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(NEW YORK) — As the Jewish community grapples with a recent surge in antisemitic incidents, many U.S. synagogues are increasingly turning to trainings led by security experts who can advise on what to do if there’s a violent threat on the premises.

Antisemitic assaults jumped 26% and acts of vandalism spiked more than 50% in 2022, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Three out of the last five years have been record breakers for such incidents, the ADL said.

Non-profit Secure Community Network says it holds “countering active threat” trainings for the American Jewish community.

Following antisemitic incidents, the organization tends to see “big spikes” in requests for these trainings, a spokesperson told ABC News. A Texas rabbi credited a training with knowing how to respond when an armed suspect took four congregants hostage at a Colleyville synagogue last January. The hostages escaped and the suspect was fatally shot by police after a standoff.

The following month, requests for active threat trainings in synagogues and Jewish spaces rose to nearly 300 across the country, the spokesperson said.

“We were established to ensure that the Jewish community had access to the best practice information around safety and security preparedness,” Robert Graves, deputy director of Strategic Operational Development at Secure Community Network, told ABC News podcast “Start Here.”

Graves recently led one such training at a synagogue in Montgomery County, Maryland. The synagogue spoke to ABC News under the condition their name or specific location wouldn’t be identified.

“I’m a mom and, you know, I come here with my kids and it terrifies me, that I’m not going to be able to protect myself or protect them,” a congregant named Jen told “Start Here.”

“It’s hard. It’s very hard and it’s kind of discombobulating sometimes, but I feel like it’s one of the things that comes with the territory, sort of as being a Jewish person in the world today. But that’s where the training comes in. So you have to kind of remind yourself, ‘I am safe.’ And then you can let yourself into the moment,” she continued.

Montgomery County has the largest percentage of Jewish residents in the state — over 10% out of 1 million residents. Just last year, the local police department reported 48 anti-Jewish bias incidents in the county, which was up 55% compared to the previous year.

The Secure Community Network holds 40 to 50 active threat trainings in the D.C.-area Jewish community per year, the spokesperson said.

At one point in the synagogue’s history, the building was vandalized with a graffiti swastika in an incident that stoked fear among the community, a congregant said. But there haven’t been any threats or acts of violence targeting the synagogue, according to local police.

Still, the congregation keeps its doors locked at all times, even on the Sabbath and other holidays. Congregants use fingerprint access to gain entry to the synagogue. A security committee discusses security of their building and coordinates safety education, such as the training conducted by the Secure Community Network.

“These attacks, these shootings can happen anywhere. You know, synagogue’s just a place that a lot of us spend a lot of time, and sure, we are an enhanced target,” said another congregant, adding that he believes it’s still the best time and place to be Jewish, “compared to some of the things that our ancestors have been through.”

“One of our many narratives of the Jewish people facing oppression in the past [is] you know, through courage, rising up and changing this story and changing the outcome of this story,” the synagogue’s rabbi said.

While just over 2% the U.S. population self-identifies with the religion, Jewish people were the targets of 51.4% of 1,590 religiously motivated hate crimes reported in 2021, according to FBI data released in March.

The Secure Community Network was founded in 2004 under the auspices of The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, according to their website. Along with safety training, the organization conducts threat assessments and offers consulting on safety and security matters. The organization also says it monitors and shares “credible threat and incident” information with law enforcement and others in the community.

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(WASHINGTON) — The driver of a rented box truck that collided with a security barrier near the White House on Monday was arrested and charged, law enforcement officials said.

The U-Haul truck crashed at about 10 p.m. on the north side of Lafayette Square near the White House, officials said.

The suspect was identified as Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri, according to the U.S. Park Police.

Kandula was charged with five counts, including assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, trespassing and destruction of federal property, U.S. Park Police said.

He was also charged with threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a president, vice president or their families, police said.

Kandula allegedly traveled from St. Louis to Dulles International Airport where he rented a U-Haul truck and drove to the White House, law enforcement sources told ABC News. After ramming the bollard, Kandula exited the vehicle and began waving a flag with what authorities say appeared to be a swastika on it, and that is when officers from the U.S. Park Police detained him.

The FBI interviewed Kandula and told law enforcement that he wanted to seize power, take over the government and kill the president, according to three law enforcement sources. Additionally, sources tell ABC News that authorities are looking at a mental health component to the investigation.

There were no injuries to any Secret Service or White House personnel, Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, said in a statement.

A “preliminary investigation reveals the driver may have intentionally struck” the barrier, he said.

The truck was cleared for potential explosives, a law enforcement official said.

Park Police confirmed to ABC News that the investigation is still ongoing.

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(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The families of two of the victims in the University of Idaho killings last fall have filed notice reserving their right to sue the city of Moscow, according to documents filed with the city.

The families of slain students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, may seek damages against the city for the murders of their daughters, according to the notices, which were dated May 3 and May 11, respectively, and were obtained by ABC News.

The notices do not specify what kind of claim the families may make. They say that potential dollar figures for damages are “undetermined at this time.”

No lawsuit has yet been filed, but the claims protect the families’ rights to sue within two years, Shanon Gray, an attorney representing the Goncalves and Mogen families, told ABC News.

“Filing a tort claims notice is really just a safeguard,” Gray said. “It’s a safeguard to protect the interests of the families, the victims and really the whole community around, because if something goes wrong, or was done improperly, then someone is held accountable for that.”

Gray said he had also filed tort claims notices with Washington State as well as Idaho State.

“Those aren’t meant to do anything other than protect the interests of the families and the victims moving forward,” Gray said.

When reached Monday evening, Moscow Mayor Art Bettge had no comment on the matter.

Goncalves and Mogen were among four students at the university, along with Xana Kernodle, 20, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, who were found stabbed to death at their off-campus house on Nov. 13 by officers responding at the scene. After a more than six-week hunt, police zeroed in on a suspect: Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University.

Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30 in Pennsylvania, after driving cross-country to spend the holidays at his family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, a grand jury returned a multi-count indictment against Kohberger, including four counts of murder in the first degree.

Kohberger stood silent at his arraignment Monday. Second District Judge John Judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Early on in the investigation, Gray and the Goncalves families had expressed frustration with the pace of the investigation and what they described as lack of transparency.

In a mid-December interview on NBC, Gray questioned whether the local police were “capable” of handling the quadruple homicide investigation and that they had done a “poor job” of communicating information to the family.

“If they are in over their heads, then acknowledge that and turn the investigation over to someone who is more versed in handling these types of matters,” Gray said.

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(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump will appear, virtually, in a Manhattan, New York court Tuesday so a judge can ensure he understands the terms of a protective order imposed in the criminal case against him.

Trump, who last month pleaded not guilty in a New York City courtroom to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment, is prohibited from sharing on social media any evidence turned over by the Manhattan district attorney during discovery.

The protective order was requested by prosecutors after Trump criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, presiding Judge Juan Merchan and others associated with the criminal case.

Merchan imposed the protective order over the evidence, but stopped short of imposing a gag order, saying he wanted to give Trump the freedom to speak about the case as he campaigns for president.

Prosecutors sought Tuesday’s hearing for the judge to read Trump the terms of the order and affirm Trump’s understanding of it.

The former president is accused of concealing the true nature of reimbursement payments that he made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, after Cohen paid $130,000 to adult film Stormy Daniels in the closing weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign so she would keep quiet about a long-denied affair with Trump.

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(WASHINGTON) — The driver of a rented box truck that collided with a security barrier near the White House on Monday was arrested and charged, law enforcement officials said.

The U-Haul truck crashed at about 10 p.m. on the north side of Lafayette Square near the White House, officials said.

An adult male suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was charged with five counts, including assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, trespassing and destruction of federal property, U.S. Park Police said.

He was also charged with threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a president, vice president or their families, police said.

There were no injuries to any Secret Service or White House personnel, Anthony Gugliemi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, said in a statement.

A “preliminary investigation reveals the driver may have intentionally struck” the barrier, he said.

The truck was cleared for potential explosives, a law enforcement official said.

Park Police confirmed to ABC News that the investigation is still ongoing.

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(ROCKLIN, Calif.) — A good Samaritan who stopped his car to help a family of ducks cross a road in California was struck and killed by a teenage driver, police say.

The incident occurred on Thursday in Rocklin, California — approximately, 25 miles northeast of Sacramento — when the male driver parked his car at the intersection of Park Drive and Stanford Ranch Boulevard when he saw a family of ducks attempting to cross the busy streets, according to a statement from the Rocklin Police Department.

But when the man, identified as 41-year-old Casey Rivara by ABC News’ Sacramento affiliate KXTV, got out and tried to shepherd the ducks across the road, a teenage driver who was headed eastbound on Stanford Ranch Boulevard ended up hitting the man as he attempted his good deed.

“This juvenile driver struck the pedestrian who was in the roadway,” said the Rocklin Police Department. “The driver remained at the scene of the collision. Emergency first responders arrived to assist, however the man died at the scene.”

The Major Accident Investigation Team was activated and responded to the area following the collision and police say the intersection was closed for nearly six hours while authorities conducted their investigation which last until about 2 a.m. on Friday morning when the road was reopened.

“Both lives were ruined. His and the person who hit him, so I think it’s terrible,” community member Diane Myerson told KXTV. “He was doing something nice and he ended up dying for it. Nobody thinks that they get out to help an animal or a person that they’re going to be killed”

The teenage driver was not arrested and the incident is still under investigation, police say.

Rivara, who was an employee at Maria Montessori Charter Academy, was reportedly driving his children home after swim practice when he saw the mother duck and ducklings struggling to cross the busy intersection, according to KXTV.

“We would like to extend our condolences to all involved in this tragic event,” said the Rocklin Police Department.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Rocklin Police Department.

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(UVALDE, Texas) — Plans are moving forward to demolish the site of the school shooting last year in Uvalde, Texas, officials said Monday.

The leaders of the small Texas community also said they’re close to finalizing an agreement that would allow city investigators access to police records to determine whether or not any law enforcement officers should be fired or disciplined for the failed response to the shooting on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary.

“We don’t have all the answers,” Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said. “For that, I apologize.”

McLaughlin made his comments during a news conference that kicked off a week of commemorations to mark one year since the massacre. The site of the second-deadliest school shooting in American history took place at Robb Elementary, where 19 children and two teachers were killed.

The city manager, Vince DiPiazza, said the city’s leadership wants to conduct its investigation through proper channels, emphasizing that “we don’t want any backtracking. We don’t want any do-overs.”

“The city has been pushing; [the city] has not had access to the material but has reached an agreement with the judge to look over both parties,” DiPiazza said.

ABC News and other media outlets have broadcast and published evidence and recordings obtained through the criminal investigation being conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety. The city, however, has yet to be given access to the records, which, it has long argued, it needs in order to properly investigate police actions.

The final release to clear the way for the school’s demolition needs to come from District Attorney Christina Mitchell, according to interim schools Superintendent Gary Patterson. The school board trustees decided in early June 2022 to demolish the elementary school, yet plans have yet to be announced. At the news conference Monday, Patterson said he hopes the process can move forward by this summer.

The district attorney’s office did not respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

“These families have had nothing but pure hell for a year,” McLaughlin said. “I wish I had a playbook.”

The mayor asked the community and media to show compassion and privacy for the families. For the last two weeks, families of some of the victims visited the school and walked the building and property where their children took their last breaths, as promised months ago by the school district.

Some families of victims say they want the school demolished, including Jerry Mata, who lost his 10-year-old daughter Tess.

A new elementary school, yet to be named, is scheduled to open by fall 2024. More than 75% of the $60 million has been raised for school construction, according to the Uvalde CISD Moving Forward Foundation. The foundation says it continues to raise funds.

The mayor said that amid the continued grief, “together we will move forward.”

Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.

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(WASHINGTON) — The special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents previously requested documents from the Trump Organization related to potential business dealings with multiple foreign countries, ABC News confirmed.

The subpoena seeks details on any of the company’s possible dealings with China, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, according to sources familiar with its contents.

The timeline on the subpoena goes back to 2017, the sources said.

News of the subpoena was first reported by The New York Times.

Representatives for the Trump Organization declined to comment when contacted by ABC News. The office of special councel Jack Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As part of Trump’s pledge prior to taking office in 2017, he promised to separate himself from his company’s foreign business dealings while he was in office.

The Trump Organization in November announced a licensing deal in Oman. It’s also been hosting Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournaments at Trump-owned clubs since last year, including one this week in Virginia.

ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — Lauren Miller is speaking out after she became one of five women who filed a lawsuit against Texas and its attorney general, alleging that the state’s abortion ban put their lives in danger.

Miller, 35, who became pregnant with twins last year, said she had to travel out of state to get care to save her life and the life of one of the unborn twins after she learned the other was not viable.

“With trisomy 18, if he made it to birth, all it says is that he’s got a pulse,” Miller told ABC News’ Rachel Scott, referring to a condition in which a baby has three copies of chromosome 18 instead of the normal two. “It’s no quality of life. It would be immediate surgeries. Life expectancy somewhere three to 15 days. Maybe he could make it a year, maybe a few years.”

For more of Lauren Miller and Dr. Austin Dennard’s story, watch “Nightline” tonight at 12:35 a.m. ET.

Around the time she got pregnant, Miller said she was following news of Roe v. Wade being overturned because she was worried about what effect it could have on her. Miller and her husband had been trying for their second child.

“There’s just that little bit of hesitancy; will this be OK? Will we be safe? Because there’s ramifications for my health now, too,” Miller said. “And you just don’t know what the law is. How close to death do I have to be before I can fully access health care?”

Texas has several abortion laws in place, prohibiting all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, except in medical emergencies, which the laws do not define. One of the bans — called SB 8 — prohibits abortions after cardiac activity is detected, which kept several plaintiffs from accessing care despite their pregnancies being nonviable, according to the suit.

More women have since joined the suit — including her 38-year-old OB-GYN, Dr. Austin Dennard — bringing the total number of plaintiffs to 15.

Miller, already a mother of one, was excited when she found out she was pregnant in July 2022. But her pregnancy was difficult from the beginning. Early on, she was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of persistent nausea that can last throughout pregnancy, even heading to the emergency room when continuous vomiting left her dehydrated.

A few weeks after finding out she was pregnant, Miller and her husband learned that one of the babies, who was growing slower than the other, received the diagnosis of trisomy 18. The anomaly meant she had a high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth and the baby had a low survival rate beyond its first year of life.

“I was just reeling, because at that point I had so many plans,” Miller said.

A maternal fetal medicine specialist confirmed that the baby had several abnormalities, including cystic hygromas, sac-like structures where much of the brain should have been developing; a single artery umbilical cord; incomplete abdominal wall; abnormal heart; and abnormal nuchal translucency, according to a draft of the suit.

“Baby B was not going to survive. And every day he continued to develop put his twin and myself at higher risk,” Miller said.

“It was tough, [my doctor and I] couldn’t have an open conversation and she doesn’t even provide abortion services,” Miller added. “Her job is just to give people the worst news and tell them their options and there’s no option she can give anymore.”

Miller’s options were to continue the pregnancy and see if she would become sick enough for abortion to become an option or to take matters into her own hands and go out of state for abortion care, she said.

“For us, there was really no decision to be made. It was clear that our son was not going to survive,” Miller said.

The specialist told Miller and her husband that before the abortion ban went into effect, he would have been able to offer her a single fetal reduction, an abortion of the sick twin, to give Miller and the other one the best chance of avoiding a health crisis. But because of the ban, all he could do was tell them to go out of state, according to the lawsuit.

She gave birth to a healthy boy in March.

“If I hadn’t been able to access abortion care. My son may not have made it,” Miller said.

Miller said she hoped she wouldn’t end up so sick she would leave her son without a mother.

“I don’t want my husband to end up a single dad because the state wouldn’t let me get an abortion,” Miller said.

As a physician, Dennard said the bans have impacted what she feels she is able to discuss with patients.

“The relationship that a physician and a patient has, it’s so unique. It’s based on knowledge and trust and confidentiality. And now it’s as if there’s someone in my room with a patient building this wall up, and I can’t communicate with them and they feel scared to communicate with me,” Dennard told ABC News.

“I’ve had to change the way that I speak to my patients about abortion,” she continued. “It’s even hard to say the word because you feel like you’re gonna get in trouble just by saying the word abortion.”

Physicians in Texas who violate the bans could face fines of at least $100,000, lose their medical license or face up to 20 years in prison.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is named in the suit, did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment about the lawsuit. When the suit was first announced in March, Paxton’s office did not comment specifically on it.

“Attorney General Ken Paxton is committed to doing everything in his power to protect mothers, families and unborn children, and he will continue to defend and enforce the laws duly enacted by the Texas legislature,” his office said in March.

Dennard joined the lawsuit against Texas Monday, suing on behalf of herself and her patients.

“When these laws came into effect, it was not just violating the autonomy that I felt like I had with my own training, it was putting my own livelihood on the line in addition to, of course, my patients,” Dennard said.

Dennard had been in the same situation as Miller — as a patient who needed abortion care.

Dennard was excited when she found out she was pregnant with her third child in July 2022. But at her 11-week ultrasound, she discovered that her fetus had anencephaly, a fatal condition that causes the baby to develop with no skull and very little brain matter.

“I could tell there was something not right with the brain and it was just a moment of realizing that this was not going to end up being a sibling for my children. And then I thought to myself, ‘I can’t believe I’m gonna go out of state for an abortion.’ It felt surreal,” Dennard said.

Dennard said she traveled to the East Coast for abortion care.

“I knew immediately that I didn’t want to continue the pregnancy,” Dennard said. “For me, I didn’t want to put my health — physical, mental, emotional health — at risk, continuing my pregnancy. But for somebody else, carrying a pregnancy with anencephaly — feeling their baby move, delivering their baby, holding their baby while it passes away — potentially might be what’s right for them. I just knew it wasn’t right for me,” Dennard said.

“I couldn’t believe that the state of Texas had decided for me what I could and could not do with my pregnancy,” Dennard said.

Dennard is now pregnant again and fears for her safety as a pregnant woman in Texas, according to the suit. Dennard and her husband, also a physician, are also unsure if they will continue to live in Texas.

“After my abortion, my husband and I went and sat and had lunch and we talked about what else had to happen in our state for us to pack up and leave,” Dennard said. “It just feels like we can’t do our job the way that we should be able to do it and help people the way that we should be able to help them.”

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(ATLANTA) — LaShawn Thompson, the man whose family claimed was “eaten alive by insects and bed bugs” in the Fulton County Jail, died of “complications due to severe neglect,” according to an independent autopsy.

Thompson’s family spoke out in a press conference outside the Georgia State Capitol on Monday, along with their attorneys Ben Crump and Michael Harper, where they announced the results of the independent autopsy in which Thompson’s cause of death is listed as “homicide.”

The autopsy report, which was obtained by ABC News, lists “dehydration, malnutrition, severe body insect infestation,” as well as “untreated decompensated schizophrenia,” as the conditions that led to Thompson’s death in the Atlanta jail on September 13, 2022.

Photos of Thompson covered with bed bugs and images of his filthy cell went viral on social media and led to widespread outrage.

“It’s enough that the bed bugs and lice sat there and ate my brother to death, but it’s the neglect that hurts me the most,” said Thompson’s brother Brad McCray during the press conference on Monday.

“These images all over the internet, all over the media. It’s disturbing. It’s horrific. And it’s a big impact on my family,” McCray added.

Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp nonprofit organization paid for Thompson’s independent autopsy, Harper confirmed to ABC News. Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers player and social justice advocate, offered to pay for an independent autopsy after a previous autopsy released by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office on Jan. 12, 2023 listed Thompson’s cause of death as “undetermined.”

The Fulton County autopsy, which was obtained by ABC News, was completed on Sept. 14, 2022 – a day after Thompson’s death – and listed the conditions of “Schizoaffective disorder, bipolar and acute exacerbation.”

The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office declined to comment to ABC News on Monday when asked about the results of the independent autopsy.

Thompson was arrested on June 12, 2022, for simple battery against police officials, according to jail records.

His death led to resignations at the Fulton County Jail after the family claimed that Thompson was left in a filthy cell where he was “eaten alive by insects and bed bugs” where staff allegedly ignored his medical needs.

Following Thompson’s death, the Atlanta Police Department and the Office of Professional Standards launched an investigation into Thompson’s death.

Asked about the status of the investigation, a spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department referred ABC News on Monday to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, saying that they are the lead agency in the probe.

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick “Pat” Labat told ABC News in a statement on Monday afternoon that while he has “not had a chance to fully review the independent autopsy report,” even before the report was released ” it was painfully clear there were a number of failures that led to Mr. Thompson’s tragic death.”

“I remain committed to making sure the Thompson family receives the answers they need and deserve about the unconscionable circumstances surrounding Mr. Thompson’s death,” he added.

Labat, who joined the family at a previous press conference in April, said in an April 17 statement that following the preliminary finds of the probe into Thompson’s death, there have been “sweeping changes” at the Fulton County Jail.

Labat said in the statement that he asked for and received the resignations of multiple employees at the jail, including the chief jailer, the assistant chief jailer and the assistant chief jailer of the site’s Criminal Investigative Division.

Once the investigation is complete, a report will be handed over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations for review.

“Repercussions for anyone found to be negligent in Mr. Thompson’s care could come once the full investigation is turned over to the GBI for review,” Labat told ABC News in the statement on Monday.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, called on the U.S. Department of Justice on April 20 to launch an investigation into Thompson’s death. The DOJ did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

ABC News’ Nakylah Carter and Teddy Grant contributed to this report.

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