A New Mexico man has been arrested and federally charged in connection with two separate arson attacks on a Tesla dealership and the Republican Party’s state headquarters in Albuquerque, according to newly unsealed court documents.
Jamison Wagner is alleged to have set fires at a Tesla showroom in Bernalillo on Feb. 9 and vandalized several vehicles in the parking lot with phrases including, “Die Elon,” “Tesla Nazi Inc” and “Die Tesla Nazi,” according to a federal complaint.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(ORANGE CITY, Fla.) — A Florida woman has been arrested for selling human remains on Facebook Marketplace, according to the Orange City Police Department.
Kymberlee Schopper, 52, was arrested last week and charged with the purchase or sale of human organs and tissue, according to court records.
“This is something I haven’t seen in the 17 years that I’ve worked for this agency,” Orange City Police Department Capt. Sherif El-Shami told ABC News. Orange City is located about a half hour north of Orlando.
Police began looking into Schopper’s store, Wicked Wonderland, back in December 2023, when they received a tip regarding a business within the city “attempting to sell human bones,” according to the charge affidavit.
The tip included images from the store’s Facebook page, which “advertised various human bones for sale, complete with pricing information,” the affidavit said.
Schopper’s store was allegedly selling two human skull fragments for $90, a human clavicle and scapula for $90, a human rib for $35, a human vertebrae for $35 and a partial human skull for $600, the affidavit said.
Police spoke to Ashley Lelesi, the co-owner of Wicked Wonderland, who said the store had been selling human bones for “several years and was unaware that it was prohibited in the state of Florida,” the affidavit said.
She confirmed to authorities that the store featured “multiple bone fragments, all purchased from private sellers,” the affidavit said. Lelesi said she had documentation for these transactions, but “could not provide it at that moment,” the affidavit said.
Schopper and Lelesi later met with police, where Schopper showed documentation from PayPal, but she had “redacted certain information to protect their privacy,” the affidavit said.
Schopper told police the bones were “indeed educational models” and that a warrant would be required if further information was needed, the affidavit said.
Police submitted five pieces of human bones from Wicked Wonderland as evidence, with the Volusia County Medical Examiner’s Office finding that the fragments “likely represent two different individuals — one of possible archaeological origin and the other of anatomical origin,” according to the affidavit.
Schopper was taken into custody on Thursday and was released on a bail of $7,500 on Friday, according to court records. It is not immediately clear if Schopper has obtained a lawyer.
Lelesi has also been charged with the same crime, El-Shami told ABC News. It is not clear whether Lelesi is in police custody or has obtained a lawyer.
Schopper’s arraignment has been scheduled for May 1, according to court records.
(SAN DIEGO) — A 5.2 magnitude earthquake shook Southern California on Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was centered in San Diego County but was felt as far north as Los Angeles.
No injuries or damage have been reported, according to Cal Fire San Diego.
The building “rocked for a long time,” said Greg Allen, a Washington resident visiting San Diego.
“Everything was moving, the blinds and everything,” he told ABC News. “Then we heard people going down the stairs. And since we’re from out of town, we figured we should probably leave the building also.”
A 3.3 magnitude foreshock hit on Sunday afternoon, seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones said, and Monday morning’s earthquake was followed by several aftershocks in the 2 and 3 magnitude range.
Extreme damage is not expected, Jones said. Damage is possible to old buildings or buildings with poor foundations, she said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been briefed and the state is coordinating with local authorities, according to the governor’s office.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — A lawyer for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man and alleged gang member who was deported in error to El Salvador, said Monday that it might take a contempt order to prompt the U.S. government to return him from that country.
As ordered by a federal judge, U.S. officials over the weekend confirmed in a court filing that Abrego Garcia is being held in the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador — but ignored the judge’s order to detail what steps the government is taking to facilitate his return.
“At some point, if somebody gets held in contempt, you might see quicker movement there,” Benjamin Osorio, an attorney for Abrego Garcia, told ABC News’ Start Here.
The Supreme Court last week unanimously ruled that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis “properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”
The high court also said, “The Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”
Top U.S. officials Monday indicated that they did not intend to take any steps to retrieve Abrego Garcia from El Salvador.
“That’s up to El Salvador,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in an Oval Office meeting with President Trump and the visiting El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. “If El Salvador … wanted to return him, we would facilitate it.”
Asked by reporters about Abrego Garcia, President Bukele responded, “I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”
Judge Xinis on Friday ordered the Trump administration to provide daily updates on Abrego Garcia’s status, after which another attorney for Abrego Garcia said that he would ask the judge to “take appropriate steps” if the administration doesn’t make a good-faith effort to respond.
“Whether it’s DOJ or DHS getting held in contempt and the judge taking some move there, we’ll see how that plays out,” Osorio said Monday. “I imagine if they they stall too much, that’s what you’re going to see.”
The attorney said he was glad to hear from the administration that Abrego Garcia is “alive and well,” because, he said, “to my knowledge, nobody, not his wife, not his attorneys, nobody’s had contact with him.”
Abrego Garcia, a native of El Salvador whose wife is a U.S. citizen and who has 5-year-old child, was issued a 2019 court order barring his deportation to El Salvador, where his attorneys say he escaped political violence in 2011. Despite the court order, he was deported in March to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison following what the government said was an “administrative error.”
The Trump administration claims Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyers and his wife deny, and have argued in legal filings that because Abrego Garcia is no longer in U.S. custody, the courts cannot order him to be returned to the U.S. nor can they order El Salvador to return him.
Friday’s hearing came a day after the U.S. Supreme affirmed Judge Xinis’ earlier ruling ordering the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump, speaking with reporters, said that he wasn’t well-versed in the case, but that “if the Supreme Court said bring somebody back, I would do that. I respect the Supreme Court.”
On Sunday, however, an ICE official said in court filings that Abrego Garcia’s “membership in MS-13” makes him ineligible to be removed from that country.
“I understand that he should not have been removed to El Salvador because the immigration judge had also granted Abrego Garcia withholding of removal,” said ICE official Evan Katz. “However, I also understand that Abrego Garcia is no longer eligible of withholding of removal because of his membership in MS-13 which is now a designated foreign terrorist organization.”
U.S. officials, however, have publicly provided no evidence that Abrego Garcia is a MS-13 member, and he has not been charged with any crime.
(COPAKE, N.Y.) — The 2022 recipient of the prestigious NCAA woman of the year award, a former soccer player at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was one of the six victims killed in a plane crash in upstate New York on Saturday, according to a statement from her family.
Karenna Groff, a medical student at NYU Langone in the department of neurosurgery and a former soccer star at MIT, died when a twin-engine turboprop plane crashed 10 miles from the Columbia County Airport near the town of Copake, New York, on Saturday afternoon.
Five others — including Groff’s partner, James Santoro — died in the crash, the family said.
“He was most looking forward to proposing to his love, Karenna, this summer,” the family said in a statement provided to ABC News.
Only one woman each year is chosen as the NCAA woman of the year, with three finalists each chosen from Divisions I, II and III. The honor has been given since 1991 and includes winners such as Basketball Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo (1995), Olympic gold medal swimmer Kimberly Black (2001) and three-time Olympian triple jumper Keturah Orji (2018).
The passengers who died were all members of Groff’s family, including Groff’s parents, Joy Saini and Michael Groff; her brother, Jared Groff; and his partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte, the family said.
Joy Saini was a pelvic surgeon and Michael Groff was a neurosurgeon, as their daughter was training to be, according to the family.
“We will remember them as the six brilliant, dynamic and loving people that they were,” the family said. “The families ask for privacy during this difficult time.”
The family said information regarding funerals and memorials will be forthcoming.
During a press briefing on Sunday, the National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot reported a “missed approach” and “requested vectors for another approach.” Officials said as the pilot was coming back around, “the radar indicated a low altitude alert.”
An air traffic controller attempted to “relay this low altitude alert” and tried to contact him three additional times, but was unsuccessful, according to the NTSB’s lead investigator for this incident, Albert Nixon.
“There was no response from the pilot and there was no distress call,” Nixon said.
The aircraft, which had departed from the Westchester County Airport bound for the Columbia County Airport, crashed “at a high rate of descent” in a “flat agricultural field,” the NTSB said.
Authorities would not say who was flying the plane, but the family statement noted Michael Groff was “an experienced pilot, who fell in love with flying after being taught by his father at the age of sixteen.”
The NTSB said it will provide more information on the plane crash on Monday afternoon.
Groff was a captain for MIT’s Division III soccer team and finished her career second all-time in goals and points at the school. She was a third-team All-American in her final season.
ABC News’ Ayesha Ali and Emme Marchese contributed to this report
The relatives are slamming the Los Angeles County Attorney’s Office for their “cruel” presentation in court on Friday and said they’re taking formal action to demand DA Nathan Hochman’s office be removed from the case.
Lyle and Erik Menendez — who are serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez — are fighting to be released after 35 years behind bars. Over 20 of their relatives are pushing for their release, arguing they endured horrific abuse, have admitted guilt and apologized, and have used their decades in custody to help others.
Baralt, who is Jose Menendez’s sister, is battling colon cancer. But she traveled from her home in New Jersey to Los Angeles to support her nephews at their hearing, where the family said she was forced to — without warning — witness grisly images, including her brother’s body.
“No physical pain has ever kept her from being there for her nephews,” the family said in a statement on Sunday. “But the display put on by the DA’s office pushed her past the brink.”
Baralt was found unresponsive on Sunday morning and was hospitalized in critical condition, the family said.
“We are devastated,” the family said.
“Terry may not recover from what was done to her — and to all of us — in that courtroom,” the family said. “We deserve better. We firmly believe that if the DA’s office had shown even an announce of consideration for us, as victims, we would not be hoping for one more day with Terry right now.”
The family said the graphic display violated Marsy’s Law — California’s bill of rights for victims — specifically noting it states that a victim is entitled “to be treated with fairness and respect” and be “free from intimidation, harassment, and abuse.”
“Being tough on crime is important, it’s good,” Menendez family attorney Bryan Freedman said. “But that’s tough on crime — not creating fear and pain and trauma in family members.”
The DA’s office apologized “for not giving prior warning,” saying in a statement Sunday, “We never intend to cause distress or pain to individuals who attend a court hearing.”
“However, by design, these hearings are intended to be a place where the truth, no matter how painful, is brought to light,” the DA’s office added. “That truth starts with the abject brutality and premeditation of the murders themselves. … There has never been an objection to describing this highly brutal, murderous conduct in words, nor did anyone object to this office when such crime scene images were recently shown on a Netflix documentary.”
“We caution anyone attending a hearing in person to be prepared for some of the difficult details and images surrounding these tragic circumstances,” prosecutors added.
“[The prosecutors] have shown again and again that they are incapable of handling this process with the fairness, care, or neutrality required by law,” the family said Sunday.
Friday’s hourslong hearing was regarding Hochman’s motion to withdraw the brothers’ resentencing petition — submitted under the previous district attorney, George Gascón, who supported the brothers’ release. Hochman, who defeated Gascón in the November election, has argued Lyle and Erik Menendez haven’t taken responsibility for their actions and he called their claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.”
The judge on Friday denied Hochman’s motion and said the brothers’ official resentencing hearing will proceed as planned on April 17 and 18, bringing them one step closer to potential freedom.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Lisa Sivertsen contributed to this report.
Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(VAN HORN, Texas) — Blue Origin’s all-female crew, which includes pop star Katy Perry, completed their trip into space Monday morning.
It marks the first all-female spaceflight since 1963, according to the company.
The window for the latest New Shepard rocket launch opened on Monday morning at about 8:30 a.m. CDT, according to Blue Origin.
“I’ve dreamt of going to space for 15 years and tomorrow that dream becomes a reality,” Perry said on social media on Sunday.
The 11th crewed New Shepard flight, which is officially called NS-31, took off from the company’s Launch Site One in western Texas.
The flight lasted around 11 minutes and traveled more than 60 miles above Earth, according to Blue Origin, passing the Kármán line, which at 62 miles above sea level is considered to be the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.
Along with Perry, the crew included Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos’ journalist fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, who is also a helicopter pilot.
Journalist Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn round out the flight crew, according to Blue Origin.
The most-recent all-female spaceflight was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight in 1963, Blue Origin said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
As divers continue to use “side-scanning sonar” to search the Hudson River for wreckage from the helicopter crash that killed six people, the National Transportation Safety Board said the aircraft was not equipped with any flight recorders.
“No onboard video recorders or camera recorders have been recovered and none of the helicopter avionics onboard recorded information that could be used for the investigation,” the agency said in an investigation update Saturday evening.
According to the NTSB, the helicopter had its last major inspection on March 1. On the day of the crash, the helicopter had performed seven tour flights, and was on its eighth flight when the accident occurred, per the NTSB.
The main fuselage, including the cockpit and cabin, the forward portion of the tail boom, the horizontal stabilizer finlets and the vertical fin have all been recovered, according to the agency.
Some of these will be sent to the NTSB lab in Washington, D.C., for further inspection, the agency said.
Divers on Saturday were still working to recover more pieces of the helicopter, including the main rotor, main gearbox, tail rotor and a large portion of the tail boom.
Recovery operations in the river will continue on Sunday, the NTSB said.
The family on board was Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, 49; his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, 39; and their children, ages 4, 8 and 10, officials said.
The family came to New York City to join Escobar, who was in the U.S. for a business trip, according to Jersey City Mayor Fulop.
The family died one day before the 8-year-old’s birthday, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Also killed was the pilot, 36-year-old Seankese “Sam” Johnson, officials said.Johnson, who had served in the military, accumulated 788 hours of total flight time, the NTSB said.
Johnson was “an amazing man,” said Matt Klier, his friend from the Navy and a fellow helicopter pilot.
Thursday’s deadly crash occurred at 3:17 p.m., just over 15 minutes into the flight, officials said. The helicopter reached the George Washington Bridge before turning south and crashing, officials said.
ABC News’ Leah Sarnoff, Sam Sweeney and Erin Murtha contributed to this report.
Six people were on board a small plane that crashed into a field in upstate New York on Saturday afternoon.
The plane, a twin-engine turboprop Mitsubishi MU-2B, crashed near the town of Copake around 12:15 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane was headed to Columbia County Airport in Hudson, New York.
Copake is located about 50 miles south of Albany, near the border with Massachusetts.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office has not released any details on the number of fatalities or the identity of anyone aboard the plane, according to ABC affiliate WTEN.
Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore told reporters that muddy conditions in the field where the plane crashed has made accessing the scene difficult, according to WTEN.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was launching a go-team to investigate the crash and would hold a media briefing on Sunday.
Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — In less than a month, beginning on May 7, travelers flying out of United States airports will need to show TSA agents their REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, or another form of compliant identification to pass through security and make their flight. If they don’t bring a REAL ID, they could face delays, additional screening, or may not be permitted through the checkpoint, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The REAL ID roll-out, which has been delayed multiple times since the original deadline in 2008, has left some travelers confused about their states’ requirements and panicked as they try to make appointments at overwhelmed DMVs.
According to federal documents, as of January 2024, only about 56% of driver’s licenses and IDs in circulation across the country complied with REAL ID.
The Department of Homeland Security estimated that only 61.2% of driver’s licenses and IDs will be compliant by the May 7 deadline. A TSA spokesperson told ABC News that 81% of travelers going through TSA checkpoints currently have REAL IDs or other compliant identification.
If you haven’t gotten your REAL ID license yet, here’s what to know as the deadline approaches:
DMVs are slammed
Department of Motor Vehicles nationwide are reporting long wait times as travelers scramble to get their REAL ID driver’s licenses, but some are offering solutions for people looking for last-minute appointments.
Some New York DMVs will stay open later on Thursdays and release new available time slots daily.
They will also process REAL ID applications at the New York International Auto Show, from April 18 through April 27 at the Javits Center in Manhattan. The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced that 18 offices across the state would open earlier four days a week for REAL ID appointments. Illinois created a “Real ID Supercenter” for walk-ins.
“You may have to just do the old-fashioned thing, and every morning, refresh your browser and see if any appointments have opened up,” said Aixa Diaz, AAA spokesperson. “Inevitably, like with doctors’ appointments, there will be cancellations.”
Diaz warned that applicants will leave their appointment with a temporary paper copy of their ID. TSA won’t accept this as valid, so they’ll have to wait until they receive their actual ID in the mail.
Try AAA
Appointments may also be available at local AAA branches, according to Diaz. Not all AAA offices process REAL ID, and some only offer the service to members, so Diaz urges travelers to call ahead. Applicants may also have to pay an additional fee.
What to bring to your appointment
Applicants can check the Department of Homeland Security website to see their state’s specific requirements and documents they need to bring.
You can still use your passport
A valid passport is compliant identification, so if you’re having trouble booking an appointment, you can still use that after May 7 to go through the TSA checkpoint.
If you show up without a REAL ID, expect delays
If travelers arrive at the airport without compliant identification after May 7, TSA said they could encounter delays and other difficulties at the checkpoint.
“Passengers who present a state-issued identification that is not REAL ID compliant and who do not have another acceptable alternative (i.e., passport) can expect to face delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint,” TSA said in a press release.
