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(WASHINGTON) — Two federal prosecutors were informed Wednesday that they will be put on leave after filing a legal brief 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,” sources familiar with their removals told ABC News. 

The two prosecutors, Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White, were locked out of their government devices and informed Wednesday morning they will be placed on leave, just hours after they filed a sentencing memorandum in the case of Taylor Taranto, the sources said.  

Taranto was pardoned by President Donald Trump over his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol but faced a separate conviction for firearms and threat charges related to a June 2023 arrest near the home of former President Barack Obama where he was found in possession of two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, as well as a machete. 

A day before Taranto’s arrest, he claimed he would use a car bomb to drive into the National Institute of Standards and Technology. 

In their sentencing memorandum, Valdivia and White used only two sentences to detail Taranto’s involvement in the Jan. 6 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 memorandum said. “Taranto was accused of participating in the riot in Washington, D.C., by entering the U.S. Capitol Building. After the riot, Taranto returned to his home in the State of Washington, where he promoted conspiracy theories about the events of January 6, 2021.” 

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. 

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

It’s also not immediately clear how Valdivia and White’s suspensions could impact Taranto’s case or whether the Justice Department plans to alter its recommendation that he serve 27 months in prison related to his firearms and threats conviction.

Taranto is currently set to be sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. 

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(NEW YORK) — A crew dressed in neon construction vests stole a safe containing jewelry — valued at more than $3.2 million — from a home in Queens, New York, after breaking in through a back door, police said Tuesday.

The theft occurred on Oct. 16, just after 2 p.m., when the suspects entered the Jamaica Hills-area home.

Once inside, the thieves removed a safe and jewelry valued at about $3.2 million and then fled in a blue Hyundai Elantra, police said.

It is not clear whether the home was occupied at the time, but the NYPD said no injuries were reported in the incident.

Police said two sought individuals in connection with the break-in appear to be male and were last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black pants, black sneakers, a neon construction vest, a white construction hat, eye protective wear and were seen carrying black backpacks.

The third sought individual is described as a male and was last seen wearing a white hoodie sweater, black pants, gray sneakers, black gloves and seen operating and exiting a blue Hyundai Elantra.

The jewelry heist clad in construction gear came just days before a group of thieves broke into the Louvre Museum in Paris, stealing $102 million worth of jewels, including crowns, necklaces, earrings and a diamond-encrusted brooch that once belonged to Emperor Napoleon and his wife.

On Oct. 19, two of the thieves dressed as construction workers used a cherry picker to get up to the second floor of the museum, where they cut through the window of the Apollo Gallery using angle grinders, authorities said.

Upon entering the gilded gallery, the thieves used power tools to cut into the glass cases to reach the precious jewels, investigators said.

The entire theft took about seven minutes, according to investigators, and the stolen jewelry remains missing.

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(CONSTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif.) — Police are looking for a murder suspect who they say was accidentally released from a California jail.

Isaiah Jamon Andrews, 20, was mistakenly released from the Martinez Detention Facility, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in a press release Monday.

A native of Kent, Washington, Andrews was held in California on local charges, a juvenile warrant out of Sacramento and an arrest warrant for homicide in Seattle, per the sheriff’s office. He was intended to be extradited to a jail in Washington.

“After Sheriff’s Office staff realized Andrews had been released, we launched a search of the immediate area and confirmed that Andrews was no longer in the area. The search for Andrews is ongoing by the U.S. Marshals Service. Local law enforcement agencies have also been notified,” officials said in the press release.

Andrews was previously arrested after a car chase in California, three days after he allegedly shot and killed Theodore Wheeler, 20, in Seattle, according to the Seattle Police Department (SPD).

“I think sometimes people forget that it is a criminal justice system. Cops, courts and corrections is kind of how I always remember it. And although we did our due diligence, the courts and that part of the system however did not,” Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes told ABC News’ San Francisco affiliate ABC 7.

Anyone with information about Andrews’ whereabouts can call (866) 846-3592 or email tips@so.cccounty.us.

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(NEW YORK) — Closing arguments began Tuesday morning in the trial of a former Illinois sheriff’s deputy accused of shooting and killing a Black woman in her home.

The trial began last week for Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County deputy accused of fatally shooting Sonya Massey in July 2024 after she called 911 to report a possible intruder at her home in Springfield, Illinois.

“When you threaten to shoot someone in the face, and you do, that’s first-degree murder,” Sangamon County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers said during closing arguments, according to ABC affiliate WICS in Springfield, Illinois.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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(CHICAGO) — In a face-off on Tuesday with a federal judge, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino came under questioning about the crowd-control tactics he and his agents are using in their Chicago immigration crackdown.

With Bovino appearing before her dressed in uniform, Judge Sara Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered him to meet with her in person each weekday at 6 p.m. local time, to report to her on the immigration activities in Chicago that he is spearheading.

Bovino was on the witness stand for slightly more than an hour Tuesday morning, as Ellis considered allegations from the plaintiffs of multiple violations of a temporary restraining order (TRO) she issued this month, placing restrictions on the use of force and riot control weapons against demonstrators.

Ellis did the vast majority of the talking during the hearing, including an oral recitation of each provision of her temporary restraining order that she first issued on Oct. 9, requiring federal agents to issue advanced warnings when deploying tear gas.

The judge expanded the order on Oct. 16 to include a requirement for federal agents equipped with body-worn cameras to wear them and keep them on during “law enforcement activities” in Chicago.

“My role is simply to see that in the enforcement of those laws that you and the agents operating under you are acting in a manner that is consistent with your obligations under the law, meaning that it is consistent with the Constitution, that it is consistent with the law … and the TRO that I entered,” she said.

“That is my job and that is all that I am doing,” Ellis told Bovino as the hearing got underway.

Ellis ordered Bovino to appear before her following allegations that he had personally deployed tear gas on a crowd of demonstrators “without justification” last week, according to court filings in a lawsuit against the federal government.

Ellis indicated in a hearing earlier this month that she was “profoundly concerned” over the tactics used by federal agents in a series of clashes with protesters.

She issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 9, restricting federal agents from using aggressive tactics to quell protests, including the deployment of tear gas without advanced warning.

On Oct. 17, Ellis expanded her order to include a requirement for federal agents equipped with body-worn cameras to wear them and keep them on during “law enforcement activities” in Chicago.

Ellis is presiding over a lawsuit brought by journalists and citizens against the federal government over the immigration enforcement tactics in Chicago.

The plaintiffs argue that the government is “engineering their own pretext for their presence and behavior in Chicago” by “regularly inflicting harm on civilians who are simply protesting” the immigration enforcement operation.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday afternoon as a Category 5 hurricane — one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.

Here is Melissa’s projected path:

The hurricane-force winds began in western Jamaica on Tuesday morning and will last until the evening.

Around 1 p.m. ET, Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica near New Hope with estimated maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. This is considered an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation; people in Jamaica are urged to shelter in place.

The worst storm surge will be on the western half of the island, where 9 to 13 feet of surge will inundate the coast. On the northwest side of the island, the Montego Bay area could see 2 to 4 feet of storm surge above ground level. The capital city of Kingston will see damaging storm surge, but not the worst.

Heavy rain will inundate the entire island, with totals of 15 to 30 inches expected, and some areas seeing up to 40 inches. The rain will likely spark catastrophic flash flooding and landslides.

Jamaicans should be prepared for extensive infrastructure damage and long-lasting power outages.

Southeast Cuba will feel hurricane-force winds Tuesday night through Wednesday morning. Cuba is forecast to see 7 to 11 feet of storm surge, up to 25 inches of rain, and potentially landslides and catastrophic flash flooding.

The southeast Bahamas and Turks and Caicos will feel the impacts of Hurricane Melissa on Wednesday. Four to 6 feet of storms surge is expected along with 5 to 10 inches of rain.

Melissa will still be a hurricane by the time it passes near Bermuda on Friday morning.

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(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known as the “Hurricane Hunters,” encountered heavier than normal turbulence while flying into the eye of Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday morning and were forced to turn back.

The team is now returning to its operating location in Curacao after experiencing “forces stronger than normal” that warranted a safety inspection before they could continue, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron wrote on social media.

A similar situation arose on Monday, when a “Hurricane Hunters” flight “left the storm early” after experiencing severe turbulence on Monday as well, the National Hurricane Center said.

Despite being forced to return once on Monday, the Air Force shared jaw-dropping video as the “Hurricane Hunters” flew into the eye of the storm multiple times over the course of the day.

Melissa has a “well-defined” 10 nautical mile wide eye, according to the NHC.

The storm is expected to hit Jamaica on Tuesday and is forecast to be the worst storm in the island’s history. 

The storm, which has near-record-breaking winds of 185 mph on Tuesday morning, is now moving at 9 mph as it approaches the western part of the island. 

Melissa is expected to bring catastrophic winds, rain, flooding and storm surge.

Melissa is then forecast to cross eastern Cuba on Tuesday night or early Wednesday, and then move near or over the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos on Wednesday, according to the NHC. The hurricane could reach the vicinity of Bermuda on Thursday night.

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(NEW YORK) — New York’s intermediate appellate court should overturn President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money convictions because his trial was “fatally marred” by faulty evidence and overseen by a judge who should have recused himself, his attorneys argued in a court filing late Monday.

Trump’s formal appeal, 17 months after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts, asks the Appellate Division’s First Department to reverse what his lawyers call the “most politically charged prosecution in our Nation’s history.”

Trump was found guilty in May 2024 after a six-week trial over a scheme to conceal a $130,000 payment his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her from talking about a long-denied affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.  Trump reimbursed Cohen in monthly installments that prosecutors said amounted to falsified records.

“The DA, a Democrat, brought those charges in the middle of a contentious Presidential election in which President Trump was the leading Republican candidate. These charges against President Trump were as unprecedented as their political context,” Trump’s attorneys at the white shoe law firm Sullivan & Cromwell wrote in their appeal.

Under New York state law, falsifying business records becomes a felony if the records were falsified to commit or conceal another crime.  The appeal accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of trying to “twist New York law” to persuade the jury that Trump violated election statutes.

“Targeting alleged conduct that has never been found to violate any New York law, the DA concocted a purported felony by stacking time-barred misdemeanors under a convoluted legal theory, which the DA then improperly obscured until the charge conference. This case should never have seen the inside of a courtroom, let alone resulted in a conviction,” the appeal argued.

Leaning into a decision by the Supreme Court made after the trial that limited the use of evidence related to a president’s “official acts,” Trump’s lawyers also argued the New York Judge Juan Merchan erred by allowing evidence protected by presidential immunity. According to Trump’s lawyers, testimony from Trump’s former communications director Hope Hicks — later described by prosecutors as “devastating” for Trump — as well as evidence taken from his Twitter account and other protected conversations were improperly considered by the jury.

“The trial was fatally marred by the introduction of official Presidential acts that the Supreme Court has made clear cannot be used as evidence against a President,” the appeal said.

The appeal also took aim at Judge Merchan, arguing that a $15 donation he made to President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and another $20 in donations to Democratic-aligned organizations demonstrated political bias.  Before the trial, the New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics concluded that those donations — as well as Merchan’s daughter’s work for a digital ad agency that worked with Democratic officials — did not create a conflict for Merchan.  

Following Trump’s conviction, Judge Merchan, on the eve of Trump’s inauguration, sentenced him to an unconditional discharge — the lightest possible punishment allowed under New York state law — saying it was the “only lawful sentence” to prevent “encroaching upon the highest office in the land.”

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(BOSTON) — A Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Germany was diverted to Boston Saturday after a man allegedly stabbed two passengers with a metal fork, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Indian national Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, 28, allegedly stabbed two unidentified 17-year-old passengers with the fork, one in the shoulder and one in the head, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Following meal service, Minor A was sleeping lightly in a middle seat when he allegedly awoke to see Usiripalli standing over him,” the press release said. “It is alleged that Usiripalli used his right hand to strike Minor A in the left clavicle area with a metal fork. Usiripalli then allegedly lunged toward Minor B – who was seated to Minor A’s right in a middle seat in the center row of the aircraft – and struck Minor B in the back of his head with the fork. Minor B suffered a laceration to the rear of his head.”

“When flight crew members attempted to subdue Usiripalli, he allegedly raised his hand, formed a gun with his fingers, put it in his mouth and pulled an imaginary trigger. Immediately afterwards, Usiripalli allegedly turned toward a female passenger to his left and slapped her with his hand. Usiripalli also allegedly attempted to slap a flight crew member,” according to the press release.

“As a result of the disturbance, the flight was diverted to Boston Logan International Airport, where Usiripalli was immediately taken into custody,” the press release said.

Usiripalli was charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm while traveling on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, according to the press release. 

Lufthansa said in a statement that the flight diversion “was necessitated by the behavior of an unruly passenger, who was taken into custody by local authorities upon arrival. Consequently, the onward flight to Frankfurt did not continue as scheduled.” The statement added that “all passengers were provided with hotel accommodations and were rebooked on the next available flights.”

Usiripalli was in the U.S. on a student visa for a master’s program in biblical studies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if found guilty, the press release said, adding that Usiripalli will appear in federal court in Boston on an as-yet undetermined date.

ABC News’ Ayesha Ali and Clara McMichael contributed to this report.

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(PITTSBURGH) — A hockey fan was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after falling from the upper level of the arena during a Pittsburgh Penguins game on Monday, according to the team and local public safety officials.

On Monday at approximately 7:15 p.m., officials were alerted that an individual had fallen from the 200 level of PPG Paints Arena during the Penguins-Blues game, the Pittsburgh Public Safety Department said in a statement.

During the fall, the individual — identified as an adult male — struck another fan who was in the suite below before continuing to fall to the 100 level of the stadium, officials said.

“He was like, teetering a little bit, and then he fell forward. Somehow, he just kept sailing over the seats, and I think his head hit the Plexiglas, or safety glass, and shattered it,” Todd Derr, another game attendee, told Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE.

Paramedics responded immediately and located the patient, who was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, officials said.

The person who was struck by the falling fan during the incident was “evaluated by paramedics on scene and declined transport to the hospital,” officials said.

Detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fall, officials said, with the Penguins and OVG Management Group also “closely monitoring the situation.”

“Our concerns remain with the individual and his family at this time,” the Penguins said in a statement.

After the game, Penguins coach Dan Muse said his “thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”

“Obviously we all come here for a sport and a game and you hear something like that and that puts everything else aside,” Muse said on Monday night.

The status of the man’s condition as of Tuesday was not immediately clear.

The incident comes after a 20-year-old man fell 20 feet onto the outfield warning track during a Pittsburgh Pirates game in April. The man’s friend, 21, was charged for allegedly providing alcohol to the underage fan who fell from the bleachers onto the field during the seventh inning of the Pirates-Cubs game on April 30.

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