he front entrance off Oak Street into the newly restored Oakland Museum of California on Thursday Apr. 29, 2010, in Oakland, Calif. (Photo By Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
(OAKLAND, Calif.) — More than 1,000 items and historical artifacts have been stolen in an early morning heist from a California museum’s off-site collection, according to police.
The Oakland Police Department, along with the FBI, are investigating a burglary that occurred just before 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 15, at the Oakland Museum of California’s storage facility, police said.
Authorities said that the suspect or suspects broke into the facility and stole more than 1,000 items from the museum’s collection, including “Native American baskets, jewelry [and] laptops,” according to a statement from the Oakland Police Department.
“The theft that occurred represents a brazen act that robs the public of our state’s cultural heritage,” said Oakland Museum of California Executive Director and CEO Lori Fogarty. “Most of these objects have been given to the Museum by generous donors. We are working in close partnership with the City of Oakland, the Oakland Police Department, and the FBI to see that these objects are returned.”
Authorities are still trying to determine how the heist was pulled off and where the artifacts might be, though the museum said law enforcement asked them not to say anything initially so that the investigation wouldn’t be jeopardized, according to ABC News’ San Francisco station KGO.
“I think it is very possible that the people who stole these items don’t really know themselves what they have and why it might be important and where to actually, if they’re trying to pass it off or sell it, where to take it,” Fogarty told KGO.
The FBI Art Crime Team — a specialized unit of approximately 20 agents across the United States who are tasked with investigating all matters related to art — has been assigned to this case and is currently investigating the heist alongside local authorities.
A photo of Taylor Taranto from a detention memo released by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. (U.S. District Court)
(WASHINGTON) — A day after the Justice Department withdrew a sentencing memo that described the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as being carried out by “thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters,” the convicted Jan. 6 participant accused in the case is scheduled to appear at a sentencing hearing Thursday.
Federal prosecutors Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White were informed Wednesday that they would be put on leave after filing the memo in the case of Taylor Taranto, who was convicted on firearms and threat charges related to a June 2023 arrest near the home of former President Barack Obama, after Taranto was pardoned by President Donald Trump over his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
“On January 6, 2021, thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol while a joint session of Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election,” the prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum said. “Taranto was accused of participating in the riot in Washington, D.C., by entering the U.S. Capitol Building.”
The memo also detailed how Taranto traveled to former President Obama’s home only after a Truth Social post from then-former President Trump that included Obama’s address.
It’s unclear if Valdivia or White were given a reason for their suspensions, though the moves come following months of turmoil in the Washington, D.C., U.S. attorney’s office where multiple career prosecutors faced removals or demotions related to their involvement in prosecuting the more than 1,500 defendants charged in connection with the Capitol attack.
Late Wednesday, the Justice Department, in a highly unusual move, withdraw the original sentencing memo and replaced it with one in which the references to Jan. 6 and Trump’s Truth social account were eliminated.
Taranto was scheduled to appear at Thursday’s sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump-appointed judge who has described the Jan. 6 attack in serious terms.
Following Trump’s reelection victory in November, Judge Nichols said it would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing” if Trump were to pardon Jan. 6 defendants.
Trump subsequently granted sweeping pardons and commutations to all Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in office.
In this handout satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Melissa churns through the Caribbean Sea, captured at 15:20Z on October 28, 2025. NOAA via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — From the ground, chaos reigned across Jamaica in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa as residents emerged from the storm to find their communities shattered, their homes lying in ruins along with streets left awash in mud, debris and dangling power lines.
From the air, the picture of the widespread devastation came into a sobering focus as Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness released videos on social media of his tour on Wednesday of the hardest hit areas of the western part of his country.
“The most terrifying experience of my life, and I would not want to see it again,” a staff member of the Black River Hospital told Holness as he was filmed assessing the damage to the medical facility in the coastal community.
Holness praised the hospital workers for continuing to care for patients through the horrific Category 5 storm, even when the power went out and they were forced to use flashlights and lanterns to see.
One hospital staffer described having to dodge pieces of flying glass and other debris as the storm blew out windows and shook the facility.
During a news conference Thursday morning, Daryl Vaz, the country’s minister of science, energy, telecommunications and transport, said nearly 500,000 Jamaican Public Service customers remained without power, or about 72% of the utility company’s customers.
The number of deaths from the storm was still being assessed on Thursday. The Ministry of Health and Wellness confirmed on Wednesday that at least three people died in Jamaica in storm-related incidents. Other hurricane-related deaths occurred in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, officials said.
Sen. Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s information minister, said Thursday that the Jamaica Defense Force has dedicated a helicopter to the recovery of bodies.
Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government and community development, declined to provide a death toll, but said, “There has been casualties and we do anticipate based on our information that they’ll be more.”
McKenzie added, “I’ve been hearing some stories that I don’t want to repeat and I’m not going to repeat those stories because the police have not confirmed those reports.”
McKenzie said that about 13,000 people remained in shelters across Jamaica on Thursday.
Video footage taken during Prime Minister Holness’ helicopter tour of the hard-hit areas showed communities left in ruins. From the air, Holness witnessed entire neighborhoods devastated, with numerous homes missing roofs and walls. The videos showed twisted metal, splinted wood, and chunks of broken concrete strewn across the green landscape for miles.
Black River — where Hurricane Melissa, packing 185 mph winds, made landfall on Tuesday — appeared to be one of the most devastated towns that Holness encountered.
In all directions, businesses, churches and homes appeared to be damaged or destroyed.
In one of the videos, Holness told residents that 90% of the structures in Black River and nearby St. Elizabeth sustained damage.
Some coastal areas of Jamaica, including Black River, were also hit with a storm surge of up to 13 feet, officials said.
The Emergency Operation Center in Black River was also damaged, hampering search-and-rescue efforts in the area, Superintendent Coleridge Minto of the Jamaica Constabulary Force said in a video statement posted on social media Wednesday afternoon.
“We are immobile. When I say immobile, police units are down,” Minto said on Wednesday. “At this point in time, we are unable to do any rescuing; we are unable to respond. So, we are trying to let everybody know that the situation here is devastating.
Mento said all buildings in Black River sustained damage, including court offices, supermarkets and bakeries.
A container storing relief supplies was turned upside down by the storm, damaging everything inside, Minto said.
“There is urgent need for support,” Minto said.
On Wednesday, Holness posted a statement on social media, saying his nation was “ravaged” by the hurricane and its torrential rain. Holness declared the entire island nation a disaster area.
“I know many, especially those in the worst-affected parishes, are feeling disheartened,” Holness said in a social media post. “Your homes may have been damaged or destroyed, and your communities and towns no longer look the same.”
During his tour of St. Elizabeth, Holness said crews were working to clear roads covered in mud, toppled trees and power poles so that emergency crews can reach devastated areas.
On Thursday, Dixon said emergency crews on foot reached the town of Westmorland in the westernmost province of Jamaica by “cutting their way on foot through blocked roads.”
Authorities said some rural areas of the island, including the hilly and mountainous regions, received up to 49 inches of rain, triggering landslides.
Much of St. Elizabeth Parish, one of Jamaica’s largest parishes with a population of more than 150,000, was left underwater by the storm, authorities told ABC News.
The only public hospital in St. Elizabeth Parish lost power and its roof and had to be evacuated, officials said.
Search-and-rescue operations are underway across Jamaica.
All airports in Jamaica, including the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, have been closed since Monday, but some were beginning to reopen on Thursday.
Esther Pinnock, spokesperson for the Jamaica Red Cross, told ABC News on Wednesday that communication has been lost with some hard-hit communities.
“So, we’re not able to get what’s happening in such locations,” Pinnock said.
Pinnock said infrastructure across the island has been damaged and that some communities were cut off from fresh running water.
“Interventions are being made to address those concerns,” Pinnock said.
Pinnock said some areas of the island that suffered widespread damage from Melissa were still recovering from damage caused by Hurricane Beryl, a Category 5 hurricane storm that pummeled the island in July 2024.
“Emotionally and from a mental perspective, yes, we are just rebuilding our livelihood, and now we have to start all over again,” Pinnock said.
After passing across Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa took aim at Cuba, where it made landfall early Wednesday as as Category 3 storm near the the city of Chivirico in the southeastern province of Santiago de Cuba.
Images emerging from Cuba in the aftermath of the hurricane, showed collapsed structures and people digging through destroyed homes in search of survivors and personal belongings.
On Thursday morning, Melissa was still a Category 2 hurricane moving north-northeast across the Atlantic Ocean at 21 mph. It is expected to pass west of Bermuda late Thursday night and into Friday morning.
A hurricane warning has been issued for Bermuda as winds are expected to top 70 mph.
(NEW YORK) — Sean “Diddy” Combs arrived Thursday at the New Jersey federal prison where he will serve his four-year sentence for transportation for the purposes of prostitution, multiple sources told ABC News.
Combs was transferred this morning from MDC-Brooklyn to FCI Fort Dix, the facility his legal team requested because it offers a special drug treatment problem that, if completed successfully, could knock time off his sentence.
Combs is not being housed in the prison’s general population but in the special drug program unit, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Combs is asking a federal appeals court to expedite his appeal of his conviction on two prostitution-related charges, arguing he could finish his prison sentence before his appeal is heard on a normal timetable.
Combs is appealing his conviction and his sentence.
“An expedited briefing and argument schedule is critical to ensure that Mr. Combs’s appeal of his sentence does not become moot while the appeal is pending,” defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro said in a new filing.
She said Combs has already served approximately 14 months of his 50-month sentence, and it is unclear how much additional time he will ultimately serve due to his potential eligibility for reductions.
Earlier this week, the Bureau of Prisons posted what the agency believes to be Combs’ release date from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, which is set for May 8, 2028 — although it can change.
Combs was convicted of two counts of transportation for the purposes of prostitution after an eight-week trial in July. The jury acquitted Combs of more serious sex trafficking and racketeering charges he faced.
In his appeal, Combs plans to argue to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prosecutors misapplied the law.
“Sean’s appeal will challenge the unfair use of the Mann Act, an infamous statute with a sordid history, to prosecute him for sex with consenting adults,” Shapiro said.
He has said his counts of conviction should not apply because he had no financial motive for transporting male escorts. Instead he said he wanted to watch them have sex with his girlfriends.
Sunset at the Burning Man festival on Sunday, September 3, 2023. (Photo by Kathy Baird/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(BLACK ROCK CITY, Nev.) — It’s been two months since a Burning Man attendee was found dead in a pool of blood at the annual event in Black Rock City, Nevada, and as officials continue to search for a suspect, law enforcement experts told ABC News the crime will “not be a quick solve.”
Vadim Kruglov, a 37-year-old from Russia who was described by his family as “talented, bright and inspiring,” was found dead at the event on Aug. 30 at approximately 9:14 p.m., the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said in September.
As other attendees were celebrating the burning of the large wooden “man” that marks the end of the event, officials said a deputy was alerted by another participant that there was a man “lying in a pool of blood,” with officials “immediately” responding to the campsite.
An attendee at the event, who asked not to be named, told ABC News she was traveling back to her campsite that evening when she was rerouted by a large police presence nearby.
It wasn’t until after she left Burning Man on Sunday that she found out a homicide had occurred at the event.
“I felt so unprotected,” the participant, who said she was not interviewed by police at the scene, told ABC News.
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests from ABC News for comment on the status of the case.
“Burning Man Project is committed to the safety of our community and to supporting those working to bring justice in this tragic case,” event officials said in a press release in September.
While many unknowns remain surrounding Kruglov’s death, and the search for a suspect continues, ABC News contributor and former FBI special agent Richard Frankel said there are “several investigative steps” officials can take before ruling the homicide a “closed” or “cold” case.
Murder weapon could indicate suspect had relationship with victim: Former FBI agent
Three weeks after Kruglov’s murder, officials announced they found the knife allegedly used in the killing, a discovery Frankel said could shed light on the potential suspect’s motive or possibly provide DNA evidence.
When officials announced the discovery of the weapon, they said Kruglov’s death appeared to have been caused by a single stab wound, which ABC News contributor and retired FBI agent Brad Garrett said is a “personal” manner of killing and could indicate the suspect had a relationship with the victim.
“Using a knife on someone is highly personal. It’s one thing to be 10 feet away and shoot somebody. It’s another to literally have to be against them to kill them,” Garrett said.
However, Frankel said a possible motive will not be able to be determined until the medical examiner conducts a further investigation into the knife-entry wound, specifically the “way the entry went in, the way the knife was facing and the pressure put forward or backward as the knife was stabbed.”
Officials have not yet shared the medical examiner’s report with the public, nor have they stated when the report would be released.
Frankel also said it is possible the suspect and the victim had some kind of prior relationship, but also recognized the killing could have simply occurred “in the heat of the moment.”
“Being that it’s at Burning Man — a lot of alcohol and drugs — you just don’t know who the players are at that time and at that location, and it could be just somebody who lost it and stabbed the first person that you could see,” Frankel said.
There were 44 arrests at this year’s event, officials said, ranging from possession of a controlled substance and assault with a deadly weapon to domestic battery, sexual assault and burglary.
Investigators must take the suspect’s ‘life apart’
Another potential avenue to reveal more details about the suspect is to take a deeper look at Kruglov’s past, Garrett said.
“You really take his life apart,” Garrett said, encouraging investigators to learn about Kruglov’s connections — “if there was someone he complained about, someone he owed money to or someone he had gotten into a dispute with.”
Kruglov, originally from Russia, was described as “true hero of Burning Man” who “poured his soul” into the community, according to a GoFundMe created by loved ones that was shared on the event’s press release.
“Vadim poured his soul into our community: building camp, creating art, helping others and always sharing his kindness and energy,” his loved ones wrote on the GoFundMe. “His contributions will forever remain part of the Burn’s history.”
Kruglov was attending Burning Man for the first time, according to a statement from the event.
Garrett said the suspect has the potential to be have “some connection” to Kruglov’s life, even prior to his trip to Burning Man. But, those possibilities could only be confirmed by analyzing his past, looking through his social media and speaking to friends and family, he said.
‘At the mercy’ of the public
Due to the challenges involved in this investigation — including that there was “little to no cellphone coverage,” the crime scene was a temporary city in a remote area and there is no known surveillance footage of the crime — Garrett said officials are “at the mercy of other people giving you information.”
“You never want to be in a position where you’re at the mercy of other people giving you information, but unfortunately, this case may just lend itself to completing a thorough investigation — not getting anywhere as to who the suspect might be — and then you have to regularly get the case back in front of the public to potentially generate more leads,” Garrett said.
“Somebody’s going to have to keep this case alive to potentially solve it,” Garrett added.
But, despite the time that passes without a suspect in custody growing by the day, Garrett said that does not make the case less solvable.
“One phone call, one piece of evidence that directs them toward someone with some corroboration that they could well have been involved in this could lead to an arrest,” Garrett said.
A coyote walks along a wall and behind various bushes that separate homes from The Tracks at Brea Trail in Brea early on Saturday morning, September 21, 2024. Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — A coyote attacked and chased a 9-year-old in Portland, Oregon, while the child was playing hide-and-seek in their own yard, with officials encouraging residents in the area to remain on alert, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The attack occurred last week in the Portland neighborhood of Alameda, where a 9-year-old and a 3-year-old were “playing hide-and-seek in their yard when a coyote approached the 9-year-old” and bit their foot, the fish and wildlife department said in a press release on Wednesday.
The 9-year-old, who was wearing socks at the time of the attack, was able to “shake their foot out of the sock and run away,” officials said.
The coyote then proceeded to chase the 9-year-old until the child’s father — who was on the front porch — began yelling at the animal, who then ran away, officials said.
The child was taken to a local hospital and was “treated for minor injuries,” officials said. The status of the child’s condition remains unclear as of Thursday.
A day after the attack, officials traveled to the scene to “conduct a site investigation” and informed residents via flyers and social media posts that a “concerning incident with a coyote had recently occurred,” the department of fish and wildlife said.
In the days following the attack, officials said they have “continued to monitor the area and talk to neighbors” and are working closely with local and federal authorities to “determine next steps for addressing the human safety situation.”
While coyotes are “not unusual” in this area of Portland — even during the day — officials strongly encouraged residents to “monitor young children playing outside” and to not provide food to coyotes, which is illegal in the state of Oregon.
Dave Keiter, a district wildlife biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, told ABC Portland affiliate KATU the attack was a “very unusual incident,” but feeding the animals can “make them spend more time around humans which can cause conflict both with people and with pets.”
“The vast majority of encounters with coyotes are entirely benign,” Keiter told KATU.
If someone does encounter a coyote, officials said to scare away the animal by yelling, using airhorns, banging pots and pans or throwing objects.
Officials encourage community members to “immediately report concerning encounters and aggressive behavior toward people or pet” to the department of fish and wildlife or call 911 in the event of an emergency.
A coyote walks along a wall and behind various bushes that separate homes from The Tracks at Brea Trail in Brea early on Saturday morning, September 21, 2024. Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — A coyote attacked and chased a 9-year-old in Portland, Oregon, while the child was playing hide-and-seek in their own yard, with officials encouraging residents in the area to remain on alert, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The attack occurred last week in the Portland neighborhood of Alameda, where a 9-year-old and a 3-year-old were “playing hide-and-seek in their yard when a coyote approached the 9-year-old” and bit their foot, the fish and wildlife department said in a press release on Wednesday.
The 9-year-old, who was wearing socks at the time of the attack, was able to “shake their foot out of the sock and run away,” officials said.
The coyote then proceeded to chase the 9-year-old until the child’s father — who was on the front porch — began yelling at the animal, who then ran away, officials said.
The child was taken to a local hospital and was “treated for minor injuries,” officials said. The status of the child’s condition remains unclear as of Thursday.
A day after the attack, officials traveled to the scene to “conduct a site investigation” and informed residents via flyers and social media posts that a “concerning incident with a coyote had recently occurred,” the department of fish and wildlife said.
In the days following the attack, officials said they have “continued to monitor the area and talk to neighbors” and are working closely with local and federal authorities to “determine next steps for addressing the human safety situation.”
While coyotes are “not unusual” in this area of Portland — even during the day — officials strongly encouraged residents to “monitor young children playing outside” and to not provide food to coyotes, which is illegal in the state of Oregon.
Dave Keiter, a district wildlife biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, told ABC Portland affiliate KATU the attack was a “very unusual incident,” but feeding the animals can “make them spend more time around humans which can cause conflict both with people and with pets.”
“The vast majority of encounters with coyotes are entirely benign,” Keiter told KATU.
If someone does encounter a coyote, officials said to scare away the animal by yelling, using airhorns, banging pots and pans or throwing objects.
Officials encourage community members to “immediately report concerning encounters and aggressive behavior toward people or pet” to the department of fish and wildlife or call 911 in the event of an emergency.
An undated photo of 9-year-old murder victim Carol Ann Dougherty. Bucks County District Attorney’s office
(BUCKS COUNTY, Pa.) — A 9-year-old girl’s killer has been identified more than 60 years after she was raped and murdered in a Pennsylvania church, authorities announced.
On Oct. 22, 1962, Carol Ann Dougherty was on her way to the library when she was raped and strangled at St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church in Bristol, the Bucks County District Attorney’s office said.
“We believe it may be the only rape and murder of a little girl in a church in the United States,” Bucks County DA Jennifer Schorn said at a news conference.
A grand jury investigation has now identified Carol Ann’s killer as William Schrader, who Schorn described as an “absolute predator.” Although Schrader died in 2002, he’s now “definitively linked” to the murder “through the combination of decades-old evidence and recent investigative developments,” the DA’s office announced in a statement on Wednesday.
In 1962, a witness reported seeing Schrader — who lived near the church — outside the church around the time of the murder, and police initially questioned him, the DA’s office said. Schrader failed a polygraph test and investigators determined he lied about his alibi, authorities said. After Schrader realized he was a suspect, he left Pennsylvania and moved to the South, Schorn said.
“Schrader’s life was marked by a pattern of violence and sexual violence, particularly against young, pre-pubescent, and adolescent females,” the DA’s office said in a statement. Investigators determined he “sexually abused nearly every female child he lived with or had access to,” prosecutors said.
A pubic hair collected from Schrader at the start of the investigation was tested in the 1990s, and it showed “significant similarities” to hair found in Carol Ann’s hand, officials said. There were 141 pubic hair samples tested during the decadeslong investigation, and “all other individuals were eliminated,” officials added.
A breakthrough in the case came last year when investigators interviewed Schrader’s stepson, who said Schrader “confessed to him on two separate occasions that he murdered a little girl in a Pennsylvania church,” the DA’s office said. Schrader allegedly told his stepson he lured Carol Ann inside, raped her and “had to kill the girl in Bristol to keep her from talking,” the DA’s office said.
Carol Ann’s murder “changed my family’s life forever,” her sister, Kay Dougherty, said at Wednesday’s news conference.
“Our family lived without answers and the uncertainty surrounding Carol’s death became a part of who we were,” she said through tears. “My parents both passed away without knowing on this earth who murdered their daughter. … After so many decades of unknowing, this finding finally brings closure and a truth to a wound that never healed.”
Stock image of police lights. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
(SPARTANBURG, S.C.) — A former sheriff of Spartanburg, South Carolina, is expected to plead guilty Thursday morning to stealing money from his own police force and taking illicit drugs.
Chuck Wright previously signed a plea deal admitting to three criminal counts of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and obtaining controlled substances through misrepresentation, according to court documents reviewed by ABC News.
Wright has been accused of stealing money from a benevolent fund intended for his officers facing financial difficulties and pocketed cash he said he would use to send an officer to Washington, D.C., to honor a deputy killed in the line of service, according to federal filings.
Attorneys for Wright did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Two other former Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office employees pleaded guilty to charges associated with Wright.
Amos Durham, a former chaplain of the force, helped Wright steal more than $28,000 from the sheriff’s department, and Lawson Watson was paid by Wright as a deputy for four years for work he never did — totaling more than $200,000, investigators said in court documents against Durham and Watson.
Wright resigned earlier this year after working as a police officer for more than 20 years. Suspicion began to rise against him after a local paper discovered he had spent over $53,000 over six years on frivolous purchases that included dinners, fancy hotels, and subscriptions that included a keto diet program, according to the Post and Courier.
An excavator sits on the rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished on October 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Days after the abrupt demolition of the East Wing of the White House, critics are questioning whether the Trump administration and contractors involved in razing the historic structure adhered to federal health and safety standards, including those governing the handling of hazardous materials like asbestos, a dangerous and potentially deadly substance widely used during the period of the East Wing’s original construction.
On Thursday, Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., penned a letter to executives at the firm responsible for the demolition seeking evidence that the company complied with regulations dictating the safe removal of asbestos and lead — or if, instead, they “cut corners” and “gambled with people’s health.”
“The demolition of a structure of the age and historic national significance of the East Wing demands the highest possible standards of care, not the lowest bid and a blind eye toward regulation,” Markey wrote to leaders of ACECO, a Maryland-based demolition contractor.
The senator’s overture comes days after the nation’s largest asbestos victims’ organization raised alarms about whether the White House may have deviated from accepted practices for handling these materials.
“Federal law requires comprehensive asbestos inspection, notification, and abatement before any demolition,” wrote the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) last week. “No publicly available information demonstrates that these statutory obligations have been fulfilled.”
A White House official would not say whether asbestos was found in the East Wing, but told ABC News that “a very extensive abatement and remediation assessment was followed, complying with all applicable federal standards.”
The official said that “any hazardous material abatement was done in September,” prior to the demolition earlier this month.
But Linda Reinstein, the president of ADAO, said she has seen no public evidence to suggest that an assessment or abatement took place. Federal standards require rigorous inspections to be done prior to demolition, and those inspections are then documented with a certification. If asbestos is found, workers on site would be observed wearing protective equipment, like hazmat suits.
“I am deeply concerned for White House staff and others working in or near the East Wing demolition site,” Reinstein said. “It remains unclear what measures have been taken to ensure the safe removal of deadly asbestos and other hazardous materials.”
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that was commonly used in mid-century structures for fireproofing and insulation, before its deadly health risks were fully known. Invisible asbestos fibers can become airborne whenever materials containing asbestos are disturbed during demolition, renovation, or even routine maintenance.
Doctors warn that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure, and that even short, unprotected demolition work can damage the lungs and increase the risk of developing mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, exposure to asbestos fibers can cause scarring in the lungs and increases the risk of mesothelioma and lung cancer.
Dr. Raja Flores, a top lung doctor, said it can take years after inhaling the fibers for symptoms to arise.
The progressive lung disease and cancer that can occur after asbestos exposure “makes you weak, you feel short of breath, feel like you’re drowning and all these symptoms develop over a long period of time,” Flores said. “It is a prolonged and agonizing torture.”
“You wouldn’t catch me in there — not without a mask” and “not without precautions,” Flores said, referring to the White House complex during demolition.
Although White House officials would not say whether asbestos existed in the building, some experts suggest that its age and the era of its construction mean that it likely had the presence of the fiber. Originally completed in 1800, the building underwent major renovations in the 1940s and 50s, at the peak of asbestos use in buildings.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended President Donald Trump’s decision to demolish the East Wing, citing in part his assumption that “parts of the East Wing could have been asbestos, could have been mold.”
The demolition of the East Wing has been unpopular with most Americans, according to new polling released Thursday morning.
A 56% majority of Americans oppose the Trump administration tearing down the East Wing of the White House as part of the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom paid for by $300 million in private donations, including 45% who “strongly” oppose it, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
President Trump said in July that the ballroom project would not interfere with the existing White House structure. But last week, as crews began to raze the East Wing, an official said the “entirety of the East Wing will be modernized.”
By Thursday, satellite images from Planet Labs PBC showed the East Wing reduced to rubble.
The White House has required at least some of the construction workers tasked with demolishing the East Wing to sign nondisclosure agreements barring them from discussing their work, according to sources familiar with the project.
A White House official told ABC News that requiring workers to sign NDAs is “standard” practice, given aspects of the project deal with the operational security of the White House.
Bob Sussman, who was the deputy EPA administrator under President Bill Clinton and a senior EPA policy counsel under President Barack Obama, said “the speed with which all this happened and the reasons why it happened so quickly should have raised many questions.”
Some environmental and health experts are warning about potential risks to the public if demolition debris that may contain asbestos is being moved off White House grounds without the appropriate safety measures.
“I am concerned that wherever they move this debris, the population in that area is going to be at risk for 20 to 30 years,” Dr. Flores said.
Markey’s letter seeks details from ACECO on the timeline of the demolition, the process it followed, what permits were sought, and whether any incidents were reported, and asks ACECO to respond by Nov. 12.
ABC News’ Jared Kofsky contributed to this report.
