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(NEW YORK) — A federal lawsuit accuses the New York Police Department of surreptitiously taking DNA samples without obtaining warrants and storing the genetic material in perpetuity in an illegal and unregulated database.

The database turns thousands of people, primarily Black and Latino people, into “permanent criminal suspects,” according to the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan.

Plaintiff Shakira Leslie was one of the nearly 32,000 individuals who had DNA taken without her knowledge, the lawsuit says.

In 2019, Leslie was 23 and had left a cousin’s birthday party when police pulled over the car she was riding in for a traffic violation, the lawsuit says. There was a gun in the car and everyone was arrested, it says.

At the precinct, the lawsuit says, officers deprived Leslie of food and water for more than 12 hours so when she was finally offered a cup of water, she immediately drank it.

Leslie was released and the charges against dropped, but not before the NYPD collected her drinking cup and took her DNA, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by the Legal Aid Society on behalf of Leslie and a second plaintiff. It names as defendants several top officials at the NYPD and the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which maintains the DNA database.

“Ms. Leslie never offered, and was never asked for, her consent to have her DNA taken. And the NYPD did not obtain a warrant or court order before secretly taking her DNA and sending the sample to OCME to perform DNA testing,” the lawsuit says, arguing the DNA collection and analysis violates the plaintiffs’ rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The police routinely offer people who are being questioned about a crime a beverage, a cigarette or chewing gum and then collect DNA from the items, the lawsuit says. The suit claims the genetic material is stored and cataloged in a “suspect index” that puts people’s DNA profiles through “a genetic lineup that compares the profiles against all past and future crime scene DNA evidence — all without obtaining a warrant or court order to conduct these DNA searches.”

“Thousands of New Yorkers, most of whom are Black and brown, and many of whom have never been convicted of any crime, are illegally in the City’s rogue DNA database, which treats people as suspects in every crime involving DNA,” said Phil Desgranges, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society. “We simply cannot trust the NYPD to police itself, and we look forward to judicial review of these destructive practices to bring our clients the justice they deserve.”

The New York City Law Department told ABC News it would review the lawsuit.

A spokesman for the NYPD, Sgt. Edward Riley, said the department would also review the lawsuit but said that DNA collection is among the best practices of law enforcement.

“Behind every time the NYPD collects DNA from a suspect in a criminal investigation, there is a crime victim who is suffering and seeking justice. The driving motivation for the NYPD to collect DNA is to legally identify the correct perpetrator, build the strongest case possible for investigators and our partners in the various prosecutor’s offices, and bring closure to victims and their families,” Riley said in a statement provided to ABC News.

“The local DNA database complies with all applicable laws and is managed and used in accordance with the highest scientific standards set by independent accrediting bodies that have regularly reapproved the existence of the database,” the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said in a statement.

The Legal Aid Society says in the lawsuit that the database violates state laws that limit DNA indexing and “hoards the DNA of arrestees and suspects” without oversight and often at the expense of people of color.

“Black and Latinx people make up the vast majority of arrestees who are subject to the City’s DNA taking and indexing practice,” the lawsuit said. “Plaintiffs seek injunctive and declaratory relief to end the City’s practice of targeting thousands of individuals, many of whom have never been convicted of a crime, to take their DNA and turn them into permanent suspects.”

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(LOS ANGELES) — The second-largest school district in the nation has reached an agreement with its teachers to end its indoor mask mandate as new COVID-19 cases in the Los Angeles area plunge.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, which has more than 600,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, came to a resolution with the teachers’ union regarding mask mandates and regularly scheduled Covid-19 testing.

Members of United Teachers Los Angeles voted 84%-16% to approve the agreement, the union announced Monday.

The new policy is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

In the agreement that was announced on Friday, United Teachers Los Angeles and the school district agreed to have weekly PCR testing for all students, staff and faculty until the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

“I strongly support ending the indoor mask requirement and am committed to continuing to uphold our science-based approach to COVID-19 safety and protocols,” Alberto M. Carvalho, the school district’s superintendent, said in a statement.

Carvalho added, “I want to personally thank our students, employees and families for their support and patience. We know some in our school communities and offices will continue to wear masks, while others may not. Please consider your situation and do what is best for you or your child. Now that this important issue is behind us, it is time to focus on each student’s full academic potential.”

“UTLA educators, parents, and our school communities have fought for LAUSD to be the vanguard of health and safety in public education across the nation during this pandemic — an accomplishment due in large part to the weekly testing program and the strong safety protocols we’ve bargained with the district,” UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said in a statement.

Masks requested by employees will be provided by the school district, including KN95 or N95 masks. Although masks will be optional, they are strongly recommended when indoors, officials said.

The school district will also continue to have a public COVID-19 dashboard recording positive cases in the event the policies need to be adjusted or changed based upon the data.

The agreement will remain in effect until June 30.

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(WASHINGTON) — A man submerged up to his chin in brown, murky floodwaters and a group of miners covered head to toe in black soot — these are a few of the images featured at a new climate-inspired photography exhibit at the Kennedy Center called Coal + Ice, which opened on March 15.

“I had young kids, and I was trying to think about the kind of world they’d be living in. I felt this increasing responsibility to try to address climate change,” said Gideon Mendel, a 63-year-old photographer based in London, whose work is featured in the exhibit.

The display, running through April 22, features a spread of photos and videos taken across the globe and documents the harmful effects of human activity on the planet. It showcases the work of more than 50 photographers and videographers from around the world and the varying ways climate change manifests.

Coal + Ice comes to Washington, D.C. as reliance on fossil fuels has taken center stage amid the war in Ukraine. As the global market faces more significant uncertainty due to the volatile geopolitical landscape and dragging impacts of COVID-19, climate change has been pushed to the back burner.

“We have to walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Kevin Rudd, the former Australian prime minister and president of the Asia Society Policy Institute that helped organize the exhibition.

“Dealing with geopolitics, dealing with the challenge to the inviability of national borders to be fundamentally violated in the invasion of Ukraine, and at the same time, wrestle with this pan-civilization challenge for climate change,” Rudd said.

Here in the United States, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked a debate on the sources of energy production at home. Many Republicans have called for an increase in oil and gas production to offset reliance on other nations, specifically Russia. In contrast, Democrats have pointed to this as evidence for a complete move away from non-renewable energies.

“It’s not looking good. It’s getting worse, and you know, at a time when the world needs actually a concerted global governance, to work together, it’s actually more fractured than it’s been for a long time,” said Mendel.

The exhibit allows viewers to walk around freely and move between “pods,” where individual collections provide an artistic exploration of the climate crisis. The content varies from scenes of coal mining operations worldwide to the rapidly melting glaciers of the Himalayas and photographs that chart their decline over the last few decades.

The 30,000 square-foot tent on the Kennedy Center’s “Reach Plaza” features a continuous background audio track that pairs with the visual displays to create an immersive experience for visitors.

Though the latest installation is on the doorstep of the government in Washington, D.C., there is concern about the exhibit’s impact.

“The danger with climate change groups, it just preached to the converted. You know, so you know, that’s, and you often have these closed circles. I mean, it’s really complex questions of how you use your work to bring about change,” said Mendel.

The exhibit makes its first appearance on the East Coast after initially debuting in Beijing in 2011, followed by showings in Yixian, Shanghai, Paris and San Francisco — the only other U.S. display. Smaller versions of Coal + Ice were also set up in Copenhagen and New Delhi. After the exhibition wraps, the organizers hope to take it to New York City, but have no official plans to do so.

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(NEW YORK) — At least three southern states were under a tornado watch Tuesday following an outbreak of twisters Monday night in Texas and Oklahoma that cut a path of destruction, killed one person and injured at least 10 others.

Twenty tornadoes were reported Monday night, 19 of those in central and northern Texas, where multiple homes and businesses were damaged, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy damage occurred from funnel clouds touching down in Round Rock, Texas, where roofs were ripped off homes, according to the local fire and police departments.

At one point, police in Round Rock, about 20 miles north of Austin, Texas, urged residents to stay off the roads. A tornado also ripped through a strip mall in Round Rock, damaging a restaurant, a bank, and cars in a Home Depot parking lot, authorities said.

In Jacksboro, Texas, about 60 miles northwest of Fort Worth, a high school and elementary school both sustained heavy damage, according to Jack County Rural Fire Chief Jason Jennings. Sixty to 80 homes were damaged in Jacksboro, Jennings said.

News helicopter footage Tuesday morning showed major damage to the Jacksboro High School, where the roof of a school’s gym either collapsed or was blown away.

The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed that one person was killed in Northwest Grayson County, Texas.

Sarah Somers of the Grayson County Office of Emergency Management said at least 20 homes were damaged or destroyed in Grayson County, according to ABC affiliate station KTEN in Ada, Oklahoma.

Significant damage also occurred in the Kingston, Oklahoma, area, where officials said a likely tornado touched down. Multiple structures including a marina were damaged or destroyed, in the Kingston area, officials said.

During the tornado outbreak, wind gusts of up to 64 mph and hail the size of golf balls were also reported across central and northern Texas.

On Tuesday morning, tornado warnings were issued for parts of Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, including the Houston area.

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center forecast the tornado threat to parts of Mississippi and Alabama as well.

Severe weather is zeroing in on Alexandrian and Baton Rouge, Lousiana., to Hattiesburg, Jackson and Meridian, Mississippi, and into western Alabama, west of Tuscaloosa, according to NOAA.

ABC News’ Jim Scholz and Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Injuries have been reported and multiple homes and businesses are damaged after a tornado tore through Round Rock, Texas, Monday evening, according to the local fire and police departments.

Police in Round Rock, about 20 miles north of Austin, are urging residents to stay off the roads.

The tornado ripped through a strip mall in Round Rock, damaging a restaurant, a bank and cars in a Home Depot parking lot.

A #tornado ripped through #RoundRock Monday, bringing damage to buildings and cars. Read more: https://t.co/XmhR4D3OQq #txwx
Photos: John Perry, @domnewlandtv pic.twitter.com/574yaaqS2S

— KVUE News (@KVUE) March 22, 2022

At this point, no fatalities nor major injuries were reported in the city, Round Rock officials said at a press conference Monday night. However, officials said there was “tremendous damage to a lot of structures and vehicles.”

At least 10 tornadoes have been reported in Texas during severe storms Monday night. Wind gusts are forecast to reach 75 mph and hail could be more than 2 inches in diameter.

At 8:35 CDT, a tornado was confirmed over southwestern Bryan, Texas, moving at 40 mph. The damaging tornado was producing quarter-size hail.

Tornado watches have been issued across Texas, including Dallas, Waco, Austin, San Antonio and College Station, as well as in Louisiana and Arkansas.

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(HOOD COUNTY, Texas) — Extreme weather conditions are causing deadly wildfires across the country.

A wildfire in central Texas that started over the weekend has burned over 11,000 acres and injured a firefighter, according to Hood County officials. Officials with the forest service said the fire started in Erath County and is moving north.

The wildfire, known as “Big L” by the Texas A&M Forest Service, started in a grassy area where it quickly began to spread due to the gusty winds and dry heat. The Hood County Emergency Management department said the city of Lipan, about 18 miles west of Granbury, was being evacuated and residents were urged to head east toward Granbury.

As of Monday morning, the Big L fire was about 20% contained and residents who evacuated were allowed to return home.

Four firefighters were wounded after battling the “Big L,” according to Hood County officials. One firefighter suffered first-degree burns but has been treated and released from the hospital. The other three firefighters suffered dehydration and have since recovered, officials said.

A red flag warning and high wind alerts have been issued for some areas throughout southern Texas as gusty winds and dry conditions continue to fuel wildfires.

With wildfires raging throughout Texas, severe storms expected to arrive later Monday night into Tuesday morning could potentially bring the precipitation needed to combat the dry heat and strong winds.

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(WASHINGTON) — Justice Clarence Thomas has been hospitalized with an infection, the Supreme Court announced in a statement.

Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Friday evening after experiencing flu-like symptoms, Supreme Court spokesperson Patricia McCabe said in a statement.

He was diagnosed with an infection after undergoing tests and is being treated with intravenous antibiotics, McCabe said. She did not provide more details on the nature of the infection.

“His symptoms are abating, he is resting comfortably, and he expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two,” McCabe said. “Justice Thomas will participate in the consideration and discussion of any cases for which he is not present on the basis of the briefs, transcripts and audio of the oral arguments.”

After Justice Stephen Breyer, Thomas is the second-oldest justice on the Supreme Court at 73 years old. He is the most senior conservative.

Thomas does not have a known history of health issues and has been a vibrant participant in Court arguments over the past two years. He, along with the other eight justices, has been vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19, according to the Court.

The Court is reconvening Monday at 10 a.m. for two weeks of oral arguments. According to McCabe’s statement, it appears Thomas will not be participating in the arguments remotely but will still vote in the cases.

On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin a week of high-profile confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history.

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(DUMAS, Ark.) — At least 28 people were shot, including six children, at a car show in rural Arkansas on Saturday night. At least one person has died, according to police.

The shooting took place in Dumas, about 90 miles southeast of Little Rock, at about 7:30 p.m. local time, according to Arkansas State Police.

Keith Finch, Dumas’ chief of police, told ABC News that children were among those injured in the shooting and were taken to a Children’s hospital for treatment. Organizers for the event told ABC News that the children were injured but are “doing OK.”

Preliminary information suggests the shooting was the result of a gang-related fight that spilled into a public area and not a random act. Detectives are continuing their investigation, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told ABC News.

Finch said police have a person of interest in custody but continue to investigate whether more people may have been involved.

It’s unclear what caused the shooting or the conditions of many of those injured.

The deceased victim has been identified as Cameron Shaffer, 23, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, according to ABC News Arkansas affiliate KATV.

“The shooting spree in Dumas last night at a community family event represents a total disregard of the value of life,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement Sunday.

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(DALLAS) — “Multiple” people were shot and one was killed Saturday night in Dallas, officials said.

“At this time, I can confirm one individual was shot and transported to a local hospital where they died from their injuries,” the Dallas Police Department told ABC News. “Multiple individuals were also shot and injured during this incident. This is an active investigation and information is limited.”

Police said they responded at about midnight to the 5200 block of Botham Jean Boulevard.

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(NEW YORK) — At least 24 people were shot, including children, at a car show in rural Arkansas on Saturday night. At least one person has died, according to police.

The shooting took place in Dumas, about 90 miles southeast of Little Rock, at about 7:30 p.m. local time, according to Arkansas State Police.

Keith Finch, Dumas’ chief of police, told ABC News that children were among those injured in the shooting, but did not have a specific number. Organizers for the event told ABC News that six children were injured but are “doing OK.”

Preliminary information suggests the shooting was the result of a gang-related fight that spilled into a public area and not a random act. Detectives are continuing their investigation, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told ABC News.

Finch said police have a person of interest in custody but continue to investigate whether more people may have been involved.

It’s unclear what caused the shooting or the conditions of many of those injured.

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