this,” Biden told CNN in his first comments about the diagnosis two weeks after he received it. “It’s not in any organ, it’s in – my bones are strong, it hadn’t penetrated. So, I’m feeling good.”
He added that he had started a pill regimen to treat the cancer.
Last month, Biden had Mohs surgery, an operation used to remove skin cancer lesions. In that procedure, thin layers of skin are removed and examined under a microscope until the doctor sees no signs of skin cancer cells. It’s typically used to treat cancerous lesions that have returned after previous treatment, are fast-growing, or are in important areas like the face, hands or genitals.
In 2023, while president, Biden had a lesion removed from his chest, which later tested positive for basal cell carcinoma. At the time, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who served as Biden’s physician in the White House, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” and Biden would continue “dermatological surveillance.”
Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer. It’s slow-growing and usually curable.
Shocking health announcement coming from the Biden family. Former President Joe Biden diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. His personal office releasing this statement on Sunday saying Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for *** new finding of *** prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. By *** Gleason score of 9 with metastasis to the bone. While this represents *** more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone sensitive, which allows for effective management. The statement went on to say that the 82-year-old and his family are reviewing treatment options. The fact that we’re told that this is metastatic now, the 5 year survival rate on average is about 33%. So you know there are some people that do well and some people that don’t do well. The American Cancer Society estimates 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Because there’s such *** high volume, there’s *** lot of research dedicated to its treatment. Medical experts say cancer that has spread to *** patient’s bones can add further complications. Biden, as I said, has always lived his life. In the public eye and has always thought there was *** value in showing other people going through difficult times. His former Vice President Kamala Harris posting this on X. Joe is *** fighter, and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership. We are hopeful for *** full and speedy recovery. I’m Jen Sullivan reporting.
Former President Joe Biden has started radiation therapy as part of his treatment for prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president told CNN.Video above from May 2025: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer”As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said.The news was first reported by NBC News. A spokesperson for the former president, who turns 83 next month, did not give a timeline for the treatment.Biden’s personal office revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.”The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this,” Biden told CNN in his first comments about the diagnosis two weeks after he received it. “It’s not in any organ, it’s in – my bones are strong, it hadn’t penetrated. So, I’m feeling good.”He added that he had started a pill regimen to treat the cancer.Last month, Biden had Mohs surgery, an operation used to remove skin cancer lesions. In that procedure, thin layers of skin are removed and examined under a microscope until the doctor sees no signs of skin cancer cells. It’s typically used to treat cancerous lesions that have returned after previous treatment, are fast-growing, or are in important areas like the face, hands or genitals.In 2023, while president, Biden had a lesion removed from his chest, which later tested positive for basal cell carcinoma. At the time, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who served as Biden’s physician in the White House, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” and Biden would continue “dermatological surveillance.”Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer. It’s slow-growing and usually curable.
Former President Joe Biden has started radiation therapy as part of his treatment for prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president told CNN.
Video above from May 2025: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer
“As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said.
The news was first reported by NBC News. A spokesperson for the former president, who turns 83 next month, did not give a timeline for the treatment.
Biden’s personal office revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
“The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this,” Biden told CNN in his first comments about the diagnosis two weeks after he received it. “It’s not in any organ, it’s in – my bones are strong, it hadn’t penetrated. So, I’m feeling good.”
He added that he had started a pill regimen to treat the cancer.
Last month, Biden had Mohs surgery, an operation used to remove skin cancer lesions. In that procedure, thin layers of skin are removed and examined under a microscope until the doctor sees no signs of skin cancer cells. It’s typically used to treat cancerous lesions that have returned after previous treatment, are fast-growing, or are in important areas like the face, hands or genitals.
In 2023, while president, Biden had a lesion removed from his chest, which later tested positive for basal cell carcinoma. At the time, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who served as Biden’s physician in the White House, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” and Biden would continue “dermatological surveillance.”
Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer. It’s slow-growing and usually curable.
A man was arrested after an hours-long SWAT standoff in Huber Heights on Saturday, according to a spokesperson with the Huber Heights Police Department.
As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00 and 11:00, officers responded to Old Troy Pike and Coco Drive around 8:40 a.m. to meet with a domestic violence victim.
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News Center 7’s Malik Patterson said that SWAT trucks and officers were focused on a house on Powell Road.
The spokesperson said the incident allegedly happened at a house in the 4500 block of Powell Road.
Upon arrival, authorities learned that the victim had been assaulted at the house, and the suspect was still inside with her 18-month-old child.
Authorities went to the house on Powell Road to look for the suspect and child, but they found the front door barricaded.
“In consideration of the victim’s claims that the suspect had a history of violence, had access to a firearm, and the barricaded door, the regional SWAT team was dispatched to assist,” the spokesperson said.
News Center 7 crews watched as authorities forced entry into the house just before 12:30 p.m.
This came after authorities tried to contact the suspect several times.
“We found the alleged suspect hiding in the shed in the backyard,” said Tony Ashley, Huber Heights Police Deputy Chief. “We located the 18-month-old child inside the residence alone.”
They have since been reunited with their mother, the spokesperson said.
The suspect was found hiding in the backyard shed and has been taken into custody, the spokesperson added.
The only injuries in this incident were reported during the initial domestic violence call.
Huber Heights police have not identified the suspect in this incident; however, Montgomery County Jail records show that Troy Morgan, 32, was arrested at the same location at 12:30 p.m.
Morgan is booked into jail on suspicion of strangulation.
Supporters of the November ballot measure to reconfigure California’s congressional districts — an effort led by Gov. Gavin Newsom to help Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year — have far out-raised the opposition campaigns, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the state.
The primary group backing Proposition 50 raked in $77.5 million and spent $28.1 million through Sept. 20, according to a campaign finance report that was filed with the secretary of state’s office on Thursday.
The committee has $54.4 million in the bank for the final weeks of the campaign, so Californian should expect a blizzard of television ads, mailers, phone calls and other efforts to sway voters before the Nov. 4 special election.
The two main groups opposing the ballot measure have raised $35.3 million, spent $27.4 million and have roughly $8.8 million in the bank combined, campaign finance reports show.
Despite having an overwhelming financial advantage, the campaign supporting Proposition 50 has tried to portray itself as the underdog in a fight to raise money against opposition campaigns with ties to President Trump and his supporters.
“MAGA donors keep pouring millions into the campaign to stop Prop. 50 in the hopes of pleasing their ‘Dear Leader,’” said Hannah Milgrom, a spokesperson for the Yes on 50, the Election Rigging Response Act campaign. “We will not take our foot off the gas — Prop. 50 is America’s best chance to stop this reckless and dangerous president, and we will keep doing everything we can to ensure every Californian knows the stakes and is ready to vote yes on 50 this Nov. 4th.”
A spokesperson for one of the anti-Proposition 50 campaigns, which was sending mailers to voters even before the Democratic-led California Legislature placed Proposition 50 on the November ballot, said their priority was to help Californians understand the inappropriateness of redrawing congressional boundaries that had been created by a voter-approved, state independent commission.
“We started communicating with voters early about the consequences of having politicians draw their own lines,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for a coalition that opposes the ballot measure. “We are confident we’ll have the resources necessary to continue through election day.”
A spokesperson for the other main anti-Proposition 50 group agreed.
“When you’re selling a lemon, no amount of cash can change the taste. We’re confident in raising more than sufficient resources to expose Prop. 50 for the blatant political power grab that it is,” said Ellie Hockenbury, an advisor to the No on 50 – Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab campaign. Newsom “can’t change the fact that Prop. 50 is nothing more than a ploy for politicians to take the power of redistricting away from the voters and charge them for the privilege at a massive cost to taxpayers.”
The special election is expected to cost the state and the counties $282 million, according to the secretary of state’s office and the state department of finance.
If approved, Proposition 50 would have a major impact on California’s 2026 congressional elections, which will play a major role in determining whether Trump is able to continue enacting his agenda in the final two years of his tenure. The party that wins the White House frequently loses congressional seats two years later, and Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the House.
After Trump urged GOP-led states, notably Texas, to redraw their congressional districts to increase the number of Republicans elected to Congress in next year’s midterm election, Newsom and other California Democrats responded by proposing a counter-effort to boost the ranks of their party in the legislative body.
California’s congressional districts are drawn once every decade after the U.S. Census by a voter-approved independent redistricting commission. So Democrats’ proposal to replace the districts with new boundaries proposed by state lawmakers must be approved by voters. The state Legislature voted in August to put the measure before voters in a special election on Nov. 4.
Polling about the proposition is not definitive. It’s an off-year election, which means turnout is likely to be low and the electorate is unpredictable. And relatively few Californians pay attention to redistricting, the esoteric process of redrawing congressional districts.
There are more than 30 campaign committees associated with Proposition 50 registered with the secretary of state’s office, but only three have raised large amounts of money.
Newsom’s pro-Proposition 50 effort has received several large donations since its launch, including $10 million from billionaire financier George Soros, $7.6 million from House Majority PAC (the Democrats’ congressional political arm) and $4.5 million from various Service Employees International Union groups. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife have contributed $1 million to a separate committee supporting the proposition.
The opposition groups had few small-dollar donors and were largely funded by two sources — $30 million in loans from Charles Munger Jr., who for years has been a major Republican donor in California, and a $5-million donation from the Congressional Leadership Fund, the GOP political arm of House Republicans.
An Ohio man learned how long he will spend behind bars for robbing an informant, according to a spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio.
Carl P. Lewis, 28, of Cleveland, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges in May.
Those charges include robbing mail, money, or other property of the United States, using or carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and felon in possession of a firearm, according to the spokesperson.
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Lewis will be on parole for five years after he is released.
Court documents show that Lewis was texting a confidential informant with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) about a firearms sale in October 2024.
The spokesperson said the two men agreed to meet at a pre-determined location for the transaction.
Lewis met with the informant and demanded $2,500 cash for the guns, according to court documents.
The informant asked to see the guns first, so Lewis went inside to get them.
However, Lewis “became agitated” and threatened violence, the spokesperson said.
The two men began to struggle for control of the guns.
At this time, another man inside the house came outside and pointed a gun with an attached laser beam at the informant.
Lewis took the $2,500 cash from the informant, according to court documents.
Investigators said the entire incident was captured on video.
Lewis was later arrested, charged, and found in possession of a rifle and two pistols, according to the spokesperson.
A small airplane with three people on board is in Lake Michigan following a mid-flight problem after departing from Milwaukee and heading to Michigan, an airport spokesperson said.
The U.S. Coast Guard and other rescue and dive teams are responding to the incident which occurred about 20 miles east of Bender Park at about 12:37 p.m., a spokesperson for Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport said in an email.
The plane left the airport at about 12:17 p.m. and was headed to Michigan, before the problem occurred and the plane “ended up” in the water, the spokesperson said.
No details on the nature of the emergency are known at this time, the spokesperson said.
The plane was a Cirrus SR22 aircraft, which is a small single-engine propeller plane, the spokesperson said.
The U.S. Coast Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the rescue operation.
This is a breaking story and it will be updated with new information.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, a shocking act of political violence that brought widespread condemnation.
The gunman is believed to have killed Kirk from at least 200 feet away using some type of sniper rifle, law enforcement sources told The Times.
Police briefly detained two suspects, but both were determined to be unconnected to the attack and released. The manhunt for the shooter continued Wednesday night.
Videos shared on social media show Kirk sitting under a white canopy, speaking to hundreds of people through a microphone, when a loud pop is heard; he suddenly falls back, blood gushing from his neck.
Before he was shot, he was asked about mass shootings.
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“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” an audience member asks.
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk responds.
Almost immediately, Kirk is shot in the neck. One video shows blood pouring from the wound. As the crowd realizes what has taken place, people are heard screaming and running away.
A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that a bullet struck Kirk’s carotid artery.
Charlie Kirk speaks before his fatal shooting Wednesday at Utah Valley University.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News )
The killing was captured on videos in graphic detail from several angles. The videos were widely shared across the internet. Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, said authorities were analyzing campus security video that showed a suspect in dark clothing who may have shot at Kirk from a roof.
The shooting comes a year after a would-be assassin wounded President Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and amid an era of increasing political divisions.
He said the rhetoric of the radical left is “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.” He did not mention recent acts of political violence against Democratic lawmakers.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, called Wednesday’s attack a political assassination and warned that authorities would find the person responsible and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
“I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here,” Cox said at a news conference.
“We desperately need our country,” he said. “We desperately need leaders in our country, but more than the leaders, we just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be and to ask ourselves — is this it?”
Kirk, a conservative political activist, was in Utah for his American Comeback Tour, which was holding its first stop at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Jeffrey Long, chief of the university’s Police Department, said that six of the force’s officers, including some plainclothes officers, were working with members of Kirk’s personal security team to manage safety at the public outdoor event, which drew a crowd of more than 3,000 people.
“You try to get your bases covered,” Long said at a news conference. “And unfortunately today we didn’t, and because of that we have this tragic incident.”
Shortly after the shooting, police took an initial suspect, George Zinn, into custody. However, Zinn did not match the identity of the shooting suspect, Mason said. Zinn was later released after being booked by Utah Valley University police on suspicion of obstruction of justice.
A few hours later, police took a second suspect, Zachariah Qureshi, into custody and released him after interrogation, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
At this time, authorities believe only one person was involved in the attack, Cox said.
Law enforcement was continuing to examine the crime scene at the university and the locations where Kirk traveled, according to the Public Safety Department. No further information on the current suspect was shared.
The tour, as with many of Kirk’s events, had drawn both supporters and protesters. Kirk’s wife and children were at the university when he was shot, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted on X.
Kirk, 31, was one of the Republican Party’s most influential power brokers.
The founder of the influential conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, Kirk had a vast online reach: 1.6 million followers on Rumble, 3.8 million subscribers on YouTube, 5.2 million followers on X and 7.3 million followers on TikTok.
During the 2024 election, he rallied his online followers to support Trump, prompting conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly to say: “It’s not an understatement to say that this man is responsible for helping the Republicans win back the White House and the U.S. Senate.”
Just after Trump was elected for a second time to the presidency in November, Kirk frequently posted to social media from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he had firsthand influence over which MAGA loyalists Trump named to his Cabinet.
Kirk was known for melding his conservative politics, nationalism and evangelical faith, casting the current political climate as a state of spiritual warfare between a righteous right wing and so-called godless liberals.
At a Turning Point event on the Salt Lake City campus of Awaken Church in 2023, he said that gun violence was worth the price of upholding the right to bear arms.
“I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the 2nd Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” he said. “That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”
He also previously declared that God was on the side of American conservatives and that there was “no separation of church and state.” In a speech to Trump supporters in Georgia last year, he said that “the Democrat Party supports everything that God hates” and that “there is a spiritual battle happening all around us.”
Kirk was also known for his memes and college campus speaking tours meant to “own the libs.” Videos of his debates with liberal college students have racked up tens of millions of views.
The shooting drew immediate words of support and calls for prayers for Kirk from America’s leading conservative politicians.
“Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father,” Vice President JD Vance posted on X.
Crowd members react after Charlie Kirk’s shooting at Utah Valley University.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
Leading Democrats also moved swiftly to condemn the attack.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X. “In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.”
Gabrielle Giffords, a former Arizona congresswoman who survived a political assassination attempt in 2011 and is a gun violence prevention advocate, said on X that she was horrified to hear that Kirk was shot.
“Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence,” she wrote.
Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia, has written a forthcoming book about Christian nationalism that prominently features Kirk and his influence. The book, “The Seven Mountains Mandate,” comes out Sept. 30.
“Today is a tragedy,” Boedy said in an interview with The Times on Wednesday. “It is a red flag for our nation.”
Boedy said the shooting — following the two assassination attempts against Trump on the campaign trail last year — was a tragic reminder of “just how divisive we have become.”
In June, a man posing as a police officer fatally shot Minnesota state House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home in an incident that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called “a politically motivated assassination.”
Another Democratic lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, were also injured at their residence less than 10 miles away.
In April, a shooter set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, forcing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family to flee during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
In July 2024, Trump survived a hail of bullets, one of which grazed his ear, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Two months later, a man with a rifle was arrested by Secret Service agents after he was spotted amid shrubs near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course.
Kirk’s presence at the Utah campus was preceded by petitions and protests. But, Boedy noted, that was typical with his appearances.
“Charlie Kirk is, I would say, the most influential person who doesn’t work in the White House,” he said.
Kirk reached a vast array of demographics, Boedy said, through his radio show and social media accounts and was “in conversation with President Trump a lot.”
He had said his melding in recent years of faith and politics was influenced by Rob McCoy, the pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park in Ventura County. Kirk called McCoy, who often spoke at his events, his personal pastor.
Boedy said McCoy turned Kirk toward Christian nationalism, specifically the Seven Mountains Mandate — the idea that Christians should try to hold sway over the seven pillars of cultural influence: arts and entertainment, business, education, family, government, media and religion.
Kirk “turned Turning Point USA into an arm of Christian nationalism,” Boedy said. “There’s a strategy called the Seven Mountains Mandate, and he has put his TPUSA money into each of those.”
Kirk was a vocal 2nd Amendment supporter, and Boedy said that the shooting probably would further the desire among his conservative followers who tout the idea of having good guys with guns “to have more guns everywhere, which is sad.”
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
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Ruben Vives, Richard Winton, Hailey Branson-Potts, Jenny Jarvie, Clara Harter
A group of healthcare workers in Santa Barbara were fired on Wednesday after a video apparently showing patients’ bodily fluids was posted on TikTok, according to their employer.
The now-deleted post, made by a former employee at Sansum Clinic — a nonprofit outpatient care facility owned by Sutter Health — showed eight workers mocking what appeared to be the bodily fluid of patients on exam tables with the on-screen caption, “Are patients allowed to leave you guys gifts?” and “Make sure you leave your healthcare workers sweet gifts like these!” In one image, the medical staff are seen pointing and smiling at a spot with their thumbs up. The caption reads, “Guess the substance!”
A spokesperson for Sacramento-based health system Sutter Health said that, although the original poster was not an employee at the time the video was posted, others who appeared in it had been terminated.
“This unacceptable behavior is an outright violation of our policies, shows a lack of respect for our patients and will not be tolerated,” the company said in a statement shared with The Times.
The video spread over the weekend on platforms including X, Instagram and Reddit, sparking an outpouring of anger among commenters along the way.
“No place for shaming the patient in medicine,” one user on Reddit wrote.
“My question is what is the culture of your clinic because why did this many employees feel comfortable participating in this?” another user inquired on Instagram.
According to an online statement from Sansum Clinic, officials were notified of the post by concerned patients and immediately conducted a review of the video.
“Within 24 hours of becoming aware of the posts, we placed the employees on administrative leave, and within another 24 hours, we terminated those involved,” the health system posted.
The video was deleted soon after it was posted once commenters questioned the participants’ ethics. But it was reposted by multiple other accounts and disseminated further through “stitches” of individuals reacting to the post on TikTok and other platforms.
A Sansum spokesperson said the clinic remained steadfastly committed to patient privacy and dignity.
“We expect all team members to live our patients-first mission and uphold the highest standards of compassion, professionalism and respect,” he said. “We are using this inappropriate incident to reinforce our comprehensive policies with all our team members across the organization.”
Rudy Giuliani is recovering from a fractured vertebra and other injuries following a car crash in New Hampshire in which he was a passenger, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said Sunday.Giuliani was being driven in a rented Ford Bronco by his spokesperson Ted Goodman when their vehicle was struck from behind by a Honda HR-V driven by a 19-year-old woman late Saturday evening, New Hampshire State Police said in a statement.Troopers witnessed the crash, which caused both vehicles to hit the highway median and left them “heavily damaged,” state police said. Goodman and the 19-year-old suffered “non-life-threatening injuries” and were taken to hospitals for treatment, the agency added.State police said they are investigating the crash and no charges have been filed.Giuliani, 81, was taken to a nearby trauma center and was being treated for a fractured thoracic vertebra, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg, according to a statement posted on X by Michael Ragusa, Giuliani’s head of security.Giuliani “sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Ragusa said, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”Prior to the accident, Giuliani had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police assistance on her behalf, Ragusa said. After police arrived, Giuliani continued on his way and his vehicle was hit shortly after pulling onto the highway in a crash that was “entirely unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Ragusa told The Associated Press in an emailed statement.State police said troopers were investigating a domestic violence report on the southbound Interstate 93 highway shortly before 10 p.m. and observed the crash, which occurred on the northbound lanes. Troopers and fire personnel quickly crossed to provide help.New Hampshire State Police declined to comment on whether Giuliani had contacted the agency regarding the account of a domestic violence incident.Goodman did not respond to requests for comment and Giuliani’s team did not provide additional details about the circumstances surrounding the crash.“Thank you to all the people that have reached out since learning the news about my Father,” Andrew Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani’s son, wrote in post on X. “Your prayers mean the world.”The crash follows some rocky years for the onetime Republican presidential candidate, who was dubbed “America’s mayor” in light of his leadership in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.Giuliani later became President Donald Trump’s personal attorney for a time and a vocal proponent of Trump’s allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.Two former Georgia elections workers later won a $148 million defamation judgment against Giuliani. As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court and faced a trial this winter over the ownership of some of his assets. He ultimately struck a deal that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers. ____Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz in New York City contributed to this report.
Rudy Giuliani is recovering from a fractured vertebra and other injuries following a car crash in New Hampshire in which he was a passenger, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said Sunday.
Giuliani was being driven in a rented Ford Bronco by his spokesperson Ted Goodman when their vehicle was struck from behind by a Honda HR-V driven by a 19-year-old woman late Saturday evening, New Hampshire State Police said in a statement.
Troopers witnessed the crash, which caused both vehicles to hit the highway median and left them “heavily damaged,” state police said. Goodman and the 19-year-old suffered “non-life-threatening injuries” and were taken to hospitals for treatment, the agency added.
State police said they are investigating the crash and no charges have been filed.
Giuliani, 81, was taken to a nearby trauma center and was being treated for a fractured thoracic vertebra, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg, according to a statement posted on X by Michael Ragusa, Giuliani’s head of security.
Giuliani “sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Ragusa said, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”
Prior to the accident, Giuliani had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police assistance on her behalf, Ragusa said. After police arrived, Giuliani continued on his way and his vehicle was hit shortly after pulling onto the highway in a crash that was “entirely unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Ragusa told The Associated Press in an emailed statement.
State police said troopers were investigating a domestic violence report on the southbound Interstate 93 highway shortly before 10 p.m. and observed the crash, which occurred on the northbound lanes. Troopers and fire personnel quickly crossed to provide help.
New Hampshire State Police declined to comment on whether Giuliani had contacted the agency regarding the account of a domestic violence incident.
Goodman did not respond to requests for comment and Giuliani’s team did not provide additional details about the circumstances surrounding the crash.
“Thank you to all the people that have reached out since learning the news about my Father,” Andrew Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani’s son, wrote in post on X. “Your prayers mean the world.”
The crash follows some rocky years for the onetime Republican presidential candidate, who was dubbed “America’s mayor” in light of his leadership in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
Giuliani later became President Donald Trump’s personal attorney for a time and a vocal proponent of Trump’s allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.
Two former Georgia elections workers later won a $148 million defamation judgment against Giuliani. As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court and faced a trial this winter over the ownership of some of his assets. He ultimately struck a deal that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers.
____
Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz in New York City contributed to this report.
Video shows a boy walking on the monorail tracks at Hersheypark before being rescued by an adult.Watch the video in the player above.The video, sent to sister station WGAL, shows a panicked crowd trying to direct the child to a nearby roof, where a man is waiting to grab him.The man then hops up on the monorail from the roof of the nearby building, picks up the boy and carries him to safety. The child was reported missing around 5:05 p.m. Saturday after becoming separated from his parents, according to a statement from a spokesperson for Hersheypark. While employees were searching for the boy, he entered a secured area for the monorail and remained there for almost 20 minutes before briefly walking along the track. The monorail was not in operation, and the ride was chained off as the child walked on the tracks, according to the park. The park said a guest quickly noticed the child walking on the tracks and helped the child off the track to safety.
HERSHEY, Pa. —
Video shows a boy walking on the monorail tracks at Hersheypark before being rescued by an adult.
Watch the video in the player above.
The video, sent to sister station WGAL, shows a panicked crowd trying to direct the child to a nearby roof, where a man is waiting to grab him.
The man then hops up on the monorail from the roof of the nearby building, picks up the boy and carries him to safety.
The child was reported missing around 5:05 p.m. Saturday after becoming separated from his parents, according to a statement from a spokesperson for Hersheypark.
While employees were searching for the boy, he entered a secured area for the monorail and remained there for almost 20 minutes before briefly walking along the track.
The monorail was not in operation, and the ride was chained off as the child walked on the tracks, according to the park.
The park said a guest quickly noticed the child walking on the tracks and helped the child off the track to safety.
Millions of dollars began flowing into campaigns supporting and opposing an effort to redraw California’s congressional districts on the November ballot, notably $10 million from independent redistricting champion Charles Munger Jr.
The checks, reported Friday in state campaign finance disclosures, were made on Thursday, the day the state Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom called a special election to replace the congressional districts drawn by an independent commission in 2021 with new districts that would boost the number of Democrats elected to Congress in next year’s midterm election.
Munger, a GOP donor and the son of a billionaire who was Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, bankrolled the 2010 ballot measure that created independent congressional redistricting in California. He donated $10 million to the “No on Prop. 50 – Protect Voters First” campaign,” which opposes the proposed redistricting.
“Charles Munger Jr. is making good on his promise to defend the reforms he passed,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for the Voters First Coalition, which opposes the ballot measure and includes Munger.
A spokesperson for the campaign supporting the redrawing of congressional boundaries accused Munger of trying to boost the GOP under the guise of supporting independent redistricting.
“It’s no surprise that a billionaire who has given extensively to help Republicans take the house and [former Republican House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy would be joining forces to help Donald Trump steal five House seats and rig the 2026 midterm before a single American has voted,” said Hannah Milgrom, spokesperson for “Yes on 50: the Election Rigging Response Act.” “Prop 50 is America’s best chance to fight back – vote yes on November. 4.”
The campaign backing the ballot measure received $1 million on Thursday from a powerful labor group, SEIU’s state council; $300,000 from businessman Andrew Hauptman; and a flurry of other donations, according to the California secretary of state’s office. That is on top of the $5.8 million the campaign reported having in the bank as of July 30, including millions of dollars in contributions from House Majority PAC, which is focused on electing Democrats to Congress, and Newsom’s 2022 gubernatorial reelection campaign.
Redistricting typically happens once a decade after the U.S. census. Trump asked Texas lawmakers to redraw their congressional districts earlier this year, arguing that the GOP was entitled to five more members from the state. In response, California Democrats have pitched new district boundaries that could result in five more Democrats being elected to Congress.
A man was in critical condition after allegedly fatally shooting a woman in Lancaster early Sunday, then attempting suicide, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The pair were described only as male and female Hispanic adults. The man confronted the woman in another man’s Lancaster home, according to a statement released Sunday by the Sheriff’s Department. The suspect shot one round into the home; no one was injured.
The suspect and the woman, “who are believed to be an estranged couple,” according to the department’s statement, left the home together in the woman’s vehicle. They got into an argument and stopped the vehicle at East Avenue H and Challenger Way in Lancaster.
About 12:30 a.m. Sunday, they stepped out of the vehicle as they continued arguing. The suspect shot and killed the woman before driving away in her vehicle, leaving her body behind, the statement said.
At 2:09 a.m., the suspect drove to Palmdale, where he shot himself inside the victim’s vehicle outside the home of a member of her family, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The suspect was treated for an apparent gunshot wound at a nearby hospital. He was listed in critical condition, a sheriff’s spokesperson said Sunday evening. The spokesperson said no additional information about the incident was being released yet, including the identities of the suspect and the victim.
The Sheriff’s Department statement said homicide investigators continued to investigate the incident.
The department urged anyone with information about the incident to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
Authorities have euthanized all 13 pit bulls that were found in a Compton man’s backyard, where he was mauled to death last week.
The dogs — five adult pit bulls and eight puppies — were all put down “due to evidence linking them to the attack,” according to a statement from Don Belton, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control.
“Given the potential threat they posed to the community, this action was deemed necessary,” Belton said. He didn’t immediately respond to questions about what evidence led to the decision.
Deputy Miesha McClendon, a spokesperson for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, said there were no updates in the case Tuesday night but that the decision to euthanize the dogs was made by Animal Care and Control.
Initially, deputies said the dogs’ owner had been mauled by one or more of his pit bulls.
The owner was identified as 35-year-old Dominic Cooper, according to KTLA-TV Channel 5.
Deputies and firefighters responded to a call about a person who appeared to have been attacked by his dog on North Thorson Avenue in Compton early Friday, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Upon arriving, they encountered the 13 dogs. Sheriff’s investigators initially said it appeared that Cooper had been feeding them when he was attacked.
Animal control officials said he appeared to have been involved in breeding and selling pit bulls.
Animal control later took them all of the dogs into custody with the consent of Cooper’s father, according to the agency.
Times saff writer Karen Garcia contributed to this report.
ORLAND HILLS, Ill. — Eight people were injured on Sunday afternoon after a car crashed into a hair salon in the south suburbs.
According to a spokesperson for the Village of Orland Hills, crews with the Orland Fire Protection District (OFPD) were called to the scene of the crash that occurred at a Sports Clips in the 9200 block of South 159th Street around 2 p.m.
After arriving on the scene, crews found that a car had driven through the salon’s south-facing wall.
After the crash, the driver then allegedly backed out of the salon and hit several parked cars.
Photos provided by the Orland Fire Protection District show the damage left behind after the crash.
Officials say during the crash, several people who were inside the salon were hit by the car.
Eight people in total were injured in the crash. Among those injured, four were taken to the hospital, including the driver, while four others received treatment at the scene.
Officials say the condition of the victims is currently unclear, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Currently, it is unclear what led to the crash and an investigation by the Orland Hills Police Department is underway.
Miriam del Carmen Ramirez was walking back into the carrot fields in New Cuyama after a brief work break, and looked over her shoulder to check on her mother, who was just a few yards behind.
As a crew of about 60 workers were headed back to finish picking the field, she heard the engine of a truck nearby, then panicked yelling.
“You could hear people screaming, and I couldn’t see my mom,” the 24-year-old farmworker said.
A truck driver driving in reverse had struck her mother, Rosa Miriam Sanchez, 58, prompting workers to scream for the driver to stop. Ramirez said she ran to her mother, who died in her arms as she called 911 for help.
As tragic as the death was, witnesses told The Times that they were further incensed when the workers at Grimmway Farms were told to finish picking the carrot fields while Sanchez’s body lay under a blanket a few feet away and authorities inquired about the incident.
The Sept. 20 accident in Santa Barbara County has prompted an investigation by Grimmway Farms and Cal/OSHA — the state agency that regulates workplace safety. But farmworkers say they also want an investigation into supervisors’ decision to order laborers to finish picking carrots while Sanchez’s body still lay in the dirt. Some workers said the incident had left them shaken, and some have chosen to look for other work rather than return to the farm.
“I don’t know who gave that order for them to continue working, but I found it extremely disrespectful, and that specific order just proved that they don’t care about us for nothing,” said Ernesto Perez, a farmworker who saw what happened and ran over to help Sanchez. “Even a worker losing their their life wasn’t going to stop them from finishing the work. We’re just a piece of trash for them.”
In a statement, Grimmway Farms said it was conducting an internal investigation into the circumstances of Sanchez’s death, as well as reviewing why workers returned to work after the crash. But President and Chief Executive Jeff Huckaby said in the statement that the company did not believe the directive to keep working was made by Grimmway Farms.
“We are heartbroken by Ms. Sanchez’s death and for all those impacted by this accident,” the statement read. “Based on early findings from our ongoing internal investigations, we do not believe a directive was made by Grimmway to continue work on the day of the accident. However, it is evident that work should have ceased immediately.”
An investigation by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office determined that the crash was an accident, a spokesperson for the agency told The Times.
But Ramirez and other farmworkers are calling for an investigation into how the incident was handled. They are also demanding an inquiry into safety concerns that they had about the truck and the driver involved, and why workers were told to finish picking the carrot field with Sanchez’s body nearby.
A spokesperson for Cal/OSHA confirmed the agency had opened an investigation into the incident. The agency has also opened inspections of the contractors involved, including Esparza Enterprises Inc., which hired the workers, and M & M Labor Inc., which hired the unidentified driver. The agency would not confirm details of the investigation.
As with many commercial farms in the country, Grimmway often uses labor provided by a network of contractors that hire the employees to work on the farms.
Those contractors, such as in Sanchez’s case, often supervise and direct the workers while they’re in the field. Ramirez said she and her mom had been working at Grimmway Farms since May under the supervision of Esparza Enterprises.
Representatives of Esparza Enterprises and M & M Labor did not return calls seeking comment for this story.
Video taken by farmworkers shows a body covered by a blanket behind a flat-bed truck. A few feet away, workers are seen bent over in the field, picking carrots from the dirt.
“They went back to work right away,” Ramirez said. “My mom was right next to it, but a different crew went over and finished that piece.”
One witness said one of Sanchez’s co-workers walked over at one point and put a cross on her covered body.
A spokesperson for Grimmway Farms said that the company had no confirmation from its internal review that people were instructed to continue working, but added that the farm was considering new communications training and procedures “to ensure this does not happen again.”
“In the tragedy of the moment, while help was being called, aid was being rendered, and the scene was being secured so investigations could be conducted, we regret that a formal announcement was not made immediately that all work should be stopped in the field,” the spokesperson said.
One farmworker, who witnessed the incident and asked not to be identified for fear of losing her job, told The Times that one of the work crews was asked to finish picking the field that Sanchez and her crew had been tasked with that day. The second crew was told that if they declined, a different crew would replace them to finish the field.
“That same day, they proved that even if you lose your life, they’re going to continue,” Perez said. “As long as we make them money, they don’t care about us.”
Perez and Ramirez said workers had aired safety concerns about the truck and the driver to supervisors before the accident, including worries that the truck did not sound an audio alert when it was driving in reverse, and concerns that the driver drove down the field at high speeds.
The truck routinely drives near farmworkers on the field, picking up crates of carrots as the laborers move down the field, workers said.
The three farmworkers who spoke with The Times said workers had also aired concerns about the driver hitting things in the past, including water jugs and the mirror of a tractor.
A spokesperson for Grimmway Farms said the company was unaware of any previous concerns about the driver.
“To our knowledge, concerns regarding the driver were never relayed to the Grimmway safety department or leadership,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Our investigation is ongoing, and we will take appropriate actions based on the findings.”
Grimmway farms is also working with the contractor that employed the unidentified driver, Garcia Trucking and its affiliate M & M Trucking, to install cameras and alarms on the vehicles, the spokesperson said.
Perez said that when he saw the truck run over Sanchez on Sept. 20, about seven people nearby began to yell at the driver to stop.
“When I saw her, I started freaking out,” he said of Sanchez.
The driver stopped, Perez said, and then drove the truck forward, running over Sanchez a second time.
“She passed right there on the filed,” Perez said. “There was no way to help her.”
The driver no longer drives for Garcia Trucking and is not permitted to drive on Grimmway Farms property, the farm spokesperson said.
Perez said that the incident left him shaken and that he had not returned to work for the contractor since, even though he’s struggling to find ways to make a living.
He had grown close to Sanchez over the years, he said, carpooling to the fields at times. When his mother died, Perez said, Sanchez helped him through his grief.
“She had her own way of showing you her love,” he said. “She always spoke her mind, like my mother. She didn’t let anyone give her [grief], and I liked that.”
Her death has been devastating, but seeing workers ordered to finish harvesting the field while her body was still lying on the ground has left him angry, he said.
“They didn’t value her life for anything — it was like roadkill for them,” he said. “I can’t go back. After seeing that, I can’t go back to that.”
Instead, he’s picked up odd jobs in construction.
Since her mother’s death, Ramirez said, she too has stopped working for the contractor. She has returned to the fields for work, but she and her younger brother are now saving money to move away from the area.
“We’re going to try to move,” she said, “and just live as normally as we can.”
A high-level aide to Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez resigned from his post Friday after facing criticism for making Holocaust jokes about the comedian Amy Schumer on social media.
Josh Androsky, senior advisor to Soto-Martínez, took part in an exchange on X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier in the day that featured puns about concentration camps and what appeared to be disparaging remarks about Schumer’s weight.
By the end of the day, the messages from Androsky, who has worked as a political consultant for at least three of the council’s 15 members, had been condemned by an array of civic leaders, including Mayor Karen Bass.
“The anti-Semitic and misogynistic comments made today were reprehensible, disgusting and dangerous and in no way represent the city family,” Bass said in a statement issued just before midnight. “Especially now, City Hall must be a beacon of hope, not hate. I’m glad the staffer responsible has resigned.”
Soto-Martínez, in a separate statement, called the posts from his employee “disturbing and reprehensible.”
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“With antisemitism on the rise in recent years and especially in recent weeks, cracking jokes about the holocaust isn’t just disgusting, it’s dangerous,” said Soto-Martínez, who chairs the council’s civil rights committee. “These antisemitic and misogynistic posts sickened me, and I have accepted his resignation effective immediately.”
The Androsky incident appeared to have begun Friday morning, when the social media account for TrueAnon, a podcast, took aim at Schumer, who had posted a political cartoon derided as offensive to Palestinians living in Gaza and to protesters seeking to end the bloodshed there.
The TrueAnon account wrote that Schumer, who frequently posts about the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, is “particularly sensitive to Jewish deaths due to her experience in the holocaust.”
“The nazis named a concentration camp after her. It was called Da Cow,” the TrueAnon account wrote, offering a pun on Dachau, where more than 40,000 prisoners were killed, according to some estimates.
Androsky, a onetime comedian who is Jewish himself, responded by saying “it’s f— up that you would say this about her when you know it was actually Cowschwitz.”
Later, in an apparent reference to a sprawling cattle farm near the 5 Freeway, Androsky took another dig at Schumer, writing: “I called it cowschwitz!!! either way they all (and amy) smelled the same.”
Androsky did not respond to multiple inquiries from The Times. He initially deleted his posts, then his entire account.
Schumer has not publicly commented on the controversy. She described her Jewish heritage in one recent Instagram post, mentioning a relative who had “numbers from Auschwitz burned into his forearm.” In another, she apologized for making “hurtful” remarks about Gazans, promising to “be more careful.”
The reaction to Androsky’s posts was swift among L.A.’s Jewish community leaders.
Jake Flynn, a spokesperson for Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, said his boss had seen Androsky’s messages and was “appalled.” Sam Yebri, an activist who sits on the board of the legal services nonprofit Bet Tzedek, called the posts distasteful and antisemitic.
“The fact that a city employee felt it was OK to make these words in a public forum, with such utter disregard for any consequences, is shameful,” he said in an interview.
Androsky, an outspoken progressive, has been heavily involved in city politics in recent years, working as a consultant for the campaign of Councilmember Nithya Raman in 2020 and Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez last year.
Soto-Martínez paid Androsky’s political consulting firm, Bright Future LA, nearly $108,000 for services performed as part of last year’s council campaign, according to Ethics Commission records. He also worked on the unsuccessful council bid of attorney Erin Darling on the Westside.
Androsky left Bright Future LA when he took a job with Soto-Martínez, according to Anne Freiermuth, who is currently listed on state business forms as a manager or member of that firm.
Androsky has long been known for his glib takes on social media. In February 2022, as Russia’s military was launching its invasion of Ukraine, he posted on Twitter: “Putin’s bad, NATO’s bad, but the vibes here at buca di beppo? pretty good!”
In 2017, Androsky tweeted a joke about Bill Cosby that was denounced by some as insensitive to victims of sexual assault. He issued an apology and announced he was “stepping back” from his work with the L.A. chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, according to an archived DSA post.
Naomi Goldman, a onetime spokesperson for former Councilmember Mike Bonin, said Friday on her own social media account that Androsky’s career should be placed “on the no-fly list.”
“I would have vastly preferred to see Josh Androsky swiftly fired by [Soto-Martínez] with a strong leadership stance vs letting him decide his own outcome,” she wrote. “But at least he is gone from City Hall.”
A new subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly taking over in the U.S.—the most transmissible that has ever been detected. It’s called XBB.1.5, in reference to its status as a hybrid of two prior strains of Omicron, BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75. It’s also called “Kraken.”
Not by everyone, though. The nickname Kraken was ginned up by an informal group of scientists on Twitter and has caught on at some—but only some—major news outlets. As one evolutionary virologist told The Atlantic earlier this week, the name—at first glance, a reference to a folkloric sea monster—“seems obviously intended to scare the shit out of people” and serves no substantive purpose for communicating science.
Yes, Kraken is klickbait. It’s arbitrary, unofficial, and untethered to specific facts of evolution or epidemiology—a desperate play to get attention. And mazel tov for that. We should all rejoice at this stupid name’s arrival. Long live the Kraken! May XBB.1.5 sink into the sea.
Since Omicron spread around the world in the fall of 2021, we’ve been subject to a stultifying slew of jargon from the health authorities: Miniature waves of new infections keep lapping at our shores, while the names of the Omicron subvariants that produce them slop together in a cryptic muck: XBB.1.5 has overtaken BA.5 in recent weeks, and also BF.7, as well as BQ.1 and BQ.1.1; in China, BA.5.2 is quickly spreading too. One might ask, without a shred of undue panic, how worried we should be—but the naming scheme itself precludes an answer. You don’t even need to ask, it says. You’ll never fully understand.
This isn’t subtext; it’s explicit. A spokesperson for the World Health Organization told my colleague Jacob Stern that people should be grateful for the arcane pronouncements of our leading international consortia. “The public doesn’t need to distinguish between these Omicron subvariants in order to better understand their risk or the measures they need to take to protect themselves,” he said. “If there is a new variant that requires public communication and discourse, it would be designated a new variant of concern and assigned a new label.” In other words: None of what we’re seeing now is bad enough to merit much attention. You don’t need to make any brand-new precautions, so we don’t need to talk about it.
The public may not need to draw distinctions. But do those distinctions really need to be obscured? A different set of names, one that isn’t precision-engineered to harpoon people’s interest, wouldn’t have to fool us into feeling false alarm. It’s not as though our habit of assigning common names to storms leads to widespread panic starting every summer. When Hurricane Earl appeared last September, no one rushed into a bunker just because they knew what it was called. Then Ian came a few weeks later, and millions evacuated.
Granted, Kraken sounds a bit more ominous than Earl. (Of all the labels that could be given to the latest version of a deadly virus, it’s not the best.) But the name is more befuddling than terrifying: a nitwitted reference, somehow, to ferocity, absurdity, and conspiratorial delusion all at once. Even so, a silly name still has the virtue of being a name, while a string of numbers and letters is just an entry in a database. Kraken doesn’t care if you’re afraid of COVID, and it doesn’t mind if you’re indifferent. It only wishes to be understood.
Isn’t that important? A proper name eases conversation (wherever that might lead), and makes it possible to talk about what matters (and what doesn’t). Just try telling the public that Hurricane Earl will be no big deal but Ian is a mortal threat, if instead of “Earl” and “Ian” you had to say “BA.2.12.1” and “B.1.1.529.” The committee that names our storms is chasing clouds instead of clout; it knows that branding efforts make it easier for everyone to stay informed. We might have done the same for SARS-CoV-2, and handed out simple, easy-to-remember names for all the leading Omicron subvariants. (Through 2021, we used Greek letters to describe each major variant.) If Kraken seems alarmist now, that’s because we’re living in a different, dumber timeline, where public legibility has been forbidden. Why give this subvariant a name, the global health officials ask, when it isn’t really that much worse than any other? But that’s a problem of their own creation. If Kraken seems too gaudy, that’s because every other recent name has been too drab.
Having useful, catchy names doesn’t mean avoiding all abstraction. Florida residents were glad to know, last fall, which hurricanes were Category 2 and which were Category 5; and it may be just as useful to remind yourself that Kraken is not now, of its own accord, a “variant of concern,” let alone a “variant of high consequence.” Our trust in those distinctions is a product of their formality: A special group of experts has decided which public threats are the most important. The Kraken name, if it continues to spread, could undermine this useful sense of deference—and leave us in an awkward free-for-all where anyone could give a name to any variant at any time.
For the moment, though, our only recourse is to the numbing nomenclature that is now in place, and to the creaking bureaucracy that delivers it. Any other name for XBB.1.5—any better one than Kraken—would have to come from the WHO, an organization that recently spent five months rebranding monkeypox as “mpox” and that has warned that disease names like “paralytic shellfish poisoning” are unduly stigmatizing to shellfish. Kraken has the crucial benefit of being right in front of us. It’s a stupid name, but it’s a name—and names are good.
Barbara McKay, former WBTV personality, released her new food memoir that details life moments and recipes.
Press Release –
Oct 18, 2021
CHARLOTTE, N.C., October 18, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Barbara McKay, former WBTV personality, released her first food memoir, Coming Home: Recipes and Reflections from a Life in the Spotlight, on Oct. 13, published by SPARK Publications. Barbara McKay is one of Charlotte’s most popular and recognizable media personalities.
This book showcases her life in the spotlight and the recipes for food (and life) she learned along the way. Her love of food opened doors to travel the world and meet movie stars and royalty, but it also kept her grounded to home and family. Barbara shares her love for food, life, and her deep faith.
The book includes:
272 full-color pages
Hundreds of full-color photos detailing Barbara’s life and food recipes
Moments from the spotlight during Barbara McKay’s WBTV days
Important life events and lessons learned
127 recipes
“This book is a compilation and celebration of the many great people I’ve met, the blessings of so many experiences, and the recipes loved and requested by family, friends, and fans,” Barbara said.
Barbara’s fans and colleagues are already sharing rave reviews of the book.
“While this appears to be a beautiful book with delectable recipes and stories about Barbara McKay’s incredible career, it’s so much more than that. Coming Home is the primer on how to live an extraordinary life with grace, wit, charm, style, tenacity, and mountains of hard work. Only Barbara could do it all so beautifully and make it look so darn simple.” – Laura Vinroot Poole, Owner, Capitol
“Barbara’s story is a joyful, life-affirming reminder that when we share our truest selves with those we love, every meal is a feast. And what a feast these recipes are! Barbara brings her warmth, grace, and generosity of spirit to every page. Passion for life and a boundless faith are her secret ingredients in the kitchen, and everywhere else.” – Sheri Lynch, syndicated talk show host and author
About SPARK Publications Founded by Fabi Preslar, SPARK Publications is an independent publishing firm, serving entrepreneurs in their writing, publishing, designing, and marketing needs. Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, SPARK Publications has accrued more than 250 industry awards and is in its 23rd year of business.
Media Contact: Barbara McKay barbara@barbaramckay.com
