(HARRISBURG, Pa.) — Three people have been hospitalized, including one child and a woman in a wheelchair, after a minivan drove through the Kipona Festival in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
It is unclear if the act was intentional at this time, according to police. The driver is in custody and officials are investigating.
The Kipona Festival is an annual, three-day event held over Labor Day weekend that celebrates the region’s Native American heritage.
During a press conference Monday evening, Harrisburg Bureau of Police Captain Atah Akakpo-Martin said the vehicle came through one of the barricaded areas just after 6 p.m. when festival ended.
The three people who were hit include a 6-year-old boy, who is in critical condition, Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams said. The other two adults, a man in the city’s traffic engineering department and a woman who was in a wheelchair during the incident, are in stable condition, the mayor said.
It is uncertain if the driver was alone in the car or if the driver was injured at the time, officials said. Photos from the scene show the red minivan sustained damage to the front of the vehicle in the incident.
The minivan came to a stop after hitting multiple objects and driving for multiple blocks through the festival, police said.
(BLACK ROCK CITY, Nev.) — Officials in Nevada are investigating a homicide after a Burning Man participant was found dead, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office.
On Saturday at approximately 9:14 p.m., a sheriff’s deputy was alerted by an event participant at Burning Man — an annual festival that takes place in Black Rock City, Nevada — that there was a man “lying in a pool of blood,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Sunday.
Officials “immediately responded” to the campsite and found a “single white adult male lying on the ground, obviously deceased,” according to authorities.
Law enforcement then created a perimeter around the area, with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office’s Forensic Science Division assisting in “processing the scene and collection of evidence,” officials said. The sheriff’s office also noted that they interviewed “several participants in the immediate area.”
But as of Sunday, the investigation was “still ongoing,” with portion of the festival’s “City” having “heavy law enforcement presence until the scene can be released,” according to officials.
“Although this act appears to be a singular one, all participants should always be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances,” the sheriff’s office said.
On Monday, the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News that detectives are actively receiving tips and tracking down information related to the death.
There have been no arrests, officials said.
The identity of the body, which will be transferred to the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office, has not been identified by officials, the sheriff’s office noted.
Burning Man said in a statement they are “cooperating with law enforcement” as the investigation continues, and three public WiFi spots will be available for attendees who “need to communicate with loved ones,” the festival said.
As of Monday, no further information regarding the incident was available, officials said.
Officials said anyone with any additional information regarding the incident should contact the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Josh Nicholson through dispatch at 774-273-2641.
Burning Man is a “temporary metropolis in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert,” according to its website.
“Tens of thousands of people converge on a dry lakebed in Nevada, build a fully functional city where they live and work for week, then make it disappear without a trace. In this crucible of creativity, all are welcome!” the festival’s website said.
The sheriff’s office told ABC News investigation is made more difficult by the fact that Black Rock City is a temporary city that is disappearing Monday, now that attendees have left, so officials have to work before evidence disappears. Because that death happened in such a remote location in the desert, cell phone service is non-existent in most areas, so video and surveillance evidence is not as available as it would be elsewhere, officials said.
(HOUSTON) — An 11-year-old Texas boy has died after being shot in the back when he allegedly attempted a door-knocking prank on a neighbor, police said.
The shooting unfolded around 10:55 p.m. on Saturday at a home in southeast Houston, Shay Awosiyan, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, told ABC News.
The child, who police initially said was 10 years old, was pronounced dead at a hospital on Sunday, according to a statement released by police. The boy’s name was being withheld by police pending an autopsy.
“Officers were told the male was ringing doorbells of homes in the area and running away. A witness stated the male was running from a house, after ringing the doorbell, just prior to suffering a gunshot wound,” Houston homicide detectives said.
One person detained for questioning had been released, but was detained again as a possible suspect in the shooting after police were notified around 2 p.m. local time on Sunday that the child had died, Sgt. Michael Cass of the Houston Police Department said at a news conference on Sunday.
Cass said it was unclear if the man being detained was the owner of the home where the deadly door-knocking prank occurred.
A search warrant was served on the home, and Cass said a significant amount of weapons were found inside the house.
“The possible suspect has been detained and interviewed but not yet formally charged,” Cass said.
Cass said the victim, who lived about a block away, was running away from the house with at least two friends when a witness saw a man exit the home with what appeared to be a handgun and fire multiple rounds in their direction.
After being hit in the back, the victim ran about a block before collapsing in the street, Cass said.
The prank allegedly committed in Houston is similar to what’s being dubbed the “Door Kicking Challenge,” a national trend based on an old prank called “Ding Dong Ditch,” in which groups of kids record videos of themselves kicking and banging on doors of homes and apartments before running away and then posting the videos on social media platforms such as TikTok.
In July, a 58-year-old Texas homeowner was arrested and charged with aggravated assault when he allegedly fired multiple rounds at a vehicle fleeing his home in Frisco after someone banged on the front door, according to a statement from the Frisco Police Department.
The driver of the car that was shot at around 10:50 p.m. on July 28 and two passengers contacted police to file a complaint, showing officers three bullet holes in the vehicle, according to police.
“However, during subsequent interviews, all admitted to ding, dong, ditching in a random neighborhood when they were confronted by a male with a firearm,” the Frisco police said in a statement.
In June, police in Chandler, Arizona, released video footage of a group of juveniles committing the “Door Kicking Challenge,” alleging the group pulled the prank on the same home at least 18 times, prompting the homeowner to move out.
“Let’s be clear: These ‘pranks’ can have serious consequences and lead to charges such as criminal damage, disorderly conduct, or harassment,” the Chandler Police Department said in a message to parents in the community. “Parents — please take a moment to talk with your children. Know where they are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing.”
Police in Fort Worth, Texas, posted a similar community message in May after receiving more than 20 complaints of young people committing the “Door Kicking Challenge.”
“It can be mistaken as an attempted break-in, potentially prompting dangerous or defensive responses from homeowners,” the Fort Worth Police Department said in a statement. “What may seem like a prank can result in very real trouble and/or danger.”
(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) — As Minneapolis public schools prepare to begin the first day of classes on Tuesday, police confirmed three more children were injured in last week’s shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School.
Minneapolis Police Department on Monday announced the revised number of injured, bringing the total amount of victims who were injured by gunfire to 21.
Authorities said 18 children between the ages of 6 and 15 were hurt in the shooting, along with three adults in their 80s who were attending mass at the time of the incident on Wednesday.
The gunfire erupted during morning Mass, when a 23-year-old shooter opened fire through the windows of the school’s church, police said.
Two children, 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski, died in the shooting, their families confirmed on Thursday.
“Yesterday, a coward decided to take our 8-year-old son, Fletcher, away from us. Because of their actions, we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming,” Jesse Merkel, Fletcher’s father, said on Thursday.
Harper’s parents remembered her as a “bright, joyful and deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness, and spirit touched everyone who knew her.”
Hennepin Healthcare said four patients — three children and one adult — remain hospitalized at the Hennepin County Medical Center.
While other Minneapolis schools are coming back into session with a substantially increased visible patrol presence, Annunciation will remain closed.
Police continue to actively investigate the shooter and have yet to determine a motive.
The shooter, who previously attended the school, died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said last week.
“There has been conversation” with the shooter’s mother, Minneapolis Police Assistant Chief Christopher Gaiters said on Friday, though he did not elaborate.
Annique London, one mother of three daughters who all attended Annunciation in recent years, told ABC News she and her children feel a mix of community support and anxiety as school starts.
London’s daughter recently graduated from Annunciation — which teaches children in pre-K to eight grade — and will start high school nearby.
“She’s going to the public school Southwest High School and is terrified to go to school. And I don’t think she’s unique. I don’t even think the public school administration has yet come to terms with the support that might be needed for some students,” London said.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway, Christiane Cordero and Briana Stewart contributed to this report.
At least five people have been killed and 30 others injured in shootings across Chicago over Labor Day weekend, including a drive-by attack that left seven victims wounded late Saturday night, according to police.
The violent holiday weekend came as President Donald Trump renewed threats to send federal agents and National Guard troops to Chicago over the objections of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Trump on Saturday sent a warning to the Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in a post on his social media platform, referencing recent crime in Chicago and saying Pritzker “better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming!”
Illinois Gov. Pritzker, a Democrat, responded in a news conference a week ago to an earlier Trump threat to “straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C.,” by saying that the president’s plan was “unprecedented and unwarranted. It is illegal, it is unconstitutional, it is un-American.”
Mayor Johnson responded last week by saying in part that he had “grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the city of Chicago,” and calling Trump’s approach “uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound.” Johnson also said that deploying the National Guard in Chicago could “inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement.”
On Saturday, Mayor Johnson signed an executive order dubbed the “Protecting Chicago Initiative,” which he described in a news conference as “the most sweeping campaign of any city in the country to protect ourselves from the threats and actions of this out-of-control administration,” and which “directs our department of law to pursue any and every legal mechanism to hold this administration accountable for violating the rights of Chicagoans.”
“We have received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our city sees some type of militarized activity by the federal government,” Johnson said, in part. “We take these threats seriously and we find ourselves in a position where we must take immediate, drastic action to protect our people from federal overreach.”
At least 20 separate shootings occurred in Chicago between 10:32 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Sunday morning, according to a review by ABC News of police incident reports published online.
The victims included a 17-year-old girl who was inside her home when a bullet came through a front window and hit her in the arm, a 31-year-old man who was shot in the leg after getting caught in the crossfire of gunmen shooting at each other from two vehicles, and a 25-year-old woman who was shot and injured while driving down a street, all according to the incident reports.
Fewer than five hours after Trump posted a message on social media on Saturday criticizing Pritzker’s handling of crime in Chicago, a mass shooting occurred in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side that left seven people wounded.
“He better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming!,” Trump said in his post about Pritzker.
The shooting in Bronzeville occurred about 11:10 p.m. on Saturday on South State Street, according to police. A group of people were gathered outside in the area when a vehicle drove by and at least one occupant opened fire on the crowd. All seven people shot, five men and two women ranging in age from 28 to 32, were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries to their lower extremities, police said. No suspects have been arrested.
The first of five homicides that police say occurred over the long holiday weekend happened at 11:56 p.m. on Friday at the South Shore apartment complex on East Essex Street, where two women were discovered shot, according to police.
A 25-year-old woman was found in the apartment suffering from two gunshot wounds to her stomach and one to her leg, according to a police incident report. She was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, according to authorities. The victim’s name was not immediately released.
The second victim, a 23-year-old woman, suffered gunshot wounds to both legs and was in fair condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Investigators were interviewing a person of interest in the East Essex Street homicide but no arrests have been announced, according to police.
Elsewhere, two men were shot, one fatally, in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago around 11 a.m. on Saturday, according to police. The victims were standing outside on North Sawyer Avenue when a dark SUV approached them and a gunman exited the vehicle and opened fire, according to a police incident report.
A 29-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, was shot multiple times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to police. The second victim, a 32-year-old man, suffered a gunshot wound to his right side and was in stable condition at Mount Sinai, police said. No arrests have been announced in the incident.
Also on Saturday, gunfire erupted in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood. Around 7:46 p.m., a 43-year-old woman was standing outside on E. 131st Street when five armed men approached her and opened fire, striking her multiple times, according to police. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to Christ Hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.
No arrests have been announced in the Altgeld Gardens homicide.
Around 1:39 a.m. on Sunday, a 46-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, was killed in a triple shooting that occurred in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago’s Lower West Side, according to police. The victims were standing on West 17th Street when a gunman walked up to them and opened fire, police said.
The two other victims, a 41-year-old man and a 43-year-old man, suffered gunshot wounds to their legs and were in good condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.
Around 2:52 a.m. on Sunday, a 33-year-old man was killed in the West Inglewood neighborhood on the Southwest Side of Chicago, police said. The victim got into a argument inside a residence with a man who shot him in the head, according to police. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. No arrests were announced.
The series of shootings came after President Donald Trump said last week that he is prepared to order National Guard troops to American cities in addition to those in the nation’s capital, but that he wanted local officials to request his help.
Trump threatened to make Chicago the next city he would target after he declared what he said was a public safety emergency in Washington, D.C., and he put the city’s police force under federal control on Aug. 11.
Violent crime in Chicago has dropped significantly in the first half of the year, according to official data released by the city. Shootings are down 37% and homicides have dropped by 32% compared to the first half of 2024, while total violence crime dropped by over 22%, according to the crime statistics.
“Do not come to Chicago, you are neither wanted here nor needed here,” Pritzker further said in response to Trump during a news conference last week. “Donald Trump wants to use the military to occupy a U.S. city to punish its dissidents and score political points. If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is – a dangerous power-grab.”
(NEW YORK) — A 10-year-old Texas boy was shot and critically injured when he allegedly attempted a door-knocking prank on a neighbor, police said.
The shooting unfolded around 10:55 p.m. on Saturday at a home on Membrough Street in southeast Houston, Shay Awosiyan, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, told ABC News on Sunday.
“A 10-year-old was apparently knocking on neighbors’ doors and running away when someone apparently fired shots,” Awosiyan said.
Awosiyan said one person was detained at the scene of the shooting and was being questioned, but no charges have been filed.
The injured child, who was out committing the prank with friends, was treated at the scene by the Houston Fire Department and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was in critical condition on Sunday afternoon, Awosiyan said.
The investigation continued on Sunday, but police released no additional details.
The prank allegedly committed in Houston is similar to what’s being dubbed the “Door Kicking Challenge,” a national trend based on an old prank called “Ding Dong Ditch,” in which groups of kids record videos of themselves kicking and banging on doors of homes and apartments before running away and then posting the videos on social media platforms such as TikTok.
In July, a 58-year-old Texas homeowner was arrested and charged with aggravated assault when he allegedly fired multiple rounds at a vehicle fleeing his home in Frisco after someone banged on the front door, according to a statement from the Frisco Police Department.
The driver of the car that was shot at around 10:50 p.m. on July 28 and two passengers contacted police to file a complaint, showing officers three bullet holes in the vehicle, according to police.
“However, during subsequent interviews, all admitted to ding, dong, ditching in a random neighborhood when they were confronted by a male with a firearm,” the Frisco police said in a statement.
In June, police in Chandler, Arizona, released video footage of a group of juveniles committing the “Door Kicking Challenge,” alleging the group pulled the prank on the same home at least 18 times, prompting the homeowner to move out.
“Let’s be clear: These ‘pranks’ can have serious consequences and lead to charges such as criminal damage, disorderly conduct, or harassment,” the Chandler Police Department said in a message to parents in the community. “Parents — please take a moment to talk with your children. Know where they are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing.”
Police in Fort Worth, Texas, posted a similar community message in May after receiving more than 20 complaints of young people committing the “Door Kicking Challenge.”
“It can be mistaken as an attempted break-in, potentially prompting dangerous or defensive responses from homeowners…,’ the Fort Worth Police Department said in a statement. “What may seem like a prank can result in very real trouble and/or danger.”
(NASHVILLE) — It was long believed that Pauline Mullins Pusser, the wife of the legendary Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser, was shot and killed in an ambush meant for her husband, but new evidence suggests that it was the late sheriff who killed his wife.
A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report uncovered “inconsistencies in Buford Pusser’s statements to law enforcement and to others,” District Attorney Mark Davidson said at a press conference Friday.
Law enforcement uncovered physical, medical, forensic, ballistic and reenactment evidence that contradicted the McNairy County sheriff’s account of his wife’s 1967 murder.
The sheriff’s story inspired the movie “Walking Tall” in 1973 and several sequels, a 2004 remake and several books, Davidson said.
Buford Pusser died in a car accident in 1974.
“This case is not about tearing down a legend, it is about giving dignity and closure to Pauline and her family and ensuring that the truth is not buried with time,” Davidson said.
The sheriff had reported that his wife volunteered to ride along with him in the dark, early morning hours on a disturbance call. He claimed that a car pulled alongside his and fired several shots toward them, killing Pauline and injuring him in what he claimed was an ambush intended for him carried out by unknown assailants, according to Davidson.
The sheriff, who was also shot in the ambush, recovered from his injuries and no viable suspects were found and no charges were filed.
Investigators now believe that Pauline Pusser was shot outside the vehicle then placed inside the vehicle, which is not what Buford Pusser has told investigators at the time of the murder.
“This was a cold case for decades but in 2022 TBI agents took another look at the archive file and coordinated with our office. That work accelerated in 2023 and in 2024, Pauline Mullins Pusser was exhumed for an autopsy,” Davidson said.
“It’s been said that the dead cannot cry out for justice, it is the duty of the living to do so. In this case that duty is being carried out 58 years later,” Davidson said.
Investigators used modern forensic science and investigative techniques that were not available in 1967, officials said.
A new autopsy also revealed cranial trauma suffered by Pauline Pusser does not match crime scene photographs of the interior of the vehicle she was allegedly killed in. Blood splatter on the outside of the vehicle also contradicts Buford Pusser’s account of the murder, Davidson said.
A forensic investigator also determined that a gunshot wound to Buford Pusser’s cheek was a close contact wound, not long range as he had described, and was likely self inflicted, Davidson said. Blood splatter analysis also indicated that someone was injured both inside and outside the vehicle, he said.
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead. Via Flickr
(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court has ruled that most of President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs are unlawful, potentially dealing a significant blow to the president’s effort to reshape the country’s trade policy unilaterally.
In a 7-4 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected Trump’s authority to carry out most of his tariffs, agreeing with the lower court that Trump’s actions were “invalid as contrary to law.” However, the court delayed the impact of its decision through mid-October to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the Supreme Court, as the tariffs remain in effect.
“Because we agree that [International Emergency Economic Powers Act’s] grant of presidential authority to ‘regulate’ imports does not authorize the tariffs imposed by the Executive Orders, we affirm,” the majority wrote.
The decision in effect tees up one of the most consequential legal questions for the Supreme Court about the scope of the president’s authority on trade policy.
After Oct. 14, the court will return the case to the lower court to decide how the Supreme Court’s recent decision limiting nationwide injunctions affects the decision.
Trump reacts to decision In a post on his social media platform Friday evening, Trump rebuked the appeals court’s decision, warning that a court order blocking the tariffs “would literally destroy the United States of America.”
Previewing the legal challenge expected in the coming weeks, Trump called on the Supreme Court to rule that he has the power to impose tariffs unilaterally.
“Now, with the help of the United States Supreme Court, we will use them to the benefit of our Nation, and Make America Rich, Strong, and Powerful Again! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote.
What the decision says In its decision Friday, the appeals court determined that only Congress, not the president alone, has the authority to impose tariffs, setting up a high-profile legal question for the Supreme Court regarding the scope of the president’s power.
The decision centers on whether the authority to “regulate” imports, included in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, means the president can issue tariffs on his own.
Seven of the 11 judges said that the rarely used law does not give Trump the power to implement either his “reciprocal” tariffs or the “trafficking” tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico and China aimed at stopping the flow of fentanyl across U.S. borders, writing that “tariffs are a core Congressional power.”
“We discern no clear congressional authorization by IEEPA for tariffs of the magnitude of the Reciprocal Tariffs and Trafficking Tariffs,” the majority wrote. “Given these considerations, we conclude Congress, in enacting IEEPA, did not give the President wide-ranging authority to impose tariffs of the nature of the Trafficking and Reciprocal Tariffs simply by the use of the term ‘regulate . . . importation.'”
A subset of four judges from the majority took the decision even further, determining that IEEPA does not give Trump the power to issue any tariffs, not just the two types of tariffs in question.
“The Government’s interpretation of IEEPA would be a functionally limitless delegation of Congressional taxation authority,” they wrote.
In a minority opinion, four other judges disagreed, suggesting Trump’s declaration of a national emergency is enough of an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to justify the tariffs.
“IEEPA’s language, as confirmed by its history, authorizes tariffs to regulate importation,” the judges wrote.
How the case came about A group of small businesses and a coalition of states sued to block the tariffs earlier this year, arguing that President Trump had overstepped his authority under the rarely used International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) when he issued a flurry of tariffs in April.
The following month, the New York-based Court of International Trade declared the tariffs were unlawful and encroached on Congress’s authority to regulate trade. The Trump administration quickly appealed the decision, which was stayed as the legal process played out.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments on the tariffs in July, during which time the panel of judges appeared skeptical that Trump could justify the tariffs based on a national emergency.
The judges noted that the text of the IEEPA never explicitly mentions “tariffs” and that no other president has attempted to utilize the law in the same manner as Trump has.
“One of the major concerns I have is that IEEPA doesn’t mention tariffs anywhere,” one judge remarked during the arguments in June. “Here, IEEPA doesn’t even say tariffs — doesn’t even mention it.”
Ahead of Friday’s decision, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer preemptively asked the court to stay their decision to prevent “serious harms” to ongoing negotiations and the country’s trade policy.
Trump administration officials had previously warned that losing the ability to issue tariffs would “lead to dangerous diplomatic embarrassment,” threaten ongoing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and “threaten broader U.S. strategic interests at home and abroad.”
(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court has found that the Trump administration likely acted unlawfully when it ended protections for nearly 600,000 Venezuelans to live and work in the United States, upholding a lower court’s decision to postpone the government’s termination.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld District Judge Edward Chen’s authority to issue a final decision in the case, which challenged the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans ahead of a deadline previously issued by the Biden administration.
“In enacting the TPS statute, Congress designed a system of temporary status that was predictable, dependable, and insulated from electoral politics,” the three-judge panel wrote in Friday’s ruling.
“Moreover, Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they face irreparable harm to their lives, families, and livelihood, that the balance of equities favors a grant of preliminary relief, and that nationwide relief is appropriate,” the court added.
The government argued that a district judge could not challenge Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end the protections.
Although the DHS secretary has wide discretion to extend or end protections for TPS holders, Venezuelan plaintiffs — represented by the National TPS Alliance, the National Day Labor Organizing Network and other advocacy groups — argued a secretary could not reverse a predecessor’s decision.
On Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously disagreed with the government, paving the way for Chen to make a final decision in the case.
Because of Noem’s decision to reverse former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ extension of protections, around 350,000 TPS holders from Venezuela lost status in April. Another estimated 250,000 are set to lose protections in September depending on the outcome of the case.
Chen had halted the administration’s efforts to end protections while the case continued, but his order was overturned by the Supreme Court in May.
ABC News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on Friday’s ruling but has not yet received a response.
Emi Maclean, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California, said the “severe effects” of the Trump administration’s decisions are already being felt by Venezuelans previously protected by the program.
“Individuals who have been deported, who have been separated from infant children, who are living in their car after they lost legal status… who have fled a country in crisis and sought refuge in the United States,” she said. “The government and the courts abandoned them to really devastating circumstances.”
The appeals court seemed to echo those sentiments in Friday’s ruling.
“The TPS statute is designed to constrain the Executive, creating predictable periods of safety and legal status for TPS beneficiaries. Sudden reversals of prior decisions contravene the statute’s plain language and purpose,” the court wrote. “Here, hundreds of thousands of people have been stripped of status and plunged into uncertainty. The stability of TPS has been replaced by fears of family separation, detention, and deportation. Congress did not contemplate this, and the ongoing irreparable harm to Plaintiffs warrants a remedy pending a final adjudication on the merits.”
Chen can now issue a final ruling, though it will likely get appealed to the Supreme Court if the Trump administration finds it unfavorable.
(NEW YORK) — Monsoon season — the weather pattern that has been creating inclement conditions in the western U.S. — is expected to last for another few weeks following a massive dust storm in the Phoenix region.
The North American Monsoon is an annual climate phenomenon that occurs in the Southwest U.S. during the warm summer months.
In the Southwest, strong heat from the sun causes a significant rise in temperatures during the summer. But, since bodies of water don’t rise in temperature as fast as on land, it causes an effect where moist air is drawn toward the hot dry air over land.
The monsoon season is a result of the moist air moving onto the hot land, which causes the atmosphere to become unstable. The monsoon is typically found in areas of large, elevated landmasses, like the Southwest, and in parts of India, near the Himalayan mountains.
Indian monsoons are associated with heavy rain lasting for months, but the North American monsoon behaves differently, according to Climate.gov. The monsoon generally involves daily patterns of mostly dry mornings with storms developing later in the day, with most of the heavy rain occurring in the afternoon and evening hours — also known as a diurnal cycle.
The Southwest experiences the monsoon when moisture from the Gulf of California and eastern Pacific is transported to California, southern Nevada and Arizona. The monsoon season typically develops around May or June but can increase substantially in July and August, especially if there are tropical systems in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
While the unstable atmosphere can produce thunderstorms, it is not one particular storm but rather an overall pattern that promotes them. A monsoon thunderstorm can be slow-moving and persistent, resulting in thunderstorms that drop very heavy rain in very dry parts of the region, which can lead to flash flooding.
Some of the thunderstorms can be strong and deliver heavy rain and frequent lighting, , according to Climate.gov. Periods of rainy days are often interspersed with drier periods during the North American Monsoon.
Much of the West has been experiencing monsoon conditions over the past week, bringing some of the wettest days of the year to the region.
The summer thunderstorms in the desert can produce very strong winds, which can kick up dust in the desert. The dust storm can have very strong winds that can do damage and reduce visibility, making travel nearly impossible. Dust storms can arrive suddenly in the form of an advancing wall of dust and have visibilities of one-fourth of a mile or less, according to the National Weather Service.
On Monday, the dust storms – also known as a haboob – engulfed the Phoenix metro area, creating low visibility and knocking out power for thousands of people. A cloud of dust hundreds of feet high could be seen moving over the region.
Flooding rains and more wind gusts followed the dust storm. The wind event — which saw gusts of up to 70 mph — was so severe that some flights out of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were grounded and air traffic controllers were forced to evacuate the tower.
Because of the sporadic nature of the thunderstorms, the severity and impact of the monsoon can vary season to season
In Tucson, Arizona, so far this monsoon season has only produced just under 2 inches of rain as of Friday, which is among the drier monsoon seasons on record. However, in 2021, the monsoon caused 12.79 inches of precipitation in Tucson.
Rainfall from the monsoon is very important for the region, according to Climate.gov. Arizona and New Mexico receive more than 50% of its average annual precipitation from July to September, during the monsoon season.
Once the summer months are over, and the land cools down, the monsoon season ends — typically in late September or early October in the Southwest. Wind patterns revert back to the westerly pattern, ending the monsoon.
