A makeshift memorial of flowers and American flags stands outside the Farragut West Metro station on Dec. 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan national accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members, killing one, in Washington, D.C., has been formally charged with murder.
Lakanwal, of Bellingham, Washington, appeared before a judge remotely on Tuesday from his hospital bed, where he is recovering from gunshot wounds he suffered when another National Guard member shot him during the incident.
Lakanwal was wearing a hospital gown and was lying in a hospital bed, covered in a blanket, during the remote court appearance.
Through a Pashtu interpreter, Lakanwal was charged with one count of murder, two counts of assault with the intent to kill, and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Lakanwal pleaded not guilty to the charges through a court-appointed attorney.
At one point during the hearing, Lakanwal, speaking in Pashtu, said through the interpreter, “I cannot open my eyes, I have pain in my ear.”
Lakanwal is charged with shooting Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, members of the West Virginia National Guard, who were “ambushed” while conducting “high visibility patrols” on Nov. 25 just blocks from the White House, authorities said.
Beckstrom was killed and Wolfe was critically injured, authorities said.
New details of the attack emerged on Tuesday when authorities unsealed a criminal complaint against Lakanwal, a married father of five children.
Lakanwal, according to the complaint, shot Beckstrom from behind and was trying to reload after he was shot and just before he was subdued. An autopsy by the Washington, D.C., Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Beckstrom was shot once in the back of the head, according to the complaint.
Wolfe also was shot in the head during the attack, according to the complaint.
Witnesses told investigators that as Beckstrom and Wolfe fell to the ground after being shot, Lakanwal was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar,” an Arabic phrase meaning “God is great,” according to the complaint.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Stock image of police lights. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Police are investigating the mysterious death of a Texas A&M student who died after a football tailgate this weekend, according to authorities and her family.
Austin police said they responded to a report of an unresponsive individual at an apartment complex around 12:45 a.m. Saturday. Brianna Aguilera was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:57 a.m., police said.
“At this time, the incident is not being investigated as a homicide, and there are no indications of suspicious circumstances,” police said in a statement.
Her cause of death has not been released, police said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
According to Aguilera’s family, she died after going to a tailgate for the Texas A&M vs. University of Texas football game in Austin on Friday.
“The details surrounding what happened [after the tailgate] remain unclear,” Aguilera’s family wrote on GoFundMe.
“Our hearts are shattered,” the family said on GoFundMe.
“She was pursuing her dream of becoming a lawyer and was attending The Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M,” the family said. “She was a year shy of attaining her Aggie ring.”
Mohammad Alokozay is shown in this Nov. 25 2025, booking photo. Tarrant County Corrections Center
(FORT WORTH, Texas) — Homeland Security said investigators arrested an Afghan national who allegedly made a social media post about “building a bomb” and threatened to blow up a building in Fort Worth, Texas.
Mohammad Dawood Alokozay’s arrest took place on Nov. 25, Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary with DHS, said in a social media post Saturday.
Alokozay was arrested on state terror charges and is being held at a corrections center in Tarrant County, Texas, according to court records. He was hit with federal charges of transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce.
After his arrest one week ago, Alokozay confirmed to investigators that he made the statements in the video and that he deleted his TikTok account after being contacted by people who had seen his comments shared on social media, according to the criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.
“He concluded that he was not afraid of deportation or getting killed,” prosecutors said in their criminal complaint. “When asked why Alokozay came to the United States, he responded that it was to kill the others on the call. Alokozay stated he wanted to conduct a suicide attack on Americans, too.”
It is not immediately clear when Alokozay will make his first appearance in federal court.
Alokozay’s arrest came just a day before two National Guard members were allegedly shot by another Afghan national — 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal– in Washington, D.C.
One of the Guard members, U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, later died from her injuries. Lakanwal is now facing a first-degree murder charge.
McLaughlin alleged in an X post that Alokozay “posted a video of himself on TikTok indicating he was building a bomb with an intended target of the Fort Worth area.”
“He was arrested on Tuesday by the Texas Department of Public Safety and FBI JTTF and charged with making Terroristic Threats,” she added.
Attorney information for Alokozay was not immediately available.
McLaughlin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a retainer for Alokozay.
-ABC News’ Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
Luigi Mangione appears for the second day of a suppression of evidence hearing in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 02, 2025 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A police officer who responded last Dec. 9 to a McDonald’s where witnesses said they may have spotted the man accused of killing a health care CEO testified Tuesday that he knew right away it was the suspect.
“I knew it was him immediately,” Altoona, Pennsylvania, police officer Joseph Detwiler testified about Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City last year.
Mangione, 27, is in court Tuesday for the second day of a high-stakes hearing in his state criminal case, where his lawyers are fighting to bar prosecutors from using key evidence against him — including the alleged murder weapon and writings that prosecutors say amount to a confession — by arguing it was unlawfully seized when his backpack was searched without a warrant.
The backpack was searched by law enforcement as they arrested Mangione in Pennsylvania, five days after the fatal shooting of Thompson on a sidewalk in midtown Manhattan. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to killing Thompson.
Defense attorneys have alleged that Detwiler violated Mangione’s rights by questioning him for nearly twenty minutes without reading him his Miranda rights. They argue that mistake should justify barring prosecutors from introducing any testimony about the statements Mangione made to police that morning.
Recollecting the events of Dec. 9, Detwiler testified that he responded sarcastically when he got the dispatch call that a local McDonald’s manager reported a “male who looks like the NYC shooter.” He said he didn’t even turn on his police sirens when he drove to the McDonald’s because he “did not think it was going to be him.”
“I did not think it was going to be the person they thought it was,” he testified, though he noted his supervisor promised to buy him a “hoagie” if he “got the NYC shooter.”
“I said consider it done,” Detwiler testified.
An avid watcher of Fox News, Detwiler testified he saw the images of the murder suspect “a lot” and was familiar with the ongoing coverage of the high-profile assassination. Prosecutor Joel Seidemann walked through each of the photos of the suspect that circulated after the shooting; each time, Detwiler responded in a monotone voice that said he saw the pictures in the same place — Fox News.
“I saw a lot of Fox News and saw a lot of video and articles on the shooter. I saw the person’s picture many, many times prior to those five days — many times,” he said.
During Detwiler’s testimony, prosecutors for the first time played his body-camera footage from the morning of Dec. 9. The footage showed Detwiler and his partner casually entering the McDonald’s before turning right to the rear of the restaurant, where they found Mangione sitting at a table.
“What’s your name?” Detwiler asked in the footage.
“Mark,” Mangione said.
“Mark what?” Detwiler asked.
“Mark Rosario,” Mangione said.
“Someone called and said you were suspicious,” Detwiler said in the video. “Thought you looked like someone.”
Prosecutors on the first day of the hearing on Monday played for the first time security camera footage from inside the McDonald’s where Mangione was arrested, the 911 call placed by the store manager who expressed alarm that he “looked like the CEO shooter in New York,” and the minute-to-minute dispatch audio leading to his arrest.
“There’s a male in the store that looks like the NYC shooter,” a dispatcher said in a recording played in court.
The crux of Mangione’s argument is that his constitutional rights were violated when Pennsylvania police interrogated him before reading him his rights and searching his backpack without a warrant.
Defense lawyers allege that officers waited nearly 20 minutes after first approaching Mangione, extensively questioning him about his whereabouts without informing him of his right to remain silent.
They also allege that officers searched through his backpack — which allegedly contained a handgun, magazine, and his journal — without having a warrant.
Citing police body camera footage, they argue that officers searched Mangione’s backpack as early as 9:58 a.m. but waited until after 5 p.m. to seek a warrant. They have asked the judge to limit prosecutors from using the evidence because it was the “fruit” of an illegal search.
Prosecutors argue the arrest and search were conducted lawfully, and that the evidence overwhelmingly proves Mangione’s guilt.
If defense attorneys succeed in limiting the evidence seized from Mangione’s backpack and statements made during his arrests, they could severely undercut the prosecution’s case against the alleged murderer.
Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Computer, and wife Susan announce the donation of $50 million over 10 years to the University of Texas at Austin for the creation of a new Dell Medical School. (Robert Daemmrich/Corbis via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — In a major philanthropic move, billionaires Michael and Susan Dell are donating $6.25 billion dollars to deposit $250 into savings accounts for up to 25 million American children.
The announcement from the Dells, which was confirmed by a White House official, gives the funds to Invest America, which sets up a tax-advantaged investment account for American children starting at birth.
The so-called Trump Accounts are a key piece of President Trump’s signature tax and spending legislation, which passed earlier this year.
Under that law, the Treasury Department will give $1,000 to the accounts for children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. Those accounts become the property of a child’s guardian and “will track a stock index and allow for additional private contributions of up to $5,000 per year,” according to the White House.
The donations from the Dells will supplement that federal funding, expanding the number of children who will qualify for accounts.
The more than $6 billion in funds from the Dells will go to “most children age 10 and under who were born prior to the qualifying date for the federal newborn contribution,” though Tuesday’s announcement adds that some children older than 10 may also be eligible if there is funding left over after the initial sign-ups.
There are still logistical questions about the donations, but the website for Invest America says sign-ups for the accounts are expected to open July 4, 2026.
“We’ve seen what happens when a child gets even a small financial head start – their world expands,” Michael Dell said in a video announcing the news.
Trump celebrated the move Tuesday morning, posting a link to a new article about the announcement and calling the Dells “TWO GREAT PEOPLE.”
“I LOVE DELL!!!,” Trump added in the social media post.
A White House official confirmed that Dell will join Trump at the White House Tuesday for the 2 p.m. announcement. White House spokesperson Kush Desai called the accounts “revolutionary investment by the federal government into the next generation of American children” in a statement about the donation.
“It’s also President Trump’s call to action for American businesses and philanthropists to do their part, too – Michael and Susan Dell’s $6 billion investment into America’s children is the first of many announcements to come for America’s children,” Desai added.
In June, Michael Dell attended a roundtable at the White House and spoke alongside Trump about how access to the savings accounts for American children will be a “simple yet powerful way to transform lives.”
(NEW YORK) — A winter storm brought the first big batch of snow and ice to parts of the Midwest and South on Monday, and now that same storm is bringing ice to parts of Appalachia and heavy snow to the inland Northeast on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Kansas City area saw 3 to 5 inches of snow, while Louisville recorded around 3 inches of snow. St. Louis, Missouri, and Indianapolis both recorded about 2 to 4 inches of snow.
A glaze of ice wreaked havoc on roads in places like Oklahoma and Arkansas on Monday, and on Tuesday, that ice will be a major threat for cities including Boone, North Carolina, and Roanoke, Virginia.
On Tuesday, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and western New York could see 2 to 4 inches of snow.
Winter weather advisories are in place in northern Pennsylvania and central New York, where 4 to 6 inches of snow is possible.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in several counties.
“With snow and rain in the forecast, we urge all New Jerseyans to be cautious of icy roads and walkways,” he warned on social media on Tuesday.
Cities directly along the East Coast will be warmer and will likely only get rain, but there is a brief chance for a morning wintry mix around Washington, D.C., that could cause disruption on roads.
A winter storm warning is in place from northeast Pennsylvania to central Maine, where more than 6 inches of snow is in the forecast. Some spots could even see snow totals of 9 to 12 inches.
By Tuesday night, the rain will be ending in New York City but ongoing in Boston, while snow will still falling from Albany, New York, through Maine.
(NEW YORK) — A social media commentator and blogger was found liable on Monday in a defamation lawsuit filed by hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in October 2024.
Milagro Cooper was found liable for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and promotion of an altered sexual depiction, according to court documents obtained by ABC News.
Megan Thee Stallion, whose legal name is Megan Pete, testified that Cooper, who is known on social media as blogger Milagro Gramz, participated in a targeted and coordinated social media campaign to harass, intimidate and defame her.
Pete alleged Cooper was a “paid surrogate” for rapper Tory Lanez and spread lies on his behalf. Lanez was convicted of shooting and injuring Pete in a July 2020 incident.
“We’re thankful for the jury’s commitment to reinforcing the importance of truth, accountability and responsible commentary on social media,” Megan’s attorney, Mari Henderson, said in a statement. “This verdict sends a clear message that spreading dangerous misinformation carries significant consequences.”
Cooper is required to pay $75,000 in damages to Pete.
“I am not ecstatic, of course, you want things to go your way, but like I said, I respect the jury and what they decided, and I think I made out pretty good,” Cooper told reporters outside the courthouse on Monday, according to ABC affiliate WSVN.
“I am just happy to be moving forward; things will be handled. It wasn’t a multimillion-dollar verdict and I think that’s a blessing. God is good through and through,” Cooper added.
The lawsuit alleges that Cooper spread lies about Pete to punish her and attempt to discredit her after she publicly named Lanez as her shooter.
“She’s created a space for a lot of people to come speak negatively about me,” Pete said in trial testimony last month of Cooper, referencing social media posts where the blogger attacked Pete’s character, casting her as a liar and mentally unstable.
Cooper, who took the stand earlier in November, testified that as a blogger, she discussed the shooting on her social media accounts without the influence of Tory Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson.
But Cooper did acknowledge that she spoke with Peterson and was hoping to have him as a guest on her channel. She also testified that she received payments from Peterson’s father, Sonstar Peterson, but claimed they were for “personal” reasons like her children’s birthdays and “promotional” work.
The jury was shown social media posts in which Cooper claimed that Pete was not shot.
When asked if she believed that Pete was shot, Cooper said, “I can’t say she lied about that because I wasn’t there,” but then Cooper said that she believed that Pete was not shot and had stepped on glass — a claim that Pete made in her initial statement to police.
Peterson is not named as a defendant in Pete’s defamation lawsuit but was asked to give a deposition ahead of the trial. ABC News has reached out to his attorneys, but requests for comment were not immediately returned.
Peterson, who chose not to take the witness stand during the 2022 trial, pleaded not guilty and his defense attorneys argued during the trial that he was not the shooter.
Peterson was sentenced to 10 years in prison without the possibility of parole on Aug. 8, 2023, after he was convicted in December 2022 of felony assault for shooting and injuring Pete in both of her feet in an incident that occurred in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020.
His legal team appealed his conviction, but it was upheld on Nov. 12 by a federal court in Los Angeles.
(NEW YORK) — Former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey and the Trump administration have not talked about settling her civil lawsuit and do not believe alternatives to a trial “would be useful at this time,” the parties told the judge in a letter on Monday.
Comey is suing over her firing, arguing she was “abruptly and wrongfully terminated” because her father is former FBI director James Comey, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs.
In the letter, her lawyers and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of New York, which is handling the case for the Justice Department, affirmed the need for a conference with the judge, which is currently scheduled for Thursday.
Comey wants the judge to order the government to begin producing evidence. Government lawyers are expected to ask the judge for time to file a motion to dismiss the case.
The defense said the proper place for Comey to argue is not in court, but before the Merit Systems Protection Board. Comey’s attorneys said her case presents “novel” issues about executive power that a judge must resolve.
“While there are cases that discuss a President’s authority under Article II to remove Principal Officers and Inferior Officers, we are unaware of any decision that discusses (let alone approves of) a President’s use of Article II authority to remove without cause a non-officer civil service employee such as a line-level Assistant United States Attorney, in direct violation of the CSRA and the Bill of Rights,” Comey’s attorneys, Nicole Gueron, Ellen Blain, Deepa Vanamali and Margaret Donovan wrote.
The defense characterized Comey’s case as routine.
“A federal employee’s claims that removal from federal service was arbitrary and capricious or conducted in a manner that did not provide the process to which they contend they were due is not a novel issue,” government attorneys said.
The letter said there are no meaningful settlement talks, and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms would be unhelpful at the moment.
The logo for the Justice Department (Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — An immigration judge who was fired by the Trump administration is suing the Department of Justice, alleging she is a victim of unlawful discrimination.
Tania Nemer, a former immigration judge in Ohio, filed a lawsuit Monday claiming she was dismissed based on her gender, her dual citizenship with the country of Lebanon, and her previous run for local office as a Democrat, in violation of civil rights law.
Nemer was “abruptly fired” in the middle of her probationary period despite receiving “the highest possible performance,” the lawsuit alleges.
“The lightning-fast, precipitous timing indicates that the incoming Administration’s decision was made — not as part of a careful evaluation of Ms. Nemer’s qualifications or fitness for office — but instead as part of a rushed attempt by the new Administration to target disfavored civil servants,” the complaint states.
The former Cleveland judge is among the more than 100 immigration judges who have been fired, resigned through the Department of Government Efficiency’s “Fork in the Road” offer, or transferred out of immigration adjudication, according to the union representing immigration judges.
Nemer’s attorneys said in the filing that she was escorted out of court at the time of her dismissal, and that Nemer’s supervisor and the acting chief immigration judge both said they did not know why she was being fired.
“And to this day, the government has failed to offer any coherent and legitimate nondiscriminatory rationale for her termination,” the lawyers wrote.
Shortly after she was fired, Nemer filed a formal discrimination complaint with an Equal Employment Opportunity office, which dismissed the case.
“The EEO office issued a final agency decision that dismissed Ms. Nemer’s complaint and asserted that Title VII does not constrain discriminatory dismissal against immigration judges because the statute purportedly conflicts with the Article II removal power,” according to the complaint.
“That is simply not true,” her attorneys said in the complaint. “Nothing in the Constitution gives the executive branch the right to discriminate.”
The lawyers called the DOJ’s position that it can fire federal employees without a reason — despite civil rights statutes — a “breathtaking assault on a landmark federal statute.”
According to the complaint, a DOJ official submitted an affidavit that detailed driving infractions involving Nemer, as well as two local tax cases from 2010 and 2011, which the former immigration judge alleged in the complaint that she had disclosed as part of a background check to become an immigration judge.
Nemer’s attorneys said in the complaint that the DOJ official “created the misleading impression that the prior infractions were somehow connected to Nemer’s termination.”
The former immigration judge is asking a court in D.C. for a “declaration that the government violated her rights; reinstatement; and compensatory damages.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One on November 16, 2025, at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump spent the weekend at his Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The White House released the results of President Donald Trump’s recent advanced imaging tests on Monday, describing them as “perfectly normal.”
The memo from Dr. Sean Barbabella, physician to the president, said Trump underwent the scans during a medical examination in October “because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health” and that the tests are “preventative.”
Barbabella said the imaging helps confirm Trump’s overall health and identifies any early issues before they become serious.
Although Trump referred to the tests as an MRI, Barbarella did not use the term in his memo.
The cardiac imaging test, which looks at the heart and its blood vessels, showed no evidence of arterial narrowing, Barbabella wrote. Arterial narrowing is a condition that occurs when plaque builds up and reduces blood flow, causing symptoms including chest pain and shortness of breath.
Additionally, Trump’s cardiac scan did not show abnormalities in the heart or major vessels, according to Barbabella, and his heart chambers were described as normal in size with no signs of inflammation or clotting.
When the chambers of the heart are either too big or too small, this can cause the organ to work harder than usual to pump blood throughout the body.
“Overall, his cardiovascular system shows excellent health,” Barbabella wrote.
Barbabella also wrote in the memo that Trump’s abdominal imaging scan was normal with all major organs appearing healthy and well-perfused, meaning with a high blood flow relative to their size.
“Everything evaluated is functioning within normal limits with no acute or chronic concerns,” he wrote. “This level of detailed assessment is standard for an executive physical at President Trump’s age and confirms that he remains in excellent overall health.”
Trump said during a gaggle with reporters on Air Force One in late October that he received an MRI as part of “advanced imaging” tests at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, but didn’t answer questions on what the scan was for.
On Sunday, Trump said he was fine with the MRI results being released, but was unsure of the area of the body that was scanned.
“So, if they want to release it, it’s okay with me to release it. It’s perfect,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “But if you want to have it released, I’ll release it, absolutely.”
When asked which body part received MRI scanning, Trump replied, “I have no idea. It was just an MRI — what part of the body? It wasn’t the brain, because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”
