(NEW YORK) — Mega Million’s jackpot has surged to $977 million after no winners were selected in Tuesday night’s drawing. The next drawing is Friday night at 11 p.m.
The numbers drawn Saturday night were: 24, 46, 49, 62 and 66 and gold Mega Ball 7.
There have been 29 consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner. The last jackpot was won on Dec. 8.
The jackpot prize has a cash value of $467 million which can be offered as a one-time lump sum payment or an immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments.
The odds of winning the jackpot is 1 in 302,575,350, according to Mega Millions.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 for one play.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot prize ever won was $1.6 billion prize won on Aug. 8, 2023.
(NEW YORK) — Scientists have discovered a new ancient amphibian species that could bridge the gap in understanding how modern-day frogs and salamanders developed.
The fossilized skull of the 270-million-year-old amphibian ancestor was first unearthed in 1984 in a rock formation in Texas. However, it spent decades sitting in a collection at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History waiting to be studied.
In 2021, a group at the Smithsonian finally began examining the fossil to determine what prehistoric creature the fossil belonged to. The findings were published Thursday in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Paleontologists have playfully named the new species Kermitops gratus in honor of the Kermit the Frog, created by Jim Henson.
Calvin So, a doctoral student at the George Washington University and the paper’s lead author, said naming the creature after the beloved character is also an opportunity to get the public excited about the discovery.
“Using the name Kermit has significant implications for how we can bridge the science that is done by paleontologists in museums to the general public,” he said in a release. “Because this animal is a distant relative of today’s amphibians, and Kermit is a modern-day amphibian icon, it was the perfect name for it.”
Researchers said they discovered the fossil was a type of temnospondyl, a primitive amphibian that lived more than 200 million years ago mainly during the the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods.
The one-inch-long fossil has many unique characteristics that scientists realized made it different from previously discovered species. It has large, oval-shaped eye sockets and a skull with a short region behind the eyes but an elongated, curbed snout.
This head shape suggests the animal ate grubs — which are the larval form of certain beetle species — and other small insects, similar to frogs and salamanders.
There are some differences between Kermitops and present-day amphibians. The team discovered the skull has palpebral bones, or eyelid bones. Meanwhile, amphibians have moveable eyelids and have a third eyelid called a nictitating membrane that provides lubrication and protection.
Additionally, researchers found evidence of teeth, though not in the same place as modern-day frogs, most of which have small teeth on the upper jaws and roof of their mouths.
The Smithsonian team said that the history of amphibians and their ancestors documented through fossils is “fragmentary” due to their small and delicate bones, which has made it a challenge to study the evolution to their modern-day counterparts. The discovery of Kermitops, however, could help answer some questions about the evolutionary path.
“Kermitops offers us clues to bridge this huge fossil gap and start to see how frogs and salamanders developed these really specialized traits,” So said.
(NEW YORK) — Two suspected squatters have been taken into custody for questioning after they allegedly killed a woman who walked in on them living in her mother’s New York City apartment, police sources told ABC News.
The victim, Nadia Vitel, a 52-year-old woman from Spain, came to the U.S. to prepare her mother’s Manhattan apartment for a family friend, sources said. The Kips Bay apartment had been vacant for the last few months after Vitel’s mother died, sources said.
When Vitel went inside, she found a man and a woman living there, the sources said.
A struggle ensued, and it appears Vitel was thrown into a sheetrock wall, sources said.
The two suspects then allegedly stole Vitel’s Lexus and drove to New Jersey and then Pennsylvania, where they crashed near Harrisburg, sources said.
They were taken into custody on Friday in York, Pennsylvania, sources said.
On March 14, Vitel’s worried son, who hadn’t heard from his mother in two days, accessed the Kips Bay apartment with the superintendent and other relatives, and found his mom’s body, sources said. Vitel’s body was in a duffel bag in a closet, with her foot sticking out of the bag, sources said.
Vitel died from blunt force trauma to the head and her death was ruled a homicide, officials said.
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — The body of missing college student Riley Strain was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville Friday morning following a two-week search, according to Nashville police.
“No foul play-related trauma was observed,” police said.
There’s no evidence to suggest anything besides Strain accidentally falling in the river, Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters on Friday.
Strain’s body was spotted by workers at the river Friday morning, Drake said. The autopsy will likely be done Friday, he said.
Strain, a 22-year-old senior at the University of Missouri, went missing on March 8 after a night out at several Nashville bars. Strain and his Delta Chi fraternity brothers were visiting Nashville for their fraternity formal.
While the friends were out that night, Strain FaceTimed his mom and didn’t sound intoxicated, Strain’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, told ABC News.
Strain and his mom exchanged more texts after the FaceTime call, Whiteid said. The last text Strain sent to his mom that night was, “I love you.”
Surveillance cameras and police body cameras captured Strain’s last known movements from about 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Strain was reported missing on March 9 and authorities launched a massive search by foot, by drone and by boat.
The United Cajun Navy also arrived in Nashville to help organize volunteer searches.
Officers continue to work to locate missing person Riley Strain, 22, who was last seen Fri. night by friends @ a Broadway bar in Nashville. Riley is from Missouri and was visiting. He is 6’5″ tall with a thin build, blue eyes and light brown hair. See him? Pls call 615-862-8600. pic.twitter.com/daqKDWGJJO
Strain’s stepfather told ABC News on Wednesday that the family was beginning to have difficult conversations.
“Put yourself in our shoes,” Whiteid said. “Your family, your brother, your sister — they’ve been missing for almost two weeks.”
“Everybody knows it, everybody’s thinking it — those conversations are starting to happen,” he said. “It’s not what we want. And I understand that people want to know what we’re feeling — we’re feeling frustrated, we’re feeling hurt, we’re feeling depressed.”
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — Two weeks after college student Riley Strain went missing after a night out at several Nashville bars, his body was recovered in the Cumberland River in West Nashville, police said.
“No foul play-related trauma was observed,” police said.
Here’s how the case has unfolded:
March 8, 9:35 p.m. Strain, 22, and his Delta Chi fraternity brothers from the University of Missouri were in Nashville for their fraternity formal and went out in the city’s Broadway area on March 8.
“He was excited ’cause he was out, and he was sending me pictures at the different bars they were going to. And he was having fun with his fraternity brothers,” his mom, Michelle Whiteid, told ABC News.
At 9:35 p.m., Strain was escorted out of country star Luke Bryan’s bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge.
“At 9:35 p.m., our security team made a decision based on our conduct standards to escort him from the venue through our Broadway exit at the front of our building,” Luke’s 32 Bridge said in a statement. “He was followed down the stairs with one member of his party. The individual with Riley did not exit and returned upstairs.”
March 8, 9:46 p.m. At 9:46 p.m., surveillance video showed Strain walking alone as he stumbled down a street. An additional angle showed Strain running and falling down.
March 8, 9:47 p.m. Police released video showing Strain at 9:47 p.m., crossing the street with a group and checking his phone. He then stopped and changed directions for a moment before proceeding down the street behind the group.
Detectives today continue to pursue tips & investigative leads concerning missing person Riley Strain, 22. Strain, wearing a 2-tone shirt, is seen in this video crossing 1st Ave N to Gay St (right to left), at 9:47 p.m. Fri. Have info about him? Plz 📞 615-742-7463. pic.twitter.com/fE86dlqeOC
March 8, 9:50 p.m. Around 9:50 p.m., police officer Reginald Young came across Strain while responding to a car burglary on Gay Street, south of the Woodland Street Bridge, according to Nashville police.
As Strain walked by alone, the officer asked how he was doing. Strain responded, “I’m good, how are you?”
No evidence of foul play has surfaced as work continues to locate Riley Strain. On Sunday evening, Riley’s parents met with some of the detective team and received a full briefing on the work being done. They were also shown available video.
March 9 Strain’s friend reported him missing on March 9, according to Nashville police.
The friend told officers that their group last saw the 22-year-old around 10 p.m. the night before when he was kicked out of Luke Bryan’s bar, police said. The friends started looking for Strain, but couldn’t find him.
March 17 On March 17, two volunteer searchers found Strain’s bank card on the embankment between Gay Street and the Cumberland River, near Riverfront Park, police said.
“My stomach sank, her stomach sank, and we both looked at each other like, is this — is this real?” one of the volunteers, Brandy Baenen, told ABC News.
“I just hope that we find Riley,” Baenen said. “And I also hope that in some way that maybe this inspires other people to help — anyway they can in any other case, because it really could be anybody. Riley put on that button-up shirt that day and those boots, and he was probably so excited to go out with his frat brothers. Something that they probably been planning for so long. Nobody expected this to happen.”
March 22 On the morning of March 22, Strain’s body was found in the Cumberland River in West Nashville, police said.
“No foul play-related trauma was observed,” police said.
(NEW YORK) — The first weekend of spring is being ushered in with snow in the Midwest and New England, and heavy rain in major Northeast cities.
Montana to Minnesota saw 4 to 8 inches of snow overnight as a second storm slammed Texas with hail.
These storms will combine over the Northeast Friday night into the weekend, flooding the Interstate 95 corridor with rain and dumping heavy snow from western New York to New England.
A flood watch has been issued for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, Boston and Portland, Maine, for Friday night through Saturday evening.
Some areas could see up to 4 inches of rain in a short period of time.
Urban flash flooding is likely and driving could be extremely dangerous.
Further north, a winter storm warning has been issued for New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, where 1 to 2 feet of snow is possible in the mountains.
(NEW YORK) — Regina, a mother of three daughters, lives in one of the poorest counties in one of the country’s poorest states — Mississippi. She holds down a job during the day and is attending nursing school. Life for her is hard, but she manages as best she can.
In late 2022, that changed. Regina noticed that Ashley, her middle daughter, began withdrawing — she quit her cheer team and stopped going outside. Then Ashley started to get really sick, vomiting a lot.
“We took her to the hospital and rushed her in and they took her to the back …The nurse [was] like ‘You pregnant.’ And that’s when I just broke down and started crying,” Regina said.
Ashley, who was 11 weeks pregnant at the time, said she was raped by a stranger in the yard of the family’s home.
“She’s just 12. She don’t know nothing about having no babies. Nothing,” Regina said.
But amid confusion over what abortion care is allowed in Mississippi, Regina says she was unaware Ashley qualified for an abortion in Mississippi under the law’s exception for cases of rape. Yet, even if she was aware, it’s unlikely Ashley would have been able to get an abortion in Mississippi; with heavy restrictions in effect and the high penalties on physicians who violate the abortion ban, it is unlikely she would have found a doctor willing to perform a procedure.
Ashley, now 13 years old, is the mother of an 8-month-old baby boy nicknamed Peanut.
In addition to her homework, the seventh-grader now prepares bottles and changes diapers when she gets home.
To protect their privacy, ABC News is using the same pseudonyms as TIME Magazine, which first reported this story.
The OB-GYN on call the night Ashley went to the hospital, Dr. Erica Balthrop, says the conversation they had still weighs on her.
“You see this timid little girl — she’s literally a little girl — and she was like a deer in the headlights. She had no idea what was going on,” Balthrop said.
“That was probably one of those days that will just stick in my head. Forever,” she said. “It’s sad … I think about a woman — a girl with no rights of her own, basically. She can’t make a decision about her own body.”
Regina and Ashley reported the rape to law enforcement — which should have allowed her to get abortion care in the state.
Mississippi’s strict abortion ban has narrow exceptions for cases of rape and to save the life of the mother, but — caught in the confusion caused by a web of conflicting laws — Regina says she was unaware her daughter could have qualified for an abortion in Mississippi under the exception. Mississippi has several conflicting laws and even experts, doctors and patients are having a hard time navigating them
Regina said when she asked about their options, Dr. Balthrop told her the closest abortion clinic was in Chicago — with Mississippi boxed in by states with bans in place.
“That’s like $800; $1,500 to have an abortion up there. And I’m like, I have to drive, I leave work. I can’t afford that,” Regina said.
So the family was out of options. Regina decided to keep her daughter’s pregnancy private, homeschooling Ashley.
Police arrested the accused rapist last year. Regina says they used DNA from the baby to prove the link. He remains behind bars, charged with felony rape.
“He took my child’s innocence,” Regina said.
“She didn’t have to go through this. It’s not her time to go through this,” she said.
Only four abortions in the state in 2023
One expert says the family was failed by the system.
“It could be fair to say that there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about abortion across the country … People hear that it’s banned and they think that they don’t have options in the state,” Alina Salganicoff, senior vice president and director of Women’s Health Policy at Kaiser Family Foundation, told ABC News.
Had Regina known about the exception, Salganicoff says finding a physician to perform the procedure could also have been a challenge.
“Physicians have so much at stake in terms of losing their medical license, financial penalties, and, in some cases, criminalization leading to jail time. So it is very concerning for them to take the risk of performing an abortion unless they are absolutely certain that they won’t be penalized for this,” she said.
Dr. Balthrop acknowledged many providers in the state would not be willing to take the risk.
“Most people wouldn’t do it here in the state. They would refer you out,” Balthrop said.
Mississippi is just one of at least 14 states that have ceased nearly all abortion services in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned. The impact of bans has been drastic on women and girls seeking abortions in those states.
In 2023, the state only recorded four abortions performed under the exceptions, according to documents ABC News obtained from the Mississippi Department of Health. The department said the state does not track whether any of the abortions were in cases of rape.
That is compared to about 3,800 abortions provided in Mississippi in 2021.
One study estimates that across the 14 states that have ceased nearly all abortions, there may have been nearly 65,000 pregnancies caused by rape, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“The reality is that rapes are underreported… and so when you have a situation where you have an abortion ban that requires a report, women are much less likely to use that pathway to get an abortion when they feel they need one,” Salganicoff said.
ABC News reached out to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves’ office, several state lawmakers and the state’s senators and congressional representatives in Washington regarding this story, but none responded.
(NEW YORK) — Last September, as former President Donald Trump was mounting his reelection bid, he posted a “big announcement” to his Truth Social media platform: “Introducing Border911,” he declared, promoting a tax-exempt charity led by his former Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief, Tom Homan.
“Join us in making it HUGE!” Trump urged his more than six million followers.
The mission of Homan’s charity, Border911, is to “educate” swing voters about the threats that have allegedly streamed across the Southwest border under President Joe Biden’s watch, so those voters “make the right decision” in November’s election, according to public statements from Homan, a longtime Biden critic whom Trump has vowed to put in charge of an aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration if reelected.
Border911 is planning to embark on a 12-stop tour of battleground states to “convince” independent and Democratic voters that border security should be their “number one” factor on Election Day, Homan said on a podcast two weeks ago.
“And that’s what we need. Trump’s going to win,” he added.
The charity, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, pitches itself as “a group of the most distinguished border security experts,” including Border Patrol veterans Mark Morgan and Rodney Scott, and Fox News contributor Sara Carter. It has been promoted across conservative media, and some high-profile Republicans in Congress, including the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., have publicly offered their support.
But an examination of Border911 by ABC News has revealed extensive ties to prominent conspiracy theorists who pushed false claims about the 2020 presidential election, and has raised questions over whether Border911 is supporting Trump’s candidacy in a way that amounts to illegal intervention in a political campaign.
Despite a federal prohibition on 501(c)(3) organizations favoring or opposing candidates for public office, Border911 appears to have used its clout as a tax-exempt charity to push for Trump’s reelection, the experts said.
That’s ironic coming from a group “advocating for strict enforcement of the U.S. immigration laws,” said Lloyd Mayer, a law professor at Notre Dame University who specializes in nonprofit organizations.
“You’re big ‘law and order,’ but you’re [potentially] breaking the law yourself,” Mayer said.
In response to an inquiry from ABC News, Homan said any problematic messaging was “unintentional,” and that “We are making changes quickly to ensure we stay in compliance with [federal] rules.”
He referred any other questions to an attorney working with Border911, Steve Lentz, who told ABC News that Homan has never run a charity before and is still “learning how things work in this space.”
‘What they mean is Trump’
In two weeks, on April 4, Border911 is holding its first “major fundraiser” at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, with appearances by Trump himself, some of his top advisers, and a slew of other “Trumpers,” as Homan called them. Tickets are tax-deductible, ranging in price from $1,200 to $5,000 each.
Lentz, Border911’s general counsel, told ABC News that Border911 sent an email to the current White House inviting Biden as well, but the invitation wasn’t accepted.
“Let’s celebrate with [Trump] and help Border911,” Homan said on a recent podcast.
According to Mayer, none of that would be problematic if it all weren’t linked to efforts to influence the presidential election — especially now that a Trump-Biden rematch has been secured.
Federal laws “absolutely prohibit” 501(c)(3) organizations from publicly expressing any support for or opposition to any candidate for public office — and voter education efforts “with evidence of bias” against one candidate or in favor of another clearly violate that prohibition, IRS guidelines say.
As Homan has described it, Border911 is heavily relying on the Mar-a-Lago fundraiser to fund the charity’s nationwide tour of battleground states, which he said will “educate” people to “vote for border security” on Election Day.
Lentz insisted such rhetoric is just “presenting a position” and “not saying, ‘So therefore go vote for this guy.'”
But according to Mayer, Homan’s own public comments and Border911’s website have made clear what the Border911 team means when they say “vote for border security.”
“What they mean is Trump,” Mayer said. “All you have to do is look at [their] materials.”
Over the past several months, the top of Border911’s website has prominently featured a Border911-branded video with a clip of Homan saying, “No one did more to secure this country than Donald Trump; I’m a Trump guy.”
The video was removed this week, after ABC News asked Homan about Border911’s activities. It was replaced with a flyer announcing Trump’s confirmed attendance at the Mar-a-Lago event.
In Border911-branded videos on the website — sprinkled among dire and lengthy warnings about threats crossing the border — members of the Border911 team have blasted Biden’s record as “disgusting,” “insulting,” and “illegal,” while praising Trump’s record.
“I’m hoping to God in January 2025, we’re going to have somebody back in the White House that’s going to let [Border Patrol agents] do their job,” Homan says in one video, which was removed Thursday from the website.
“We all wake up every day pissed off at what this administration has done to the security of the United States,” Homan says in another Border911-branded video still on the website.
Until this week, when ABC News began asking questions, the website’s online “shop” sold a T-shirt emblazoned with the Border911 logo and one of Homan’s mottos: “Trump comes back. I come back. We fix this [expletive]!”
The T-shirt alone was “across the line,” but everything else contributes to even more unlawful “political campaign intervention without a doubt,” Mayer said.
Dan Kurtz, a partner with the New York-based law firm Pryor Cashman who represents nonprofit organizations, agreed that Border911 has been “unequivocally” violating the law, saying charities shouldn’t “intervene in a campaign with tax-free money.”
“It’s not one of these things where you can do only a little [intervening],” Kurtz said. “You can’t do any.”
Mayer said the IRS is usually hesitant to take enforcement action in such politically-sensitive cases, but he wouldn’t rule it out, especially once the election is over, and he said understanding what Border911 is doing still matters: Defying a law enacted by Congress can undermine “the rule of law,” and potential donors might want to know about it, he said.
“I wish they would have done some things differently,” Lentz conceded to ABC News. “I would rather there be no reference to a candidate, to any elections, anything like that.”
Lentz said his staff “will be scrubbing everything in the days to come to make sure that there’s nothing that even inadvertently looks like an endorsement of any candidate.”
‘Treasonous’?
There is no dispute that — as an entire page on Border911’s website illustrates — key border-related numbers have surged to record levels since Biden took office, with more than 7.5 million migrant encounters along the Southwest border, nearly two million more border-crossers reportedly detected but never captured, and at least 340 migrants caught with names matching known or suspected terrorists on a government watchlist. Americans, meanwhile, are dying from fentanyl overdoses at unprecedented rates.
Echoing Trump, Homan has called Biden and his administration “treasonous,” accusing them of deliberately letting violent criminals, human traffickers, terrorists and fentanyl flood into the United States for political gain.
But Biden administration officials reject such rhetoric, insisting that, with limited resources, they’re focusing on the border-crossers they believe pose the greatest threat to Americans.
Government statistics show that only a tiny fraction — less than 2 percent — of those who reached U.S. borders in the past three years had any kind of criminal record, and the vast majority of them involved nonviolent crimes, such as driving under the influence or previously entering the country illegally.
Administration officials note that the U.S. intelligence community has seen no credible evidence suggesting foreign terrorist organizations want to send operatives into the United States through Mexico, and that the government watchlist reportedly sometimes flags people who only have indirect or family connections to terrorism.
Officials also insist that 90 percent of the fentanyl coming into the country is not being smuggled across an unmanned border — it’s coming through ports of entry hidden in cars or trucks.
‘People trust charities more’
Homan spent more than three decades in law enforcement, and Lentz described him as “passionate” about border-related issues. Homan is known to choke up in public when speaking about victims of human traffickers or drug smugglers that he’s come across.
As Homan tells it, Border911 is a charity he launched last year because he had grown so concerned about the growing threats.
“I woke up one morning and I decided, ‘How are we going to take this government back? How can we get the right guy in the White House?'” he said on a podcast two weeks ago when discussing the start of Border911. “I took my own money … I built the program, built the website.”
But there’s more to Border911’s story.
Border911 was borne out of the America Project, the self-proclaimed “America First organization” that helped spread misinformation about the 2020 presidential election and still raises funds to support what it calls the “political hostages” arrested after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Founded by two conspiracy theorists — former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne and Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn — the America Project launched its own “Border911” tour in 2022, featuring Homan and other “experts” warning friendly audiences about what it called the “invasion at our Southern border.”
Then last year, with Homan looking to be part of something singularly-focused on border security, the America Project “graciously” gave Homan “the intellectual property rights to Border911,” according to Lentz.
Homan filed applications with the U.S. government to trademark Border911’s logo and obtain IRS recognition as a 501(c)(3) charity. He also began building a new website for Border911.
Mayer said organizations often seek 501(c)(3) status because tax-deductible donations make it easier to raise money, and because it offers “a little more credibility.”
“People trust charities more,” he said.
Lentz said Homan hasn’t mentioned the America Project when discussing the start of Border911 because his time there was a “brief” moment in his “whole history” of advocating for tougher border security.
Border911 still maintains what Lentz called a “very collegial relationship” with the America Project, which recently issued a press release promoting the Mar-a-Lago fundraiser and saying it is “proud to stand with Border911.”
Border 911 also maintains relationships with other known election deniers, whose false claims of a stolen presidency are regularly amplified by Trump’s reelection campaign and many of its supporters.
Mark Finchem, who two years ago unsuccessfully tried to become Arizona’s secretary of state with claims of a stolen 2020 election, said in a recent interview that he’s helping Homan with Border911, though he didn’t offer details. And Ben Bergquam, a right-wing media personality who wears T-shirts calling himself “Ultra Extreme MAGA” and declaring “Trump Won,” is also “part of our team unofficially,” an official Border911 “team” member said in December.
According to the Border911 website, the charity has eight “partners,” including the company MyPillow, whose CEO, Mike Lindell, is facing a $1.3 billion lawsuit for accusing Dominion Voting machines of helping Biden steal the 2020 election. Lindell has denied wrongdoing.
“Mike Lindell and the Border911 team are people of action. Support us both,” said a MyPillow ad posted to Border911’s Facebook page last November.
Another Border911 “partner” is the America First Warehouse, a so-called “patriotic” event venue and TV production studio that claims “Trump won handily” in 2020 and that America is “under assault from the leftist Marxists who seek to impose a totalitarian, new-world order.”
Lentz said neither Homan nor Border911 is “interested in that discussion” of a stolen election.
Asked why Border911 is affiliated with so many who are, Lentz said the charity is just “trying to invite the biggest group that they can.”
‘There will be a (c)(4)’
There is another type of tax-exempt charity — a 501(c)(4) organization — that can intervene in elections and even lobby members of Congress, but donations to 501(c)(4) organizations are not tax-deductible.
Lentz said he and Homan are in the process of getting a separate entity registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(4) organization, so the Border911 team can use it to participate in those political activities.
“There will be a (c)(4) eventually,” he said.
In the meantime, Lentz said he is going to focus on ensuring the 501(c)(3), officially called the Border911 Foundation, is only used for education.
“They understand now that they can’t endorse a candidate either overtly or covertly,” Lentz told ABC News.
Anything improper that may have happened “is inadvertent, it’s not intentional. And Tom is very committed to cleaning it up,” Lentz said. “As a former law enforcement officer, he wants to follow the [law].”
(TULSA, Okla.) — No charges will be filed in connection with a fight that Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict was involved in a day before they died, the Tulsa County district attorney said Thursday.
Benedict, a member of the 2SLGBTQ community, got into a physical fight with several other students in a bathroom at Owasso High School on Feb. 7.
“From all of the evidence gathered, this fight was an instance of mutual combat,” Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a lengthy press release. “I do not have a reasonable belief that the State of Oklahoma could sustain its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt if charges were presented for prosecution.”
Benedict died by suicide on Feb. 8, according to an autopsy report summary released last week by the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The full report will be released on March 27.
Kunzweiler said the medical examiner’s report noted that “superficial injuries” consistent with the fight were visible, “but none of which caused or resulted in death.” The autopsy did not find “any evidence of an internal injury” that resulted in death, he said.
“An important part of the Owasso Police Department’s investigation was the discovery of some brief notes, written by Benedict, which appeared to be related to the suicide,” Kunzweiler wrote. “Although the notes do not make any reference to the earlier fight or difficulties at school, the parents indicated that Benedict reported being picked upon for various reasons while at school.”
The Benedict family lawyers have no comment at this time following Kunzweiler’s decision.
Following the news of the DA’s decision, GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis released a statement.
“Time and time again, leaders in Oklahoma have showed that they don’t value Nex’s life, or the lives of other Indigenous and 2STGNC+ (Two Spirit, transgender, and gender-nonconforming+) students. Everyone from Superintendent Walters and Owasso High School to the unaccredited-since-2009 state Medical Examiner’s Office, the District Attorney, and Owasso Police Department have failed Nex Benedict and failed us all,” Ellis said.
“It is critical that an independent investigation is completed and the truth about what happened to Nex, and what all marginalized youth in Oklahoma schools endure, is brought to light. We will never stop seeking justice for Nex and we will never stop holding leaders accountable to serving their communities fairly and with compassion,” she continued.
Kunzweiler said that those involved in the fight were juveniles and had been “antagonizing each other” in the days leading up to the altercation. Based on witness accounts, Benedict poured water over two girls in the bathroom after “comments were directed about how Benedict laughed” and the fight lasted less than one minute, he said.
During an interview with police from the hospital in the hours after the fight, Benedict said that they had poured water on students who were making fun of the way they and their friends laughed and dressed, footage previously released by the Owasso Police Department shows.
“We were laughing and they had said something like, ‘Why do they laugh like that?’ And they were talking about us in front of us,” the teen said in the 21-minute video about the students they had an altercation with. “And so I went up there and I poured water on them. And then all three of them came at me.”
In the ensuing physical altercation, Benedict said they “threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser. And then they got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground … beating the s— out of me.”
“And then my friends tried to jump in and help but I’m not sure, I blacked out,” Benedict said.
Benedict was nonbinary and went by they/them pronouns, according to Benedict’s family. 2SLGBTQ includes Two Spirit, an umbrella term used to describe a third gender in Native and Indigenous communities. Sue Benedict, their mother, is a registered member of the Choctaw Nation.
Anti-LGBTQ bullying and violence have been the center of conversation in the aftermath of Benedict’s death, as Benedict’s family called for action and answers concerning the bullying they say the student faced in school.
Following the release of the autopsy report summary last week, the family called on education officials and lawmakers to “come together to prevent any other family from having to suffer through the heartache now borne by Nex’s loved ones.”
“Reforms creating school environments that are built upon the pillars of respect, inclusion and grace, and aim to eliminate bullying and hate, are the types of change that all involved should be able to rally behind,” the family said in a statement released through their lawyers.
The Department of Education has opened an investigation into Owasso Public Schools following a complaint from the Human Rights Campaign related to such concerns.
The school district has said that bullying “in any form is unacceptable.”
“We take reports of bullying very seriously and have policies and procedures in place to address such behavior,” the school district said in a past statement.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
(AUGUSTA, Ga.) — Two juveniles who escaped from police while being transported to a youth detention center in Augusta, Georgia, are back in custody after allegedly knocking out a deputy on Thursday, according to authorities.
The two teenagers, a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old, were being transported to the Augusta Regional Youth Detention Center when authorities say they overpowered a Jenkins County Deputy and managed to escape into the woods early Thursday afternoon. According to ABC affiliate WJBF-TV, the teens had been in court.
The two individuals were able to obtain the deputy’s .45-caliber handgun, Jenkins County Sheriff’s Office officials say, shooting three rounds in the officer’s direction.
The officer was rendered unconscious due to the physical attack.
“The deputy is safely recovering,” Sheriff Alfonzo Williams of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office said.
Burke County Sheriff’s Office deputies worked with the Georgia State Patrol in the search for the teens.
Both the teens were eventually found on the side of Knight Road and taken back into custody, officials said.
“We extend our sincere gratitude to all participating law enforcement agencies and the community for their unwavering support and collaboration. Together, we prevailed in safeguarding our community,” Williams said, adding, “Today, the collective experience of law enforcement and our resources across the state brought about a successful resolution.”
