(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Wednesday filed paperwork asking a judge to order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to take action and have the floating barrier in the Rio Grande removed.
In a 21-page filing, attorneys for the DOJ have asked for the court to order two things: that the state remove the current floating barrier and any infrastructure used to anchor it, and that the state stop installing any further barriers while the case proceeds.
In its brief, the government claims the floating barrier has caused international concern.
“Texas’s construction of the Floating Barrier has already substantially harmed the United States’ foreign relations with Mexico,” the filing reads. “On numerous occasions since late June, the Government of Mexico has lodged protests with the United States, including at the highest diplomatic levels, regarding Texas’s deployment of the Floating Barrier.”
The Justice Department sued Texas over the floating barriers earlier this week.
The new court filings indicate that Mexico has told the United States “it may need to rethink and limit its cooperation with the United States going forward” on the subject of Rio Grande water delivery from Mexico to the U.S.
The Justice Department also argues that Texas is in violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA), by building the barrier in the river without federal authorization. DOJ also cited safety concerns as a reason they’re asking for the rulings.
“The Floating Barrier interferes with the federal government’s ability to carry out its operations on the Rio Grande. For example, obstructions in the water impair the freedom of movement of Border Patrol personnel conducting rescue operations and potentially delay their response times,” the filing reads.
(CLEVELAND) — A dozen juveniles have been charged in connection with an “appalling” and “chaotic” incident at a Cleveland gas station in which a group attacked a man and fired guns before fleeing in stolen vehicles, officials said.
The attack occurred early Tuesday, around 12:40 a.m., when the group was captured on video beating a 34-year-old man, according to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley.
“When I watched this video early yesterday morning, I was disgusted and appalled watching the level of violence directed at someone who appears to be simply doing nothing but sitting outside of a gas station,” O’Malley told reporters during a press briefing Wednesday.
Investigators do not believe that the group knew the victim, who was eventually able to retreat inside the gas station, O’Malley said.
“The man is lucky to be alive,” O’Malley said.
Several minutes later, the “situation turns to complete chaos as dozens of bullets are fired indiscriminately” down the street, O’Malley said.
“It could have caused a great deal of destruction. Thankfully, no one was injured by these dozens of bullets,” he said.
One suspect discharged a handgun 18 times, according to O’Malley. Four or five firearms are believed to have been at the scene, he said.
The juveniles, who ranged between the ages of 12 and 16, then fled the gas station in three stolen vehicles — two Kias and a Hyundai — the prosecutor’s office said.
Cleveland police officers responded to the gas station following reports of shots fired and found dozens of shell casings from different guns at the scene, officials said.
Shortly after 2 a.m., Cleveland police responded to a report of screams coming from a home in a nearby neighborhood, city officials said. There, they found two cars similar to ones observed at the gas station parked outside, as well as 13 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 hiding throughout the basement, officials said. Two firearms were also recovered from the residence, according to the prosecutor’s office.
All the teens were taken into custody of the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center. Twelve have since been charged by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. The charges include felonious assault, aggravated riot, discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, receiving stolen property, and criminal damaging or endangering, among others, the prosecutor’s office said.
Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond said the group is believed to have been involved in “multiple” incidents in the city and calls themselves the “Kia Boys.” One of the teens was wanted in connection with a homicide, he said.
“I’m not a proponent of mass incarceration. Let’s get that clear. I am not. But I am a proponent of keeping our neighborhoods safe,” Drummond said at the briefing. “And if that means putting … violent juveniles behind bars to make our neighborhoods safe, then I’m a proponent for that.”
Drummond called the behavior captured on video “animalistic.”
“People may come back and say, I can’t believe the chief said that, but look at that video — to attack that man who was doing absolutely nothing, it’s animalistic behavior. And we can’t have that in our communities — we’ll not accept that,” he said.
Two individuals captured in the footage at the gas station remain unidentified, including a suspect in a gray hoodie who appears to be holding an AR-15-style rifle, the prosecutor’s office said.
The incident remains under investigation.
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb denounced the “unacceptable” behavior, while highlighting programs offered by the city so that young people “have safe activities to do in our community.”
“This behavior is unconscionable, immoral and quite frankly unacceptable in our city,” Bibb said at the briefing. “Our administration will not spare any expense to keep our city safe. It’s going to take every part of our community, from the prosecutor’s office to our courts, to law enforcement at every level, to keep our city safe and secure.”
(WINTER SPRINGS, Fla.) — A receptionist at a Florida’s doctor’s office has been arrested after allegedly stealing more than $44,000 from dozens of patients, police say.
The investigation into Angelina Mena — a receptionist at MacDonald Family EyeCare — of Winter Springs, Florida, in northeast Orlando started more than a year ago on March 11, 2022, when the optometrist’s office contacted the Winter Springs Police Department about a potential case of fraud.
“According to the business, the receptionist Angelina Mena was allegedly illegally using patients’ credit card information to commit credit card fraud,” read a statement from the Winter Springs Police Department following the announcement of Mena’s arrest.
During the month-long investigation into the suspect, authorities from Winter Springs found that Mena used her own square account to steal approximately $44,000 from 76 patients who frequented the family practice, police said.
Following the conclusion of the 16-month police investigation, authorities were able to file charges with the State Attorney’s Office and an arrest warrant was issued for Mena.
Mena was arrested last Friday on July 21 on several charges, according to police, and was subsequently booked into the Orange County Jail where she will wait to be prosecuted.
The Winter Spring Police Department’s investigation into the incident is ongoing and no further details will be released about the case at this time.
(HENDERSON, Nev.) — A Nevada man faces child abuse charges after he was found unresponsive in a vehicle with his two children who were suffering from the effects of high heat, police said.
Brian Laugeson, 59, was found in a desert area of Henderson earlier this week with his two children hours after a friend reported them missing, according to the arrest report.
The friend told Henderson police on Monday that Laugeson was supposed to go church with the children the previous morning but never made it, according to the arrest report. The mother of the two children — a boy and girl whose names were redacted from the report — also was unable to get ahold of Laugeson, police said. The parents are separated and arranged for Laugeson to have the children over the weekend, according to the report.
After police were unable to find Laugeson at his apartment, local hospitals or jails, they pinged his cell phone, which led them to a desert area, according to the arrest report. They found his vehicle in a desert area shortly after noon on Monday. The father was unresponsive, while the two children were “going in and out of consciousness,” the arrest report stated.
The children were naked and “visibly suffering from heat-related illness,” and the boy also began to suffer from an apparent seizure, the arrest report said. The temperature at the time was 105 degrees, according to the report.
There was evidence of “possible narcotics use” in Laugeson’s vehicle, which was seized, police said.
All three were transported to area hospitals. The lab results of Laugeson’s blood test, which was obtained through a search warrant, indicated the “ingestion of narcotics,” according to the arrest report.
Henderson police did not have an update on the conditions of Laugeson or the two children as of Wednesday.
Laugeson was arrested on two counts of child abuse/neglect with substantial bodily harm or mental harm. He was initially scheduled to appear for a felony arraignment on Wednesday, though online court records indicate he is still hospitalized and the hearing has been continued until July 31. Court records do not list any attorney information for him.
(CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio) — An Ohio K-9 officer has been fired after an investigation into why his police dog attacked a Black truck driver who was on his knees with his hands up following a highway chase, officials said Wednesday.
Circleville, Ohio, K-9 Officer Ryan Speakman’s termination is “effective immediately,” the Circleville Police Department said in a statement.
“Officer Speakman did not meet the standards and expectations we hold for our police officers,” police officials said.
Speakman was fired after the Circleville Police Use of Force Review Board investigated the attack and submitted its report to the city officials.
The officer was let go despite the review board concluding that the “department’s policy for the use of canines was followed in the apprehension and arrest.”
“It’s important to understand that the Review Board is charged only with determining whether an employee’s actions in the use of force incident were within department policies and procedures,” the Circleville police statement said. “The Review Board does not have the authority to recommend discipline.”
Speakman was fired a day after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called for an increase in training for all police dogs in the state and their handlers as a result of the highway attack on the truck driver, 23-year-old Jaddarius Rose.
DeWine broke his silence about the incident involving a Circleville K-9 as the local chapter of Black Lives Matter announced it is planning a large protest on Saturday outside the Circleville Police Department. The BLM group listed a string of demands on its Facebook page, including the immediate firing of Speakman and that the police dog that mauled the driver be retired.
The Circleville police statement did not comment on the fate of the police dog.
“This incident in Circleville should be a lesson, a wake-up call to everyone that police training in Ohio is not equal. It needs to be equal,” DeWine said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The governor said he will propose to the state General Assembly that funding be added to the state budget to build a training facility for K-9 units across Ohio, saying, he wants the training to “be available to every single law enforcement agency in the state of Ohio no matter how big or how small.”
DeWine spoke out after he said he viewed the body camera footage released by the Ohio State Highway Police of the K-9 attack on Rose of Memphis, Tennessee.
The incident unfolded in Ross County, Ohio, on the Fourth of July, but the video wasn’t made public until last week. The footage showed Rose on his knees with his hands in the air after allegedly leading police on a lengthy chase.
The video showed Speakman appear to turn his dog loose and point at Rose despite a state trooper repeatedly yelling, “Do not release the dog with his hands up.” The dog attacked Rose, grabbing his arm as he screamed, “Get it off,” and appeared in pain.
According to the video, other officers, including Speakman, rushed to Rose as he was being bitten in the grassy center median and pulled the animal off.
Rose was treated at a hospital and later booked at the Ross County Jail on charges of failure to comply, a fourth-degree felony, according to the highway police.
“You have a Circleville police officer making clearly a call that was not within normal protocol,” DeWine said after viewing the body-camera footage. “You also have a highway patrolman that is very well trained, tell the Circleville police officer ‘no, don’t send the dog out, we have this under control.'”
DeWine added, “Frankly, my first reaction was training, it really was. You just have to make sure that every officer has the right training and that is not taking place in those smaller departments.”
Circleville police officials said the dog was trained by Pennsylvania-based Shallow Creek Kennels Inc., which “affirmed that its training protocols were followed,” the police department’s statement said, noting that the company’s training protocols are standard for service dogs deployed by the U.S. military, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and police departments across the nation and Canada.
“While we certainly respect Gov. DeWine’s views and are always ready to discuss how to improve police training, Circleville’s canine teams of dogs and officers are trained and certified to meet current Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission-recognized standards,” the police statement said.
Troopers from the state Highway Police Department’s Motor Carrier Enforcement Inspector unit initially attempted to pull Rose over for an alleged traffic defect violation of missing a mudflap on the left rear of his trailer, according to a police incident report. Rose allegedly failed to stop and led police on a chase through three counties before troopers blew out his tires by placing spike strips in the road, forcing him to stop.
During the chase, Rose called 911 and told a dispatcher, “They’re trying to kill me,” according to a recording of the call released by Ross County authorities.
“Right now, I have police officers following me for a long time and I am trying to figure out why they have their guns pulled out,” Rose said in the 911 call. “I am just a truck driver. I was about to comply with them, but they all had their guns drawn out. There are like 20 police cars behind me. And I don’t feel safe.”
Circleville Mayor Donald McIlroy told ABC News on Monday that Speakman, the K-9 officer, was put on paid administrative leave last Thursday and his dog was put in a kennel.
McIlroy said the city’s five-member use of force review board, made up of community residents, is investigating the incident and is expected to send its report to him by the end of this week or early next week. He said that once he gets the report, “we’ll make a determination where we’ll go forward.”
Asked by ABC News if he was aware of any disciplinary action taken against Speakman in the past, McIlroy said, “Yes.” He directed ABC News to the city’s human resources department to file a public records request, but the file has not yet been released.
Efforts by ABC News to reach Rose and Speakman for comment have not been successful.
Tom Austin, executive director of the Ohio Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, said in a statement released Wednesday following the announcement of Speakman’s firing that the union’s senior lawyer Joseph Hegedus has filed an official grievance with the city of Circleville contending the officer was terminated “without just cause.”
In the grievance, Hegedus wrote that the officer’s firing is “contrary to mandatory principles of progressive discipline” and is a violation of the union’s collective bargaining agreement. The grievance asked that Speakman’s termination be rescinded and that he be reimbursed for “wages, seniority and benefits lost.”
Hegedus also asked that Speakman’s termination be expunged from his personnel records.
Despite the firing of Speakman, the central Ohio Black Lives Matter organization said it is moving forward with a protest at noon on Saturday outside the Circleville Police headquarters. In a statement Wednesday to ABC News, the BLM group said more than 1,100 people plan to participate in the protest.
The BLM group is also calling for the dog that attacked Rose to be retired, asking for Circleville Police Chief Shawn Baer to resign or be fired and that all charges against Rose be dropped. The organization is also asking that race sensitivity training be provided to all Circleville police officers and that the police department’s budget be cut by 50%. Baer could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
“In the wake of the termination of former officer Ryan Speakman from the Circleville Police Department, our resolve for justice has only grown stronger,” the group said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
The BLM group said it is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the incident, adding, “We firmly believe that (an) indictment is necessary.”
“The protest will continue to send a powerful message demanding transparency, accountability and criminal charges for any wrongdoings,” the group said.
(UPPER MAKEFIELD, Pa.) — A search for a 9-month-old boy who was washed away in a Pennsylvania flash flood 12 days ago with his mother and 2-year-old sister has been suspended after authorities said Wednesday they “exhausted” all attempts to locate the child’s remains.
The Upper Makefield Police Department said the search for the baby, Conrad Sheils, has ended after a massive effort to find him — involving hundreds of search-and-rescue workers — was unsuccessful.
“With broken hearts, we regretfully announce that the active search for Conrad has concluded,” the police department said in a statement Wednesday afternoon after notifying Conrad’s family.
Conrad was swept away in a deluge that hit Bucks County on July 15. His mother, 32-year-old Katie Seley, and his sister, 2-year-old Matilda “Mattie” Sheils, were also washed away in the flood waters and drowned, officials said.
Matilda’s body was recovered from the Delaware River on Friday about 30 miles from where she was swept away in the flood waters, officials said. Seley’s remains were found a day after the tragedy unfolded, according to police.
The children and their mother went missing when they and their family were caught in the flash flood while driving on Route 532 to a barbecue near Upper Makefield Township, authorities said. More than 7 inches of rain fell within 45 minutes, causing a creek to spill its banks and generating a “wall of water” that took drivers on Route 532, also known as Washington Crossing Road, by surprise, officials said.
Seley died after she grabbed Mattie and Conrad and tried to escape their vehicle, but ended up being swept away in the violent weather event, officials said.
The children’s father, Jim Sheils, and grandmother grabbed the couple’s 4-year-old son, and escaped the car, officials said. They were all found alive.
The family is from Charlestown, South Carolina, and were visiting relatives in Bucks County when they were caught in the deadly storm, police said.
Eleven vehicles were washed away in the deluge, one found 1.5 miles from where it was swept into the creek that feeds into the Delaware River, officials said.
Four other people were killed in the Bucks County flooding. They were identified by the Bucks County Coroner’s Office as Enzo Depiero, 78, and Linda Depiero, 74, both of Newtown Township, Pennsylvania; Susan Barnhardt, 53, of Titusville, New Jersey; and Yuko Love, 64, of Newtown Township.
The coroner’s office said all of the victims died from drowning.
News that the search for Conrad has been suspended came just days after community residents and relatives of those killed held a candlelight vigil Sunday night at the 9/11 Memorial Garden of Reflection in Yardley, Pennsylvania. Dahlia Galindez, the grandmother of Mattie and Conrad and Seley’s mother, spoke at the vigil.
“I’m a lifelong learner and I never thought I would have to learn how to live through a tragedy like this,” Galindez said.
Once she got out of the car, Galindez said, “One minute it was inches deep, a minute later it was overhead”
“As I got into the water, I was pulled under. I was eventually able to hold onto a tree and I think that was my only injuries, miraculously enough,” Galindez said. “I have a few bruises and a few scraps. I guess I get to stay here for a while. I kind of wanted to be with Katie and the children.”
Mattie and Conrad’s uncle, Paul Sheils, also spoke at the vigil, praising the firefighters and rescue crews who searched for Seley and her children.
“This was not just another day at the office for these brave men and women. Many of the rescuers we visited had tears in their eyes,” Paul Sheils said. “They were all treating the search as if they were looking for their own children and it showed.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced a rule that will require airlines to make lavatories on new single-aisle planes large enough for two people to enter in a move to make bathrooms more accessible.
“Traveling can be stressful enough without worrying about being able to access a restroom; yet today, millions of wheelchair users are forced to choose between dehydrating themselves before boarding a plane or avoiding air travel altogether,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a press release announcing the rule.
The rule was authorized through the Air Carrier Access Act, and it specifies that the lavatories will need to be large enough passengers with disabilities and their attendants to enter and maneuver within the space.
In twin-aisle aircraft, accessible lavatories have been required since 1990. Yet as the range and fuel efficiency of single-aisle aircraft have increased, these planes now take longer flights. That can leave passengers with disabilities with no way to use the bathroom for hours on end.
John Morris, the founder of WheelchairTravel.org, is a triple amputee who travels frequently. Next week, he’s flying from Boston to Los Angeles on a plane without an accessible lavatory.
“Denying someone the ability to go to the bathroom is certainly a form of torture that has been used by rogue individuals in human history,” Morris said. “I just don’t think that that should be the case on an airplane.”
Commercial aircraft have a lifespan of decades. That means that years into the future, without retrofitting the aircraft, disabled travelers will still encounter inaccessible lavatories — a problem Morris himself has encountered. He recounted a trip he took in 2016 from Seattle to Tokyo on a wide-body airplane. Halfway over the Pacific, Morris, who said that airlines are opaque about sharing accessibility information before passengers book flights, discovered the aircraft he was on had been delivered before the accessible lavatory rule went into effect in 1990. There was no bathroom he could use.
“We need to ensure that people have the ability to go to the bathroom when they need to, without significant barriers being in place between them and carrying out that bodily function that is something that every human being needs to do,” said Morris.
Passengers won’t see these changes anytime soon, since the requirement increasing the lavatory size applies to aircraft ordered 10 years after the rule goes into effect.
“We’ve got to wait and that’s not great — but I’m going to balance this a little bit and say 10 years is not a long time in aviation,” said Chris Wood, the founder of the advocacy organization Flying Disabled. “In my heart, I wanted at least maybe three or five years for this to start to happen.”
(NEW YORK) — More than a third of the United States is on alert for hot temperatures amid a deadly heat wave that has plagued the country for weeks.
The National Weather Service has issued heat alerts that are in effect Wednesday morning for 120 million Americans across 27 states, from California to Massachusetts.
The weather forecast for Wednesday shows temperatures heating up particularly in the middle of the country, an area that’s had a relatively seasonal summer so far. By the afternoon, temperatures are expected to be near, at or above 100 degrees in cities like Minneapolis, Minnesota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Manhattan, Kansas.
Heat index values — a measure of how hot it really feels when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature — are forecast to be in the 100s throughout the week from Kansas City, Missouri, to Washington, D.C.
The heat is expected to stretch into the Northeast later this week, with temperatures peaking on Friday. New York City could see its first heat wave of the season with high temperatures in the 90s on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A heat alert will go into effect there on Thursday. Heat index values could range from 100 to 112 degrees in the greater Interstate 95 travel corridor.
The latest forecast shows the heat will start to slowly push back south over the weekend and through much of next week. The Gulf Coast will feel the scorching temperatures, while the North and Northeast cool back down. Even the Southwest may see an end to the record heat streaks.
Arizona’s capital is on a record stretch of 26 consecutive days with temperatures at or above 110 degrees. Overnight temperatures in Phoenix have also not dropped below 90 degrees for at least 16 days. The city hit 119 degrees on Tuesday, breaking a daily record of 116 degrees set in 2018.
Arizona’s Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, has had a total of 25 confirmed heat-associated deaths so far this year. Another 249 deaths are currently under investigation as potentially heat-related, according to data released Wednesday by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
Tucson, Arizona, has been at or above 100 degrees for a record 40 days in a row. The city’s previous record of 39 straight days was set in 2013. The city also hit 112 degrees on Tuesday, breaking a daily record of 110 degrees set in 2018.
El Paso, Texas, has been on a record-smashing stretch of 40 consecutive days with temperatures at or above 100 degrees. This is expected to continue this week and may finally come to an end over the weekend. The city’s previous record of 23 consecutive days was set in 1994.
Miami, Florida, has had a heat index high of 100 degrees for a record 45 days in a row, well past the previous record of 32 days set in 2020. The wider Miami-Dade County has been under heat Advisories and excessive heat warnings for a record-smashing 22 days. The previous record was just three days. South Florida, as a whole, is on pace to have its hottest July on record.
Meanwhile, a severe storm system is expected to hit the southern Great Lakes region on Wednesday before taking aim at the Northeast on Thursday.
The weather forecast for Wednesday shows a severe threat of damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes from Chicago, Illinois, to Cleveland, Ohio, including the cities of Detroit, Michigan, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. The storm system is expected to enter the Detroit area after 4 p.m. ET before reaching Cleveland after 7 p.m. ET.
That severe threat is forecast to shift over to the Northeast on Thursday, from Washington, D.C., to Portland, Maine. The storm system is expected to enter the area sometime in the afternoon and evening.
(NEW YORK) — Jessica Meise, a Colorado woman who was kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, was found alive Wednesday and transported to a local hospital, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
Meise’s condition is unknown at this time, authorities said.
Meise, 43, had been missing since Tuesday after she was forcibly abducted by her ex, 43-year-old Lance Foster, authorities said.
Foster was arrested by West Metro SWAT and is currently in police custody, the sheriff’s office said.
Witnesses told police that Meise was seen being forcibly kidnapped and taken in an unknown direction on Interstate 70, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Arapahoe sheriff’s deputies believe Foster had been stalking Meise prior to her kidnapping.
The Arapahoe sheriff’s office had issued a “be on the lookout” alert and multiple agencies were assisting in the search, trying to locate the pair.
Police said they believed that Meise was in danger.
(NEW YORK) — A crane caught fire and partially collapsed off a high-rise building in midtown Manhattan during Wednesday morning’s commute, littering the street with debris, according to officials.
Eleven people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including two firefighters, officials said.
One woman told ABC News the crane struck her apartment window and the glass shattered in her face.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams stressed at a news conference that the accident, which unfolded around 7:35 a.m., could have been much worse if it occurred later in the morning.
“We were extremely, extremely lucky,” he said.
The building, which is under construction, is a 45-story structure at 550 10th Avenue, according to the Department of Buildings. The crane hit a building across the street at 555 10th Avenue.
The crane operator was moving 16 tons of concrete when the operator saw the fire started and tried to extinguish it, officials said. The fire heated the crane’s cable, causing the collapse, officials said.
Monadnock Construction, the general contractor on the project, said in a statement that their workers are in stable condition.
The crane operator was able to evacuate safely, officials said.
The fire department said the situation was under control by 11:44 a.m. and the Department of Buildings said the “tower crane and impacted buildings were found to be structurally stable.”
The preliminary investigation suggests the fire was likely caused by a hydraulic fluid leak, according to officials briefed on the situation. The probe is ongoing.
Following this morning’s tower crane collapse in Midtown Manhattan, DOB inspectors & engineers remain on scene and their investigation is ongoing.
The tower crane and impacted buildings were found to be structurally stable, and thankfully only minor injuries have been reported. pic.twitter.com/Rlrf5urmYf
