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(SOUTHWICK, Mass.) — Six Massachusetts eighth graders face criminal charges in connection with “hateful and racist comments” in a group chat that allegedly included threats and a mock slave auction, officials said.

The group chat unfolded on Snapchat on Feb. 8 into the early morning hours of Feb. 9 among multiple juveniles in Southwick, a suburb of Springfield, according to the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office.

Several students “expressed hateful and racist comments, including notions of violence toward people of color, racial slurs, derogatory pictures and videos, and a mock slave auction directed at two juveniles known to them,” Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said at a press briefing on Thursday announcing the charges following a monthlong investigation.

The chat was reported to school authorities in Southwick on Feb. 9, Gulluni said. Southwick police were also notified. Gulluni said he became aware of the incident on Feb. 15 and launched an investigation into the use of “hate speech and race-based bullying.”

As a result of the investigation, six juveniles now face charges, Gulluni said. All are eighth graders at the Southwick Regional School, aged 13 or 14, he said.

“There is no question that the alleged behavior in this case of these six juveniles is vile, cruel and contemptible,” Gulluni said. “Seeing it, and facing the reality that these thoughts, that this ugliness can exist within middle school students here in this community in 2024 is discouraging, unsettling and deeply frustrating.”

All six have been charged with threat to commit a crime, according to the district attorney’s office. One has additionally been charged with interference with civil rights and witness interference, while another has also been charged with interference with civil rights, the district attorney said. Their names are not being released because they are juveniles, according to the district attorney.

“With this I intend to be very clear: Hatred and racism have no place in this community, and where this behavior becomes criminal, I will ensure that we act — and act with swift resolve, as we did here — to uncover it and bring it to the light of justice,” Gulluni said.

Several students, including those charged, were immediately suspended from the Southwick Regional School on Feb. 12 over the chat, according to the district attorney’s office. Several students were formally suspended several days later, including two for 25 days and one for 45 days, the office said.

ABC News has reached out to the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District for comment on the charges.

In a statement to Boston ABC affiliate WCVB last month, Superintendent of Schools Jennifer Willard said the school district sent an email to the school community on Feb. 12 informing them of a “highly inappropriate and racist conversation on Snapchat that involved students at Southwick Regional School.”

“We can assure the community that the District does issue consequences in accordance with our school code of conduct in these types of circumstances,” Willard said in her statement. “As stated in our original email to the community, the District firmly believes that racism and discrimination have no place in our school community.”

A Springfield woman told WCVB that her 13-year-old daughter was one of the targets of the alleged mock slave auction.

“If they have this level of hate in them now at this tender age of 13 and 14, it worries me,” she told the station last month. “I know this is not something we can just walk away from.”

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(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in New York declined to dismiss bribery charges against Sen. Bob Menendez, ruling his conduct is not protected by the nature of his job as a United States senator or as then-chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

“[T}he Court finds that none of the allegations at issue concerning the U.S. Attorney Scheme or the Egyptian Aid Scheme are protected by the Speech or Debate Clause,” Judge Sidney Stein wrote Thursday.

Menendez sought to dismiss charges including conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, and conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent.

The judge said none of those charges should be dismissed based on the U.S. Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause protections for members of Congress and no allegations should be purged.

Prosecutors have accused Menendez, 69, of conspiring with his wife, Nadine Menendez, and businessman Wael Hana to have the senator act as an agent of Egypt. In exchange for bribe payments, Menendez was meant to help lift a block on U.S. military aid to Egypt, the indictment says. The senator has also been accused of accepting bribes in exchange for doing favors for the government of Qatar.

Another businessman who had been charged in the case, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty earlier this month and agreed to cooperate. Uribe said he supplied Nadine Menendez with a luxury convertible in exchange for favors, prosecutors said.

Sen. Menendez is the first sitting member of Congress to be charged with conspiracy by a public official to act as a foreign agent.

The senator and his wife face additional charges of obstruction that were not part of Thursday’s order. The couple and other defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges contained in a total of four indictments.

They are scheduled to stand trial in May.

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(GREAT FALLS, Mont.) — A Montana man pleaded guilty before a federal judge to two felony wildlife crimes for an almost decade-long effort to create giant sheep hybrids to sell the species to hunting facilities, the U.S. Department of Justice announced this week.

Eighty-year-old Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana, is the owner and operator of Sun River Enterprises LLC – also known as Schubarth Ranch – a 215-acre “alternative livestock” ranch, according to a March 12 press release from the DOJ.

Schubarth conspired with at least five other individuals between 2013 and 2021 to genetically engineer a larger hybrid sheep species that would garner higher prices from shooting preserves, according to the release, which cites court documents in his case.

“This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) said in the release.

Schubarth faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.

To genetically engineer the sheep species, the DOJ said Schubarth imported parts of Marco Polo argali sheep, which is the largest sheep species in the world, from Kyrgyzstan into the U.S. without declaring the importation.

Schubarth sent genetic material from the argali sheep to a lab to create cloned embryos, which he then implanted in a female sheep on his ranch, according to the DOJ, which produced a single, pure genetic male that Schubarth named the “Montana Mountain King,” or MMK.

To create several hybrid sheep, Schubarth then used MMK’s semen to artificially impregnate various species of female sheep, the DOJ said.

“The kind of crime we uncovered here could threaten the integrity of our wildlife species in Montana,” Ron Howell, Chief of Enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), said in the release.

Schubarth and the unnamed conspirators wanted to sell the larger and “more valuable” genetically hybrid sheep to captive hunting facilities, primarily in Texas, according to the DOJ. In order to move the hybrid sheep across state lines, Schubarth “forged veterinary inspection certificates, falsely claiming that the sheep were legally permitted species,” the federal agency said.

Schubarth also sold MMK’s semen directly to sheep breeders outside of Montana, according to the DOJ, and illegally obtained genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana for interstate commerce.

On Tuesday, Schubarth pleaded guilty before a federal judge in Great Falls, Montana to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act.

“In pursuit of this scheme, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native populations of animals,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim said.

The Lacey Act prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold.

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(NEW YORK) — A major snowstorm slamming the Rockies on Thursday has become the Denver metro area’s biggest snowstorm of the year.

All Denver Public Schools are closed Thursday and Friday.

Over 800 flights have been canceled into and out of the Denver International Airport, where just 2 inches of snow was recorded.

The Denver metro area is reporting up to 1 foot of snow — the most snow all winter. Another 6 to 12 inches of snow is expected through the night.

More than 3 feet of snow has fallen in the Rocky Mountains.

The heavy snow, winds and dangerous travel in the area will persist through Friday morning.

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(NEW YORK) — Oklahoma 16-year-old Nex Benedict died by suicide, according to an autopsy report summary released Wednesday by the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The full report will be released on March 27.

Benedict, a member of the 2SLGBTQ community, died one day after getting into a physical fight with several other students at Owasso High School.

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.

Freedom Oklahoma, a political advocacy group that fights for LGBTQ+ issues, said in a statement to ABC News that Benedict’s death highlights attacks on the transgender and gender non-conforming community.

“2STGNC+ students are the ones at risk; they are under attack in their schools, and they are under a coordinated attack by extremist politicians who care more about soundbites than children’s lives,” the organization’s statement read. “Nex’s death occurred during a nationwide effort to push 2SLGBTQ+ people out of public life and back into the closets.”

Anti-LGBTQ bullying and violence have been the center of conversation in the aftermath of Benedict’s death earlier this month, as Benedict’s family called for action and answers concerning the bullying they say Nex faced in school.

“The Benedicts know all too well the devastating effects of bullying and school violence, and pray for meaningful change wherein bullying is taken seriously and no family has to deal with another preventable tragedy,” the family said via their attorney in a statement to ABC News.

LGBTQ+ youth are at greater risk for poor mental health, bullying and violence than their non-LGBTQ+ peers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which encourages schools to implement supportive policies and practices for students who will in turn experience better health outcomes.

LGBTQ students are also more likely to seriously consider suicide or attempt than their non-LGBTQ peers, the CDC reports.

The Department of Education has opened an investigation into Owasso Public Schools following a complaint from the Human Rights Campaign related to such concerns.

“Bullying in any form is unacceptable,” the district said in a past statement. “We take reports of bullying very seriously and have policies and procedures in place to address such behavior.”

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has raised concerns over the role bullying played in Benedict’s death by suicide, saying his heart is “broken.”

“Combating this problem likely means strengthening laws against bullying, as well as increasing emphasis on mental health services,” he said in a post on X. “Perhaps most immediately it means rejecting the cruelty of words and actions so often inflicted by other students, adults and algorithms on our youngest generations.”

President Joe Biden said that he and first lady Jill Biden are “heartbroken” by the loss of Benedict in a statement Thursday. Biden added that Benedict should “still be here with us today.”

“In memory of Nex, we must all recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children,” Biden said in the statement. “Bullying is hurtful and cruel, and no one should face the bullying that Nex did.”

Local lawmakers have come under fire for anti-LGBTQ legislation and rhetoric following Benedict’s death, with open calls for removals against Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, who has spoken out in favor of anti-LGBTQ policies.

“To make sure that all individuals are safe in a school, we want every student to be protected, we want every student to be successful,” Walters told ABC News in an interview recently. “That also means we’re not going to lie to students. And we’re not going to push a gender ideology.”

An open letter signed by about 350 local, state and national organizations called for his removal.

In a statement to ABC News, the Owasso Police Department said it suspected the cause of Benedict’s death, but refrained from saying anything pending the results of the medical examiner’s office.

“From the beginning of this investigation, Owasso Police observed many indications that this death was the result of suicide. However, investigators did not wish to confirm that information without the final results being presented by the Oklahoma Medical Examiners Office,” the police said in a statement.

“The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s report has now been made public,” the statement continued, adding, “The Owasso Police Department would like to take this moment to inform anyone in crisis or contemplating suicide of the Oklahoma Mental Health Lifeline, just call or text 988.”

The Human Rights Campaign released a statement condemning anti-LGBTQ violence and bullying following the release of the medical examiner’s report.

“As parents, we send our kids to school expecting that they will be safe and cared for,” the statement read. “Nex was failed by so many and should still be here today. We hold their family in our hearts as they grapple with the devastating reality that their beloved child, a teen with a bright future, is no longer making this world a brighter place.”

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.

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(NEW YORK) — A Florida man was sentenced to six months in prison Thursday for leaving a threatening voicemail with the World Jewish Congress in New York City two weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Justice Department announced.

“If I had a chance I would kill every single one of you Israelis,” Deep Patel said in a voicemail left with the World Jewish Congress on Oct. 21. “Cause mass genocide of every single Israeli.”

Minutes after that call, the 21-year-old Patel also called a synagogue in Temple Terrace, Florida, and left another voicemail with hate-fueled, antisemitic comments.

When he was interviewed by federal agents about the calls, Patel “explained that he had called Jewish centers to express his family’s anger with Israel for the genocide of the Palestinian people, and that although he did not intend to scare or threaten anyone, he wanted to use the harshest language possible to convey his anger,” prosecutors said.

While soon after his arrest Patel accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty, prosecutors had sought one year in prison for him citing the need for deterrence amid a broader uptick in threats in the wake of Oct. 7.

“It is widely known that since October 7, 2023, there has been a significant increase in threats received by Jewish and Palestinian persons residing in the United States,” prosecutors said.

They further noted how after Temple Terrace reported Patel’s threat to the FBI, they saw a decrease in attendance at services after the community became aware of his voicemail.

“That chilling effect on religious exercise underscores the need for the defendant’s sentence to send a message to the public — especially aspiring copycats — that this conduct is not taken lightly,” prosecutors said.

The World Jewish Congress also said in a victim impact letter that they too were “deeply upset and frightened” by Patel’s threat, and noted how more recently their offices were targeted in a map of Jewish facilities in New York disseminated by the pro-Palestinian organization Within Our Lifetime.

“The Jewish community and all communities have the right to live in safety and security, without the threat of violence and intimidation that we are witnessing more and more,” the World Jewish Congress said. “This antisemitic threat left us horrified and profoundly shaken.”

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(WASHINGTON) — A panel of federal appeals court judges on Thursday unanimously rejected former Trump adviser Peter Navarro’s bid to avoid reporting to prison next week as he works to overturn his conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress.

Navarro, 74, had sought to put his prison sentence on hold pending a longshot effort to overturn the charges, which stemmed from his failure to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Attorneys for Navarro have indicated they will take their appeal all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.

But on Thursday, a panel of three circuit court judges said Navarro “has not shown that his appeal presents substantial questions of law or fact likely to result in reversal,” and he therefore must report to prison next week as scheduled.

Judges Patricia Millett, Cornelia Pillard and Robert Wilkins of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals signed onto Thursday’s order.

Navarro must report by the afternoon of March 19 to a facility in Miami, his attorneys wrote in court papers earlier this week, where he is to serve a four-month sentence.

He would become the first former Trump adviser to report to jail for actions related to Jan. 6.

In testimony during Navarro’s trial, former Jan. 6 committee staff director David Buckley said the House panel had been seeking to question Navarro about efforts to delay Congress’ certification of the 2020 election, a plan Navarro dubbed the “Green Bay Sweep” in his book, “In Trump Time.”

Navarro unsuccessfully argued that former President Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege over his testimony and document production.

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(NEW YORK) — The Manhattan district attorney’s office asked on Thursday for a delay to the start of the trial in the hush money case against Donald Trump, citing newly disclosed evidence from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan.

“Specifically, yesterday the USAO produced approximately 31,000 pages of additional records and represented that there will be another production of documents by next week,” the district attorney’s office said in a motion to the court requesting the delay.

“Based on our initial review of yesterday’s production, those records appear to contain materials related to the subject matter of this case, including materials that the People requested from the USAO more than a year ago and that the USAO previously declined to provide,” the motion said.

“The People do not oppose a brief adjournment of up to 30 days to permit sufficient time for defendant to review the USAO productions,” the DA’s office wrote.

Trump’s attorneys had sought an even longer postponement of up to 90 days for the trial, which is currently scheduled to begin March 25 with jury selection — but prosecutors said that wasn’t necessary.

“We note that the timing of the current production of additional materials from the USAO is a function of defendant’s own delay,” the DA’s office said. “[D]efendant waited until January 18, 2024 to subpoena additional materials from the USAO and then consented to repeated extensions of the deadline for the USAO’s determination.”

Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election. The former president has denied all wrongdoing.

The newly disclosed evidence relates to Cohen, who pleaded guilty and served time for lying to Congress and other offenses in a case brought by the Southern District of New York in 2018.

The defense has argued that allowing to Cohen to testify in the hush money case would amount to suborning perjury.

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(PITTSFORD, N.Y.) — Five people, including an infant, are injured after a FedEx semitrailer rolled over a bridge in Pittsford, New York, Thursday morning, according to officials.

The terrifying incident took place before 8:30 a.m. on an I-90 bridge near exits 45 and 46 above Pittsford Mendon Center Road, Henrietta Fire Chief Mark Cholach said during a media briefing. New York State Police said the semitrailer sideswiped a vehicle.

The semitrailer, a FedEx truck operated by a company in Pennsylvania, rolled over on the bridge, and the cab of the truck was left held up by a guardrail, according to officials and seen in photos from the incident.

First responders found the FedEx driver conscious and alert on the side of the road, outside the vehicle, Cholach said.

Four other people — three adults and an infant– were injured in a second vehicle, Frank Manzo, chief of CHS Mobile Integrated Healthcare ambulance service, said during the briefing.

All five individuals were transported to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester with “seemingly minor injuries,” according to Manzo.

Cholach said the FedEx truck was empty at the time of the crash, adding that if it had been full, the injuries may have been much more severe.

“Both trailers, fortunately, are empty,” Cholach said. “Had those trailers been full, I can virtually guarantee you that the entirety of that wreck would have been down on the Pittsford Mendon Center Road, and probably not survivable at that point.”

Cholach said he’s “quite flabbergasted” the FedEx driver only suffered minor injuries, despite the extent of the crash.

“Sometimes the man upstairs is smiling at you and saying it’s not your time, and that’s what he got today,” Cholach said.

A hazmat team was dispatched to the scene due to diesel, oil and mechanical fluid being spilled as a result of the crash, according to Cholach.

Multiple local and state agencies responded to the scene, authorities said, and the road is closed as they’re still working the scene.

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(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission said it is investigating whether missing college student Riley Strain was overserved before he vanished during a night out in Nashville.

Strain, 22, was last seen by friends at 9:52 p.m. Friday after drinking downtown in the city’s Broadway area, Nashville police said.

Strain’s friends last saw him when he was kicked out of Luke Bryan’s bar, one of the friends told police.

“There are no specific rules or statutes that governs escorting out intoxicated patrons from their businesses or providing assistance in getting someone home,” the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission said in a statement. “However, state law prohibits serving alcoholic beverages to someone who is visibly intoxicated. A violation is a class A misdemeanor. The TABC has opened an investigation into this matter to see if any violations have occurred.”

TC Restaurant Group, operator and owner of Bryan’s bar, called Luke’s 32 Bridge, said earlier this week that it’s working with police “to provide security camera footage and any other potentially helpful information to aid in the search for Riley Strain. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones for his safe return.”

The University of Missouri senior was visiting Nashville with his Delta Chi fraternity brothers for their formal, his family said.

“He was excited ’cause he was out, and he was sending me pictures at the different bars they were going to,” Strain’s mom, Michelle Whiteid, told ABC News.

There’s no indication of foul play and no indication Strain was in a fight or argument with anyone that night, Nashville police Sgt. Robert Nielsen said at a news conference Thursday.

Surveillance video from a business showed the 22-year-old walking alone as he stumbled down a street at 9:46 p.m. Friday. An additional angle showed Strain running and falling down.

Nashville police released video showing Strain at 9:47 p.m. Friday. In the video, Strain, wearing a two-toned shirt, crosses the street with a group and checks his phone. He then stops and changes directions for a moment before proceeding down the street behind the group.

The last known surveillance video footage of Strain showed him walking north between James Robertson Bridge and Woodland Street Bridge, Nielsen said, adding that no one else was around him.

“At this point, we’re kind of back canvasing … the possible route he may have taken from Broadway … to look for any other cameras we may have missed, as well as look for any other potential employees at some of these businesses that we can talk to,” Nielsen said.

The search for Strain is ongoing.

Authorities are searching by foot, by drone and by boat, including using boats with sonar equipment, Nielsen said.

Investigators are recanvassing for video and speaking to employees at local bars, all of whom have been “extremely cooperative,” Nielsen said.

“All of our resources are dedicated toward finding him,” Nielsen said.

As the investigation continues in Nashville, a vigil was held Wednesday at Strain’s former high school in Springfield, Missouri.

“Riley’s such a good kid,” Strain’s grandmother, A.J. Gilbert, told Springfield ABC affiliate KSPR. “It’s wonderful that so many people, they’re sharing [the news], hoping to bring him home.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Nashville Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.

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