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Des Moines superintendent to resign after being detained by ICE, lawyer says

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(DES MOINES, Iowa) — An Iowa superintendent who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last week will resign, his attorney said Tuesday.

Ian Roberts, 54, announced his immediate resignation as superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools in a letter released through his attorney on Tuesday.

“Out of concern for his 30,000 students, Dr. Roberts does not want to distract the Board, educators, and staff from focusing on educating DMPS’s students,” the letter to the Des Moines School Board stated.

The letter will be sent to the board on Tuesday, according to Roberts’ attorney, Alfredo Parrish.

Roberts was detained on Friday, with ICE saying he is in the country illegally from Guyana and was working as a superintendent despite having “a final order of removal and no work authorization.”

On Monday, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners said it revoked Roberts’ administrator license. The Des Moines School Board voted unanimously Monday evening to put him on unpaid administrative leave and gave his attorney until noon Tuesday to provide proof that he is authorized to work in the U.S. or face termination.

Parrish said his office on Monday filed a motion in immigration court in Omaha, Nebraska, to stay the educator’s order of removal.

“This is a very complex case,” Parrish said during a press briefing on Tuesday. “It’s complex, it’s difficult and there are a lot of what I would call a myriad of issues that are involved.”

“What I would do is encourage people, as they review this case, to be patient, to take it a step at a time,” he added.

Parrish also shared a letter with reporters purportedly sent from Roberts’ previous attorney in Texas in March, stating that his immigration case “has reached a successful resolution” and was closed. The letter did not contain any further details on the resolution.

Parrish said his office plans to file a motion to reopen Roberts’ immigration case on Tuesday.

Roberts entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999 and a judge gave him a “final order of removal” in May 2024, ICE said in a statement.

Roberts joined the Des Moines district in July 2023 and had previously held leadership positions in school districts across the U.S. for 20 years, according to school board chair Jackie Norris.

Norris said during Monday’s school board meeting that the board received documentation from the Department of Homeland Security that day indicating Roberts is an unauthorized worker in the U.S. It also received documentation of Roberts’ final order of removal issued by an immigration judge, she said.

The board was not aware of Roberts’ immigration issues at the time of his hiring, according to Norris, who said the board is taking ICE’s allegations “very seriously.”

“I want to be clear, at no point was any DMPS employee or board member notified that Dr. Roberts was not eligible to work by a federal agency or Dr. Roberts,” Norris said.

Norris said when Roberts applied for the superintendent position, he stated that he was a citizen and provided a driver’s license and a Social Security card as documentation. A law firm reviewed the information presented by Roberts and did not raise any concerns about his eligibility to work, she said.

Asked how Roberts had a social security number, Parrish said he didn’t want to respond, though went on to say, “As you may or may not know, certain people coming into this country are entitled to get a Social Security number.”

“That’s not our concern at the moment,” he added.

When Roberts was taken into custody on Friday, he was in possession of a loaded handgun and $3,000 in cash, ICE said.

Asked about the allegation of the loaded firearm, Parrish said he also could not comment on the facts of that, though he went on to say Roberts was in the military in Guyana and “led some of the most difficult raids on the biggest criminals.”

“In doing that type of work, he was a target, on some occasions, to be taken out by the cartel,” Parrish said.

According to the ICE detainee locator, Roberts is currently being held at the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, Iowa. He is in “good spirits,” Parrish said.

“We want you to know that Dr. Roberts’ greatest concern is about his students who he actually loves, and the students who love him back,” Parrish said.

Meanwhile, Iowa Rep. Zach Nunn said Tuesday a “state-level investigation” into Roberts’ hiring is underway.

“Local leaders owe parents an explanation, and we need stronger safeguards to ensure that positions of public trust are filled by individuals who are properly vetted and legally authorized to serve,” he said in a statement.

The firm that performed the background check on Roberts prior to his hiring by Des Moines Public Schools told ABC News it was “not contracted to perform I-9 or work eligibility verification.”

“By standard practice, the employer is solely responsible for completing I-9 verification and determining employment eligibility,” Baker-Eubanks CEO Kim Cockerham said in a statement.

“We identified and disclosed all publicly available criminal records at that time, and those findings were provided to J.G. Consulting, the executive search firm, which then shared the information with its client, the Des Moines School District. The District ultimately chose to proceed with the hire despite having received the disclosed criminal record information,” Cockerham said.

Roberts has weapon possession charges from February 2020, according to ICE.

Prior to serving as superintendent in Des Moines, Roberts was superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania from August 2020 through June 2023.

The Millcreek Township School District said in a statement Monday that Roberts went through an FBI background check, completed I-9 eligibility forms and supplied documentation to support his eligibility to work. The district said it “never received any information or notification regarding the expiration of Dr. Roberts’ work authorization” and called reports of his detention “deeply concerning.”

Trump directs generals to defend US from ‘war from within’

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday told the military’s top generals about his controversial plans to send troops to “dangerous” Democratic cities, arguing, “We’re under invasion from within.”

Trump made clear that the military’s job is not only to protect the United States from threats abroad but also what he repeatedly referred to as a domestic enemy in American cities.

“It’s a war from within,” the president said to the room of high-ranking military generals who flew from across the globe to Quantico, Virginia. “We’re under invasion from within.”

Trump talked about his efforts to increase the use of U.S. military in American cities. Trump specifically said that Democratic-run cities, such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco, are in “bad shape,” and that he threatened to “straighten them out, one-by-one.”

“I told Pete [Hegseth] we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military National Guard,” he said.

Over the weekend, Trump announced that he ordered federal troops to Portland, Oregon, because of what he alleged were threats from domestic terrorists. The city’s Democratic Mayor Keith Wilson and the state’s Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek both stressed that they did not request the troops and objected to the action.

Trump mentioned his call with Kotek on Tuesday, claiming that Portland “is burning down.”

“I said ‘You don’t have it under control, governor, but I’ll check it and I’ll call you back.’ I called [her] back. I said ‘you, this place is a nightmare,'” Trump said.

Throughout Trump’s speech — which came after Hegseth called for an end to what he called “woke” culture in the military — the president’s words were met generally with silence and subdued reaction from generals, who did not seem to respond to the president’s often highly-partisan talking points. Reaction in the room among the military’s top leaders was even more limited when Trump talked about sending troops into American cities such as Chicago and Portland.

It was an unusual reception for Trump, who is used to delivering blockbuster speeches to friendly audiences.

The president took note of the mood in the room soon after he began talking, and appeared to be surprised.

“I’ve never walked into a room so silent before,” he said before making jokes.

“Just have a good time. And if you want to applaud, you applaud. And if you want to do anything you want, you can do anything you want. And if you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future, but you just feel nice and loose, OK, because we’re all on the same team,” Trump added.

There were a few chuckles from the crowd, including when Trump joked that he liked his own signature.

By the end of the speech, some members of the crowd stood and some lightly applauded.

Judge finds Trump administration violated constitutional rights of pro-Palestinian protesters

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has found federal officials unconstitutionally violated the free speech rights of pro-Palestinian protesters in its effort to deport international students and scholars expressing pro-Palestinian views, including Columbia University’s Mahmoud Khalil and Tuft’s University’s Rumeysa Ozturk.

“This Court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with the subordinate officials and, agents of each of them, deliberately and with purposeful aforethought, did so concert their actions and those of their two departments intentionally to chill the rights to freedom of speech and peacefully to assemble of the non-citizen plaintiff members of the plaintiff associations,” U.S. District Court Judge William Young wrote in a decision Tuesday.

The decision came as part of a lawsuit filed by the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association, which represents hundreds of professors and students across the country.

A bench trial was held in the case in July. In the course of the trial, it was revealed the government looked into more than 5,000 people named on the doxxing website Canary mission in its effort to revoke the visas of student protesters.

Young, a Ronald Reagan appointee, said Rubio and Noem used the attempted deportation of some pro-Palestinian protesters to create a chilling effect that would discourage others from participating in protests.

“It was never the Secretaries’ immediate intention to deport all pro-Palestinian non-citizens for that obvious First Amendment violation, that could have raised a major outcry,” Young wrote in the order. “Rather, the intent of the Secretaries was more invidious — to target a few for speaking out and then use the full rigor of the Immigration and Nationality Act (in ways it had never been used before) to have them publicly deported with the goal of tamping down pro-Palestinian student protests and terrorizing similarly situated non-citizen (and other) pro-Palestinians into silence because their views were unwelcome.”

Young said President Donald Trump’s support of this effort violates his oath to “preserve, protect and defend the constitution,” though he is immune from any consequences for this conduct per the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The Secretaries have succeeded, apparently well beyond their immediate intentions. One may speculate that they acted under instructions from the White House, but speculation is not evidence and this Court does not so find,” Young wrote.

“What is clear, however, is that the President may not have authorized this operation (or even known about it), but once it was in play the President wholeheartedly supported it, making many individual case specific comments (some quite cruel) that demonstrate he has been fully briefed,” Young said.

While Young wrote that he found clear and convincing evidence of constitutional violations, he does not expect a correction from authorities or public outcry.

“The President in recent months has strikingly unapologetically increased his attack on First Amendment values, balked here and there by District Court orders,” Young said.

Congressional leaders continue blame game as clock ticks toward shutdown

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As the clock ticks down towards a government shutdown, 150 House Democrats rallied on the House steps Tuesday morning ahead of a midnight government funding deadline, presenting unity as each political party attempts to shift and place blame for a lapse in government funding.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries fired up Democrats, addressing a deepfake video generated by artificial intelligence shared Monday night by President Donald Trump, which disparaged Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“Mr. President, allow me to reintroduce myself,” Jeffries said, quoting the opening lyrics from Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement” and receiving a loud round of applause from the caucus. “I’m the House Democratic Leader. Our caucus is 217 members strong. We serve in a separate and coequal branch of government. We don’t work for you. We work for the American people.”

In the post on his social media platform, Trump shared the video that presented Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Jeffries during their remarks at the White House after meeting with Trump and Republican leaders, but dubbed Schumer saying disparaging things about his party.

The video also showed Jeffries wearing a sombrero, prompting Jeffries to call it “bigoted.”

“Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video. When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face!” Jeffries boomed.

Jeffries reiterated that Democrats are “ready” to find a bipartisan path to avert a shutdown and he sharply criticized House Republicans for canceling votes this week.

“Shame on them for being on vacation all across the country and across the world on the eve of a government shutdown,” he said. “They’re on vacation because they’d rather shut the government down than protect the health care of the American people. That’s unfathomable, that’s unacceptable, that’s unconscionable, and that’s un-American. Do your job.”

Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar blamed Republicans if the government shuts down.

“This is a shutdown they will own, and the American people are paying attention,” he said.

Trump appeared open to more discussions Tuesday. Asked while returning from a speech to generals and admirals with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth if he would talk to Democrats before the deadline, Trump replied, “Yes.”

Democrats insist that any deal includes restoring $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts passed into law this summer on top of a permanent extension of the Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, saving health insurance for 3.8 million people at a cost of $350 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

While House Republicans passed a stopgap measure to keep the government open through Nov. 21, the measure stalled in the Senate, where Thune will need at least seven Democrats to vote for it to pass.

Republicans crafted a “clean” seven-week funding bill in order to create more time for congressional appropriators to work through regular order: 12 separate full-year funding bills. Congress has not passed all 12 appropriations bills through regular order since 1997, and the task has been completed only four times since 1977 when current budget rules took effect.

Thune is expected to force the Senate to vote repeatedly on the House’s clean seven-week funding bill. His goal is to force Democrats to cast repeated votes against funding the government.

Jeffries and Schumer met Monday afternoon at the White House with Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Vice President JD Vance and others but left without a deal.

Johnson posted Tuesday morning that Schumer and Democrats are “planning to SHUT DOWN the government — simply to oppose President Trump and appease their far-left base.”

On the White House driveway after the meeting, the Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for not reaching an agreement to keep the government funded.

Schumer told reporters in the White House driveway that “large differences” remain — particularly on health care.

A few minutes later, Vice President JD Vance joined Republicans in saying a shutdown was increasingly likely.

“I think we’re headed to a shutdown because Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Vance said.

Monday’s meeting was the first bicameral, bipartisan congressional leadership face-to-face meeting of Trump’s second term — and came after a meeting scheduled for last week was nixed by the president after he said he reviewed the Democratic proposal and judged that a meeting would not be productive.

What Hegseth’s policy memos say about hazing, harassment in the military

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to review and revise the ways it investigates complaints of hazing and harassment, according to policy memos obtained by ABC News.

The memos, which came after Hegseth ordered top military generals and admirals to come to Virginia to hear a speech about the importance of the “warrior ethos,” call for a 30-day review of the definition of hazing, bullying and harassment within the military. Hegseth claims in the memos that the current policy preventing those behaviors is “overly broad” and puts combat readiness in jeopardy.

“While the Department of War remains firmly committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and exemplary conduct, the current adverse information policy has too often resulted in unproven allegations being considered adverse information, cumulative penalties for a single event, procedural redundancies, and unnecessary administrative burdens,” Hegseth wrote.

“By embracing these changes, the Department will not only honor its commitment to fairness and integrity but also reinforce the core principles of the warrior ethos — courage, selflessness, and unwavering commitment to the mission,” he added.

Another policy calls for reforms to the Defense Department’s independent watchdog office, the Inspector General, which is currently investigating Hegseth’s handling of classified material.

Among the changes called for is that “non-credible complaints” must be closed no later than seven business days after receipt. Command-directed investigations must be closed within 30 days, according to Hegseth.

Other directives call for new tougher department-wide fitness standards and calls for a 60-day review of what is taught at the military service academies and training schools.

Hegseth rails against ‘woke,’ lays out standards in speech to top generals, admirals

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As the government teeters on the brink of a shutdown, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday addressed an auditorium packed with several hundred of the nation’s most seasoned military commanders summoned last-minute from around the world.

The event occurred at a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, a secure site an hour south of the nation’s capital. Hegseth kicked off the event with an extraordinarily blunt speech on the importance of the “warrior ethos,” a term he uses to describe the spirit that makes combat units effective.

“We must be prepared,” he said. “Either we’re ready to win or we are not.”

“This speech today is about people and it’s about culture,” he said, calling for “the right culture at the War Department.”

He acknowledged why he fired Gen. CQ Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and other senior leaders.

Hegseth said his rationale “has been straightforward,” contending it’s hard to change a culture with people who benefited from that previous culture.

He demanded no more “fat generals,” saying all service members would need to meet fitness tests and grooming standards.

“No more beardos,” he said. “The era of unacceptable appearance is over.”

Brown never pushed “quotas” for promotions within the military, which relies on a merit-based system that Hegseth claimed wrongfully punished too many people for “toxic leadership.” Brown and others pushed the idea of recruiting from a broader section of America so that the military would look more like the nation it serves.

The secretary added that the department is “clearing the way for leaders to be leaders.”

“You might say we are ending the war on warriors,” Hegseth said.

He told his audience that if all the new standards he has unveiled makes their “hearts sink,” then they should resign.

As expected, Hegseth, who now goes by the title “secretary of war,” pressed hard, as part of the broader rebranding ordered by Trump, the importance of enforcing combat standards that keep troops lethal.

Trump followed Hegseth with his own speech, echoing Hegseth’s statements. He said as president, he would have their backs and that he is committed to making the military stronger, faster and fiercer “than ever before.”

The president went on a long-winded speech talking about several topics, including his claims that he has ended more foreign conflicts than previous presidents.

Trump also took shots at his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, and his handling of the United States troops’ from Afghanistan, calling it “was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.”

The president also took credit for the rise in military enlistments.

Last week, general and flag officers at the one-star level and above were told to fly to Quantico from their duty stations with just several days’ notice and no hint as to what the meeting might be about. The Pentagon declined to comment on the meeting, and speculation quickly spread that the meeting might have to do with urgent cuts to the military force or the national defense strategy, which would set new priorities for the second Trump administration and could change how troops train and equip themselves.

In the end, though, sources said the meeting appeared — at least as of now — to be more of a “rally the troops” speech similar to what Hegseth frequently gives in public venues and in Fox News interviews. But his remarks, which will be livestreamed to the public, will also provide a prime photo opportunity with Hegseth addressing hundreds of top military generals as their boss.

On Sunday, the program was given an unexpected jolt when the White House announced Trump would join Hegseth at Quantico. The White House has not said when or how the president learned of Hegseth’s meeting or why he wanted to participate. Aides also haven’t said what Trump’s remarks will focus on.

The Defense Department, which now coined by Trump and Hegseth as the “Department of War,” has not said how much it will cost to fly in so many people last minute, although it is widely expected to cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It’s also not clear exactly how many people were invited. Overall, there are 838 total general officers and admirals on active duty — 446 of them are from the higher two-star, three-star and four-star ranks — according to the Pentagon’s latest statistics from June.

The event comes as the government is careening toward a potential shutdown that could force some 2 million troops to work without pay if a spending bill doesn’t pass Congress by midnight Wednesday.

Most military personnel are on track to be paid Oct. 1, officials said Monday. But after that, troops would be at the mercy of negotiations on Capitol Hill, which remain at a stalemate.

According to a contingency plan posted by the Pentagon this weekend, all active-duty troops would be required to keep working. The plan says contracts can move forward, too, but under increased scrutiny with priority given to efforts to secure the U.S. southern border and build Trump’s U.S. missile shield known as “Golden Dome,” as well as operations in the Middle East and shipbuilding.

There had been speculation that the commanders traveling from around the world to hear Trump and Hegseth speak on Tuesday could get stuck away from their assigned work locations if the government shuts down that night. But according to government guidance, personnel must return home as soon as possible if a shutdown occurs while on work travel. Any travel costs incurred after the shutdown are reimbursable once spending resumes.

Oral arguments begin in lawsuits over Rumeysa Ozturk, Mohsen Mahdawi arrests by ICE

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court in New York will hear oral arguments Tuesday in cases involving two graduate students who claim they were unlawfully detained earlier this year by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism.

The detention in March of Tufts doctoral candidate Rumeysa Ozturk was captured on a video that depicted a man in a hoodie stopping her on a street in Somerville, Massachusetts. Men and women in masks approached her and she was heard screaming as she was taken into custody.

Her attorneys said Ozturk, a Turkish national, spent six weeks in detention for writing an op-ed in her student newspaper the year before that criticized the university’s rejection of student government resolutions concerning Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. They called it “a shocking violation of the First Amendment.”

The federal government is appealing a lower court decision granting Ozturk release on bail while her immigration case is pending. Her attorneys urged a three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals to reject it.

“Ms. Öztürk is now free, back living and studying in Massachusetts,” her attorneys said. “Respondents did something they had no power at all to do: unconstitutionally detain her to retaliate against and punish her for her speech in support of Palestinian human rights.”

The government is also challenging Mohsen Mahdawi’s release on bail.

Mahdawi, who was detained in April after completing his naturalization interview, had been outspoken on the Columbia University campus in opposition to the war in Gaza.

In both cases, the government argued that no federal court can hear a habeas challenge until the administrative immigration review process runs its course.

Mahdawi’s attorneys, and Ozturk’s attorneys, argued nothing in federal law allows for indefinitely detaining noncitizens before they can appeal the constitutionality of their detention.

“Any other conclusion would give the executive branch a powerful tool of unchecked censorship — the ability to detain noncitizens as punishment for their political viewpoints, thereby chilling the speech of untold others for as long as the government takes to administer its executive branch immigration procedures,” Mahdawi’s lawyers argued.

2nd detainee dies a week after Dallas ICE facility shooting

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(DALLAS) — A second detainee has died after being shot at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office last week, according to the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Miguel Ángel García-Hernández, 32, was gravely wounded in Wednesday’s shooting and has now died from his injuries after being removed from life support, LULAC said.

“Miguel was a good man, a loving father, and the provider for our family,” his wife, Stephany Gauffeny, said in a statement released by LULAC.

“His death is a senseless tragedy that has left our family shattered,” she said. “I do not know how to explain to our children that their father is gone.”

The other victim killed in the shooting, Norlan Guzmán-Fuentes, 37, had been pronounced dead shortly after the incident, LULAC said.

The shooting unfolded on Wednesday morning when a sniper opened fire “indiscriminately” at the ICE building and an ICE van, striking three detainees, authorities said.

The suspect, Joshua Jahn — who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the shooting — was allegedly targeting ICE agents, not detainees, officials said, citing notes the suspect left behind.

“It seems that he did not intend to kill the detainees or harm them. It’s clear from these notes that he was targeting ICE agents and ICE personnel,” said Nancy E. Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, calling it “tragic irony” that detainees, not agents, were shot.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said he would put all ICE facilities on a higher alert in the wake of the shooting.

ABC News’ Luke Barr and Deena Zaru Pettiford contributed to this report.

4 charged after anti-ICE protest outside Chicago facility erupts in violence

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(CHICAGO) — Federal charges have been filed against four individuals involved in the anti-ICE protests in Chicago over the weekend, according to court documents obtained by ABC News.

The four defendants are being charged with assaulting and resisting officers outside the Broadview ICE facility during the multi-day protest on Saturday.

Paul Ivery, one of the individuals charged, allegedly showed his middle finger to federal agents at the protest before saying, “I’ll f—— kill you right now” and jumping on a car, causing damage to the vehicle, and fighting with a Homeland Security agent, according to the court filings.

Hubert Mazur, Ray Collins and Jocelyne Robledo were also detained at the protests after engaging in physical altercations with federal officers, according to the court documents. Collins and Robledo were in possession of semiautomatic pistols at the protest but had lawful permits to carry the firearms, according to court documents.

ICE posted on X about Collins and Robledo’s arrests Monday afternoon, sharing photos of the couple and their firearms, writing “they will be prosecuted and held accountable.”

At a news conference Monday afternoon, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said federal officers used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and flash-bang devices on protesters, journalists and bystanders in Broadview. The Trump administration is attempting to destabilize Chicago, he said.

“This is not about fighting crime or about public safety. This is about sowing fear and intimidation and division among Americans. It was about creating a pretext to send armed military troops into our communities. This is about consolidating power in Donald Trump’s hands,” Pritzker said.

ABC News has reached out to the Trump administration for a comment.

A group of Chicago community groups held another news conference Sunday, lambasting ICE’s activities and increased presence in the city.

Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who represents part of Chicago in Congress, criticized ICE’s efforts to detain immigrants in the city.

“Today we witness the further militarization of ICE tactics in Chicago as they showed up downtown to indiscriminately continue to profile against people just because of what they look like,” Garcia said.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson posted on X Sunday afternoon, saying, “This is another brazen provocation from the Trump administration that does nothing to make our city safer.”

Body found in D4vd’s Tesla: Teen’s cause and manner of death still undetermined

September 30, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — Police said Monday officials are still trying to determine the cause and manner of death of a teenage girl whose body was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer D4vd earlier this month.

The body was discovered in the trunk of the Tesla on Sept. 8, two days after it had been towed from a Los Angeles street, police sources said.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the female body as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The teen, from Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, was reported missing last year, investigators confirmed to ABC News.

In an update on the investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department said Monday that its Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD) has been “diligently investigating” Rivas Hernandez’s death over the past several weeks.

Police said the teen may have been dead for several weeks before her body was discovered, and that the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause or manner of her death.

“As such, it remains unclear whether there is any criminal culpability beyond the concealment of her body,” police said. “RHD is thoroughly examining every aspect of this case to uncover the truth and seek justice for Celeste Rivas Hernandez and her family.”

According to a copy of the death certificate obtained by ABC News, her manner of death is pending investigation and her cause of death remains listed as “deferred.” Based on the date of birth listed, her remains were found a day after her 15th birthday. She was not pregnant, nor had she been in the last year, according to the document.

Sources told ABC News that investigators will be relying on lab tests and toxicology in an attempt to determine how she died, and that this remains a death, as opposed to a homicide, investigation.

No additional information is being released at this time, police said.

“We appreciate the public’s patience and understanding as we continue this investigation,” police said.

Officers responded to an impound lot in Hollywood on Sept. 8 “for a foul odor coming from a vehicle,” Los Angeles police said.

Authorities located a body in the front trunk of the Tesla that was in a state of decomposition, LAPD sources said.

The Tesla had been at the impound lot for two days after being found abandoned on a Hollywood street, investigators said.

The vehicle is registered to 20-year-old David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd, according to a senior LAPD source.

Following the identification of the body, a Los Angeles home where D4vd had been living was searched later that night, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

ABC News has reached out to his representative and lawyer for comment several times, but has not received a response.

D4vd, who first went viral on TikTok, where he has 3.8 million followers, had been on his “Withered” world tour when the body was discovered in his vehicle. The last few shows of the tour, including in San Francisco and Los Angeles, were canceled.

Shows on the European leg of the tour have also been canceled.

Promotion on the deluxe edition of his debut album, which was set to be released on Sept. 19, has also been paused, a source close to the situation told ABC News.

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