(WASHINGTON) — A magistrate judge in Florida heard in-person arguments Thursday on a request from a coalition of media outlets to make public the affidavit supporting the search warrant executed at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week.
After hearing the Justice Department’s case, the judge appeared inclined toward deciding that at least a portion of could be unsealed with government redactions.
The Justice Department had urged the judge, Bruce Reinhart, to keep the affidavit fully under seal, arguing that if it were to be made public it could “cause significant and irreparable damage” to an ongoing criminal investigation involving highly classified materials related to national security.
Arguing on behalf of the Justice Department Thursday, Jay Bratt, the head of the agency’s counterintelligence and export control section, acknowledged the heightened public interest in this case, but argued there is another public interest which is the government’s position to keep the underlying affidavit sealed as it would provide a roadmap and “suggest next investigative steps that we would be about to take.”
Bratt said the investigation is in its “early stages” and feared for the safety of witnesses and potential witnesses and the threat of “possible obstruction and interference.”
“This investigation is open. It is in its early stages,” Bratt said.
Bratt argued that redactions to the affidavit would not be sufficient, as information in it could identify witnesses based on the descriptions of events that only certain people would have knowledge about.
But after hearing the government’s arguments, Judge Reinhart said, “I am not prepared to find that the affidavit should be fully sealed.”
The judge said he believes there are portions of it that presumptively could be unsealed — whether they would be meaningful is for someone else to decide, he said. The government may disagree with him on some points, he said, giving DOJ until next Thursday to file its proposed redactions.
ABC News and a number of other media organizations have called for the release of the affidavit, noting the historical significance of the unprecedented law enforcement search of a former president’s residence and the “immediate and intense public interest as well as a vociferous reaction from Mr. Trump and his allies.”
Officials said in their Monday filing, however, that they believed the redactions that would be necessary to protect the investigation “would be so extensive as to render the remaining unsealed text devoid of meaningful content.”
DOJ would likely seek an immediate appeal on any ruling by Judge Reinhart that would reveal further substantive details underlying their investigation.
The government said, though, it would not object to the unsealing of other materials filed in connection with the warrant, such as cover sheets for the application, the government’s motion to keep the warrant under seal and Judge Reinhart’s original sealing order — none of which will likely reveal much beyond the materials already disclosed.
Thursday afternoon, the court posted the other redacted materials that the Justice Department did not object to being unsealed.
The redacted copy of the search warrant released last Friday sent shockwaves through Washington, as it revealed the Justice Department was investigating the potential violation of at least three separate criminal statutes in its search of Mar a Lago, including obstruction of justice and one crime under the Espionage Act.
A property receipt accompanying the warrant shows agents seized 11 boxes of documents of various classifications, including one set referring to “classified/TS/SCI documents” (the acronym stands for top secret/sensitive compartmentalized information that not everyone with even top-secret clearance can view) and four other sets of top-secret documents.
The documents were discovered by authorities after a lawyer for Trump signed a statement in June to the FBI affirming that all classified documents on the premises had been handed over to investigators, sources confirmed to ABC News.
Trump’s team has yet to take court action despite publicly trying to pressure the Justice Department to release the full affidavit.
Christina Bobb, who is on Trump’s legal team, said they had no plans to file anything or speak publicly, but told reporters she came to watch the hearing.
Trump in recent days has called for the “immediate release” of the affidavit while leveling various attacks at the FBI and Justice Department, while also demanding over his social media website that the documents be returned to him. But Trump’s legal team has yet to take any sort of legal action on either front in response to the search.
Former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin are among multiple other witnesses interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation, ABC News confirmed Tuesday, with sources saying both sat with investigators sometime in the spring. But there’s no indication that the Justice Department’s filing referencing officials’ hopes of protecting witnesses who testified in the investigation was a direct reference to Cipollone or Philbin.
ABC News’ John Santucci contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 18, 3:59 PM EDT
Russia reportedly tells Zaporizhzhia plant workers not to go to work Friday
Russia has reportedly told some workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant not to go to work on Friday, according to Ukrainian officials.
In an official Telegram channel, the main director of Ukraine’s military intelligence said Thursday, “Occupiers announced an unexpected day off on August 19. At the nuclear plant there will only be operational staff. All other employees will be denied entry.”
The official added that representatives of the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom also have “temporarily left the territory of the plant.”
This comes as both Ukraine and Russia have warned of a provocation being planned at the plant Friday.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Aug 18, 1:08 PM EDT
Zelenskyy calls on UN to ensure demilitarization of Zaporizhzhya plant
During a meeting in Lviv on Thursday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the U.N. to ensure the demilitarization and “complete liberation” of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant from Russian forces, according to a statement from his office.
The two “agreed upon the parameters” of a possible visit to the plant by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, Zelenskyy’s office said.
Russia has claimed a demilitarized zone around the plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, would make it more vulnerable.
During their meeting in Lviv, Zelenskyy also called for a U.N. fact-finding mission to head to Olenivka, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion late last month.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Aug 18, 12:04 PM EDT
Russia rejects calls to create demilitarized zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
The international calls and proposals for Russia to create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine are “unacceptable,” according to Ivan Nechayev, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department.
“Their implementation will make the plant even more vulnerable,” Nechayev said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Moscow is expecting experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations, to visit the Zaporizhzhia plant “in the near future,” according to Nechayev.
The secretary-generals of the U.N. and the IAEA have called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia plant, near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation. However, heavy fighting around the site has fueled fears of a catastrophe, like what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine over 36 years ago.
Aug 18, 9:34 AM EDT
Firefighter describes destruction after deadly strikes in Kharkiv
A Ukrainian firefighter who responded to the Russian missile attacks in Kharkiv overnight told ABC News that the scale of the blasts was “one of the biggest” he’s ever seen.
One of the rockets struck a large apartment block on Wednesday night, killing at least nine people and injuring another 16, according to Ukrainian authorities.
“It went through all four floors and hit the ground and almost blew up everything,” the firefighter, Roman Kachanov, told ABC News during an interview on Thursday. “All the buildings around were without windows.”
“There was a dormitory, and the building was almost completely ruined,” he added. “There was a playground that was smashed like a big titan blew it up.”
Kachanov is among the rescue workers searching for survivors amid the smoldering rubble.
“I’ve seen three bodies on the floor covered by objects,” he said. “We tried to extract them and while we tried, the other wall started to fall and we had to run away as fast as we can.”
Kachanov said another missile hit the city before dawn Thursday, not far from where he and his team were working. He said the blast “was very loud” and “sounded close.”
“Everyone had to lay down,” he recalled. “The team had to split — fire truck had to leave to go to that other fire.”
Aug 17, 5:40 PM EDT
Large apartment block struck in Kharkiv, at least 7 dead
At least seven people are dead and another 13 injured by strikes on a large apartment block in Kharkiv, officials said.
Based on recovered shrapnel, authorities determined an Iskander-M missile system was used in the strike, said Ivan Sokol, Ukraine’s director of the regional Department of Civil Defense.
Search and rescue efforts are ongoing at the three-story residential building, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said.
-ABC News’ Tatiana Rymarenko
Aug 15, 1:49 PM EDT
Shelling resumes near power plant, both sides claim the other is firing
More shelling was underway Monday in city of Enerhodar, which is under Russian control and where the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is located.
Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov urged residents to stay inside. He said Russian forces seized another government facility in Enerhodar, a lab where 30 of the employees are refusing to cooperate with the Russian-appointed administration.
Meanwhile, Russia’s semi-official Interfax reported that Ukrainian forces opened fire in Enerhodar.
Ukraine’s state nuclear regulator Energoatom said the plant remained occupied and controlled by Russian forces on Monday. The Ukrainian staff continues to work and make every effort to ensure nuclear and radiation safety, but Energoatom warned that periodic shelling by Russian troops with multiple rocket launchers since last week caused a serious risk to the safe operation of the plant.
Aug 15, 5:53 AM EDT
Griner to appeal Russian conviction, lawyer says
Brittney Griner’s defense team filed an appeal for the verdict by Khimky City Court, according to Maria Blagovolina, a partner at Rybalkin Gortsunyan Dyakin and Partners law firm.
The WNBA star was found guilty on drug charges in a Moscow-area court this month.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova
Aug 14, 4:44 PM EDT
1st UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat set to depart for Africa
The first UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat is set to head for Africa from the near the port city Odesa, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
The MV Brave Commander is loaded with 23,000 tons of wheat that will be shipped to Ethiopia as part of a mission to relieve a global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has halted grain exports for months, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kubrakov announced at a news conference.
Kubrakov said the UN-chartered ship is scheduled to leave the Pivdenny port near Odesa on Monday.
“When three months ago, during the meeting of the President of Ukraine (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Kyiv the first negotiations on unlocking Ukrainian maritime ports began, we have already seen how critical it is becoming a food situation in the world.” Kubrakov wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “This especially applies to the least socially protected countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, for whom Ukraine has always been a key importer of agro-production.”
He said Ethiopia is in desperate need of Ukrainian grain.
“This country has been suffering from record drought and armed confrontation for the second year in a row,” Kubrakov said. “Ukrainian grain for them without exaggeration — the matter of life and death.”
He said he hopes the MV Brave Commander will be the first many more grain shipments under the U.N. World Food Program.
Aug 12, 2:28 PM EDT
‘They treat us like captives’: Exiled Zaporizhzhia manager on conditions at plant
An exiled manager at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant told ABC News that the Ukrainian staff is treated “like captives.”
Oleg, who asked to be referred by a pseudonym, said he felt threatened by the Russian soldiers.
“They didn’t say, ‘I’m going to shoot you now,’ but they always carry guns and assault rifles with them,” said Oleg, who managed one of 80 units at the plant but was able to leave last month. “And when an assault rifle or a gun has a cocked trigger, I consider it as a threat.”
Amid reported shelling in the vicinity of the plant, Oleg said he was primarily concerned about its spent fuel containers, “which are in a precarious position, and they are not shielded well.”
Aug 11, 4:43 PM EDT
UN secretary-general calls for all military activities around nuclear power plant to ‘cease immediately’
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “calling for all military activities” around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant in southern Ukraine “to cease immediately,” and for armies not “to target its facilities or surroundings.”
Ukraine’s nuclear regulator Energoatom said Russian forces shelled the plant for a third time on Thursday, hitting close to the first power unit. Earlier on Thursday, Energoatom said five rockets struck the area around the commandant’s office, close to where the radioactive material is stored.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed interim governor of Zaporizhzhya Oblast, issued a statement claiming Ukrainian forces struck the plant, hitting close to an area with radioactive material.
Guterres said he’s appealed to all parties to “exercise common sense” and take any actions that could endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
“Instead of de-escalation, over the past several days there have been reports of further deeply worrying incidents that could, if they continue, lead to disaster,” he said, adding that he’s “gravely concerned.”
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, pleaded with the U.N. Security Council Thursday to allow for an IAEA mission to visit the plant as soon as possible. He said the situation at the plant is deteriorating rapidly and is “becoming very alarming.”
(OTTUMWA, IA) — A 68-year-old man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting his wife with a crossbow while she slept on a sofa in their home.
The incident occurred at approximately 1:13 a.m. on Wednesday morning when authorities in Ottumwa, Iowa, responded to a report that a woman had been shot at a residence in the town, which is located approximately 90 miles southeast of the state capital of Des Moines.
The victim, later identified as 68-year-old Lillian Dennison, was reportedly on the sofa when her husband approached her with a crossbow and shot her as she slept, according to a press release published by the Ottumwa Police Department.
Authorities say that Dennison was taken to a local area hospital and treated for minor injuries suffered in the attack. She was subsequently released and is expected to survive.
Her husband managed to flee the scene of the crime after he allegedly shot her but was located approximately nine hours later, according to police.
“Later that morning at approximately 10:00 a.m., officers from the Ottumwa Police Department and the Wapello County Sheriff’s Department arrested George Edward Dennison, age 68, near the wooded area around Evergreen and Mable in Ottumwa,” police said in a statement.
George Dennison was arrested and taken into custody and charged with attempt to commit murder along with domestic abuse assault. Authorities did not disclose any possible motives in this case.
He is now being held on these charges in the Wapello County Jail with a $50,000 cash only bond but it is unclear when he will be appearing in court.
(NEW YORK) — The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented effects on our society and even more so on our senior population, as they struggle to manage care. In some cases, they are without their loved ones being able to visit them, creating a further sense of isolation, heightened anxiety and depression due to fear of contracting the virus.
Statistics show 43% of seniors experienced loneliness during this period. While taking care of loved ones is priority, caregivers experienced higher levels of stress as they tried to manage their own needs while taking care of their loved ones, leading to further negative health outcomes.
Per research conducted by the National Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, family caregivers experienced more negative effects from the pandemic than those who weren’t, including more emotional, physical and financial burdens. Female caregivers, younger caregivers and especially families with lower incomes experienced significant issues.
The pandemic has increased our awareness on the burden our caregivers face. We would need to further create a strong ecosystem to address this issue.
Here are four ways we can address and support our caregivers as part of a care infrastructure for better health in our nation.
Most of our caregivers spend 78% of their income to take care of their loved ones, leading them to diminish their savings and retirement. There are also situations where caregivers have to leave their jobs, leading to lesser incomes, more debts, unpaid bills and reduced Social Security retirement benefits. Some solutions that have emerged include adopting policies that allow flexible work hours. Furthermore, municipalities can provide tax credits to employers offering a minimum number of weeks of paid leave to family caregivers, make tax credit eligibility criteria more accessible to middle income families and extend job protections.
Second, caregivers face enormous difficulty being able to access services within their communities such as transportation, tailored meals and in-home health services due to lack of financial stability, better nutrition education and understanding resource availability overall. According to the National Alliance for Caregiving, 27% of caregivers found it very difficult and 62% of the caregivers needed training and access to information to better understand how to take care of themselves and their loved ones. Systems need modernization and integration as it can be difficult to find all information that is needed in one place. Finally, mental health services would be critical for caregivers as well as for their loved ones they are supporting.
Caregiver burnout is significant for professional and family caregivers. The exhaustion and burden of work results in caregivers not being able to attend to their own needs and have a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. There needs to be additional support for caregivers to provide relief and mitigate the risk of burnout.
Fourth but not least, we need to leverage technology. By 2020, approximately 120 million older Americans will need care at home. According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the majority of caregivers—some 45 million—will be unpaid (compared to 5 million paid caregivers), and many will care for more than one aging family member. Technologies such as telehealth and bio sensors, with their capabilities to meet members where they are and to proactively detect health concerns, could help provide education, consultation, psychosocial/cognitive behavioral therapy (including problem solving training), data collection and monitoring, clinical care delivery and social support. Better data and predictive analytics will lead to more tailored interventions. As technology is used by caregivers, it will require digital literacy as well to be as effective but could also reduce caregiver burden.
In conclusion, caregivers are an integral part of our society. They need additional support, access to mental health professionals, care infrastructure and a living wage. We need to move forward by creating solutions at the intersection of innovation, partnerships and awareness. Employers for example can create partnerships with caregiver organizations. Our caregivers need care in order to give care.
(NEW YORK) — Just under 1 million people utilized abortion services in the U.S. in 2020, according to recent data from the Guttmacher Institute. Another report from Guttmacher in 2016 showed that 90% of abortion patients in the U.S. obtained their procedure in the first trimester.
Medication abortion is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for up to 10 weeks into pregnancy, but there is good literature that has shown it is an effective method of abortion up to 11 weeks. This means the majority of people seeking abortion services are able to get medication abortions, Dr. Deborah Bartz, a gynecologist at Brigham and Women’s in Boston, told ABC News in an interview.
The abortion pill is the most common form of abortion in first trimester pregnancies, with recent data showing that 54% of those eligible now choose to undergo medication abortion over a procedure, Bartz said.
As access to abortion continues to be restricted in many states, more may choose to self-manage their abortions for several reasons, such as not being able to afford to travel for care, according to Dr. Meera Shah, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic.
Self-managed abortions were often risky pre-Roe, but abortion medication has offered a safe method for self-induced abortions.
Many patients in other countries have taken the abortion pill past 11 weeks, and there are several ongoing studies underway for usage of the pill beyond 11 weeks, Bartz said.
“You can take medications and induce pregnancy expulsion, essentially, at any gestation. It’s just as of right now, our literature indicates that 11 weeks is the upper limit on when we should be recommending that to most patients,” Bartz said.
The most robust and effective way to get a medication abortion is by taking two pills: mifepristone and misoprostol, Bartz said.
Mifepristone, which is taken first, blocks the hormone progesterone. Progesterone is needed for the pregnancy to grow inside the uterus. When mifepristone is taken, it begins the process of emptying the uterus.
Mifepristone can be taken at home or in a healthcare provider’s office.
The second medication, misoprostol is taken within 24 to 48 hours of the first medication. This causes uterine cramping and cervical softening and expels the pregnancy from the body, Bartz said.
Misoprostol causes cramping and bleeding, similar to a heavy period or miscarriage, to empty the uterus, according to Dr. Meera Shah, Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic.
“By taking the two medications together, what an individual is doing is essentially inducing a miscarriage. There are other means of doing medication abortion, and many people in the United States and throughout the world use misoprostol only. That is also a very good regimen,” Bartz said.
The Mifepristone-Misoprostal regimen is about 95% effective if taken within the first 11 weeks of pregnancy, while the misoprostal alone is about 85% effective, Bartz said.
The process itself takes a couple of hours. The further along patients are in the pregnancy, the more complex their symptoms may be and the longer their symptoms might last, according to Bartz.
Patients typically experience bleeding and cramping, which can be more severe the further along they are in pregnancy. This typically results within one to five hours, Bartz said.
“It’s probably a little bit more intense than like the first day of a person’s period. So, a little bit heavier bleeding than a period, a little bit more cramps than a period. But, there are many patients who experience symptoms that are not much more than their period,” Bartz said.
It is recommended that patients not be alone when they take the pills in case they experience more pain than expected or have heavy bleeding. Patients are usually advised to take pain medication, like ibuprofen, and maybe an anti-nausea medication ahead of time, before the cramps start, Bartz said.
Patients also experience flu-like symptoms including fevers, chills, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, all of which is normal with medication abortions, Bartz said.
When a person becomes pregnant, they are automatically in a higher risk category than someone who is not pregnant. So, getting an abortion of any kind puts a patient at less risk than if they continue a pregnancy, according to Bartz.
“The risk of maternal mortality associated with full term pregnancy and delivery is about 14 times higher than the risk of interrupting a pregnancy with a either medical or surgical abortion,” Bartz said.
Roughly 5% of patients experience incomplete abortions, meaning the pregnancy does not pass in its entirety. In these rare cases, the medication might not work the first time around, and they either have a continuing pregnancy or they have clinically significant pregnancy tissue that does not pass all the way, Bartz said.
“So they actually potentially would need either a second dose of the medications or to undergo the surgical the uterine aspiration procedure to bring those that pregnancy tissue out after they’ve taken that medication if it hasn’t worked. But 95% of patients, have the medication work just fine the first time,” Bartz said.
Rarely, some patients who experience severe bleeding may need to call their physician’s office or be seen in an emergency room for a blood transfusion. Less than 1% of patience experience bleeding significant enough that they would need a blood transfusion, Bartz said.
“If a patient is bleeding so heavily that she’s soaking pads a pad, an hour for a couple of hours, then we would want to see her,” Bartz said.
Another rare risk is the risk of an infection. As the cervix opens up a bit, there is a low risk that an infection could travel to the uterus, but doctors do not even prescribe antibiotics to prevent risk of infection because there is more risk from taking the antibiotic than there is of getting an infection, Bartz said.
Patients can experience mild or moderate bleeding and cramping on and off for up to a month after taking the abortion pill. Most get their next period one to two months after the abortion, according to Dr. Meera Shah, Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic.
Having an abortion does not decrease your chance of having a healthy pregnancy later on, or affect your future overall health unless a rare, serious complication occurs or is left untreated, according to Shah.
(LEXINGTON, MS) — A month after the police chief of a Mississippi town was fired following leaked audio allegedly of him using racial slurs, a civil rights group is suing the department.
Jill Colin Jefferson, the founder of the civil rights organization Julian, filed a lawsuit against Lexington, Mississippi, its police department, and others on behalf of five residents who claimed to have been victims of mistreatment by officers.
The lawsuit contends that the police force has had a long history of racially profiling its Black residents including with alleged targeted traffic stops, harassment and retaliation for speaking out against cops.
The suit contends the plaintiffs have “been falsely arrested, forced to undergo baseless searches and seizures at roadblocks, and subjected to unreasonable force by LPD officers when they verbally object to police mistreatment,” among other incidents experienced by Black residents over the last two years.
Roughly 1,500 of Lexington’s 1,800 residents are Black, according to the suit.
Jefferson told ABC News Live that the suit stems from the department’s operation under former police chief Sam Dobbins, who is one of the defendants in the suit. Last month, Dobbins was fired after audio from a conversation he allegedly had with other officers was leaked in which he allegedly used racial slurs against Black people.
Jefferson contends that Dobbins still has a presence over the police force due to his time spent training and instructing officers.
“The way that this town functions is that it continues to function in his shadow. His dominance is still there,” Jefferson told ABC News.
The Lexington Police Department and Lexington’s mayor’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment from ABC News about the suit. Dobbins told the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, which released the audio, that he didn’t use racial or other slurs, adding, “I don’t talk like that,” when he was asked about his recorded comments in July.
The suit cites a few examples of police misconduct against Black Lexington residents.
One was an alleged incident involving brothers Darius and Robert Harris, who were approached by officers on New Year’s Eve. The officers allegedly cited the brothers for using fireworks on Robert Harris’s private property and violating a city ordinance, according to the suit.
During the incident, which was filmed, officers allegedly tased Darius Harris, the suit said.
Jefferson told ABC News that Dobbins then harassed her client while he was still in pain.
“Sam Dobbins went to Darius and actually showed his flashlight in his face when he’s on the ground and told him to put his hands behind his back. At that moment, that was physically impossible,” she said.
The lawsuit doesn’t cite charges filed against Darius Harris, but details an alleged pattern of retaliation by police officers against both Harris brothers.
In another example, the suit cited a March incident involving plaintiff Peter Reeves, who criticized a police officer on social media. Reeves was allegedly stopped at a roadblock by the same officer, according to the suit.
Reeves was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance because he had a Tylenol bottle in his vehicle, the suit contends.
Jefferson said other Black residents have been subjected to roadblocks by the police. Tasha Walden, a Lexington resident, told ABC News, that in addition to the roadblocks, she’s seen and experienced officers following Black residents outside the city limits.
“It’s more than me, it’s basically 99% of the Black [community],” she told ABC News.
The suit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Jefferson said she wants more policy changes to the police department to be enacted by the city government and better accountability when residents file complaints against officers.
Last year, more than 200 complaints were filed against the police department, the suit said.
“That’s the other thing we need…a civilian complaint review board to actually review these complaints as they come in, because right now they’re just being swept under the rug,” she said. “But on a larger level, we need a federal investigation into what is happening in Lexington, not just of this police department or one of two or one or two officers, but this entire municipality.”
(UVALDE, Texas) — When students in Uvalde, Texas, return to school in September, they will have brand new picnic tables where they can sit and gather.
Many of their classrooms will be stocked with school supplies ranging from new books to new pens and pencils, all donated by strangers. And some kids will ride to school on the first day on new bikes, also donated by strangers.
It’s all part of a national, grassroots effort to help the community after 19 students and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School on May 24.
“For the Uvalde community, it’s just letting them know that they are not forgotten,” said Amanda Stevens, a mom of two from Dallas, Texas. “We will be here and we will honor their losses and support them with whatever they need.”
Stevens is one of the organizers behind an effort to fulfill Uvalde teachers’ wish lists — specifically teachers from Robb Elementary.
Across the country, as the back to school season approaches, many teachers post public wish lists of supplies they would otherwise have to pay for out of pocket, including everything from snacks for kids to books, educational materials and classroom supplies like tissues and hand sanitizer.
The wish lists are often shared on social media, where strangers can find them and donate the supplies.
For teachers in Uvalde, their lists have been shared far and wide this year, with people like Stevens working hard to make sure teachers there don’t have the extra burden of finding supplies.
Stevens is working alongside Frank Gomez, a teacher at her kids’ school and a Uvalde native, who said he specifically wanted to help the teachers at Robb Elementary School who are being relocated. The superintendent of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District announced in June that students and staff would not return to Robb Elementary when the new school year begins on Sept. 6, and would instead be served “on other campuses” around the district.
“Myself as a teacher, I started to think about what about the teachers,” said Gomez. “As they go into new buildings, what are they going to have to take with them? How are they going to get started?”
Gomez and Stevens said they have collected thousands of dollars worth of supplies for teachers in Uvalde by sharing teachers’ wish lists with their own school community and on social media. A GoFundMe started by Gomez also raised over $5,000, which he said is being used to purchase everything from books to classroom decorations to help the first day back at school seem more normal.
“The kids will see their teachers, their smiling faces,” Gomez said. “They’ll be a little bit nervous and scared and everything, but hopefully they’ll see their teacher and they’ll concentrate on getting back to school and getting back to the business of learning.”
On the first day of school, Uvalde students will also see new picnic tables at their schools, thanks to more than $15,000 that was raised in less than one day earlier this summer.
Katie Grossbard, 29, of Los Angeles, along with two of her friends, Val Vogt and actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, was an organizer of that fundraiser. She said she and the others spoke with Uvalde school officials to find something specific they needed for the new school year.
Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.
“We said to them, ‘How can we help?,’ and they said, ‘We need picnic tables,'” Grossbard recalled. “We said, ‘Great, send us links to what you want. We’ll figure out how much money it’s going to cost and we’ll make it happen.'”
In less than 18 hours, $15,000 was raised, according to Grossbard. She said the money has been used to purchase one dozen picnic tables that will be placed at schools to help accommodate students from Robb Elementary.
“One of the things that the people at the school district talked about when we were talking about making this happen was just creating a sense of community that was welcoming these students in with open arms and ready for them — and it not feeling like they were out of place or like that they weren’t supposed to be there,” Grossbard said. “They didn’t want it to feel like, ‘Oh, now we’re crowded and now you’re reminded every day that you’re not supposed to be here, you’re supposed to be somewhere else.'”
The picnic tables, according to Grossbard, will also be used as locations for students to sit and talk with mental health counselors as needed.
“People can sit down and be together and know that they’re not alone and know that they didn’t go through these experiences alone,” she explained.
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District did not reply to ABC News for this story.
The district’s school board has held special sessions throughout the summer to plan accommodations for the new school year, including upgrading security measures and allowing all students K-12 the opportunity to attend classes virtually after parents said their children do not feel comfortable returning to school in person. The district also pushed the start of school back from mid-August to Sept. 6.
Tensions within the community have often spilled out at the board’s meetings, particularly in the wake of a 77-page report by a joint committee of the Texas Legislature slammed the police response to the incident and the school district’s lack of preparation for such an attack.
Earlier this month, the school district announced Mandy Gutierrez, the principal of Robb Elementary School, who was briefly suspended following the probe into the attack, will be leaving the school for a position in district administration.
The district’s police chief, Pete Arredondo, remains on unpaid administrative leave, and the school district has recommended he be fired.
Amid the grief and tension in the community, Uvalde’s local library, the El Progreso Memorial Library, located just a few blocks from Robb Elementary School, has become a center of healing and community for people, largely thanks to strangers’ donations, according to library director Mendell Morgan.
Morgan said thousands of children’s books have been donated since the shooting, along with items like kids’ bicycles and toys.
“At a time like this, books can be such a comfort, a wonderful means to escape and a wonderful way to transport yourself into a different world where there is not hurting or pain,” Morgan said. “It’s always been our effort to bring the community here for times when we need to be together, in times of joy as well as times of sorrow when we need to comfort one another.”
The library has become a place to mourn and grieve through both reading and mental health counseling, as well as a place to have fun. Throughout the summer, the library has hosted everything from ponies and bounce houses to a special day that featured superhero characters reading books to kids, according to Morgan.
“People are so incredibly kind,” he said. “Great evil came to our community on May 24, no one can deny this, but the outpouring of good, the response has been overwhelming in the other direction, and we are so grateful.”
(NEW YORK) — Allen Weisselberg, who first met Donald Trump in the 1970s when he began working for Trump’s father, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges in New York that accused him of running a yearslong scheme to avoid taxes while he was the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty to all 15 counts — including conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, grand larceny and falsifying business records — and conceded he skirted taxes on nearly $2 million in income, including fringe benefits like rent, luxury cars and private school tuition for his grandchildren.
The plea implicates former President Trump’s namesake family business, which was charged in the same indictment by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
“In one of the most difficult decisions of his life, Mr. Weisselberg decided to enter a plea of guilty today to put an end to this case and the years-long legal and personal nightmares it has caused for him and his family,” said Weisselberg’s attorney, Nicholas Gravante Jr. “Rather than risk the possibility of 15 years in prison, he has agreed to serve 100 days. We are glad to have this behind him.”
Weisselberg repeatedly answered “Yes, your honor” as Judge Juan Merchan asked a series of questions about the scheme to evade taxes, admitting that he falsely underreported compensation, including a luxury apartment on Riverside Drive in Manhattan, multiple Mercedes Benz cars, cash, private school tuition for his grandchildren, and additional homes.
As part of his plea deal, Weisselberg agreed to serve five months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. He also agreed to testify against the Trump Organization when the company goes on trial in connection with the alleged compensation scheme beginning in October.
If he does not testify truthfully, the deal is off, exposing Weisselberg to additional prison time of between five and 15 years.
“The defendant must agree to testify truthfully at the trial of the Trump Organization,” assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass said.
The plea agreement contains no requirement for Weisselberg to cooperate in the criminal case against Trump himself, which centers on whether the former president knowingly misled tax authorities, lenders and insurance brokers by providing inaccurate financial statements about the value of his real estate portfolio.
Weisselberg must also pay back taxes and penalties totaling $1.94 million.
“Today Allen Weisselberg admitted in Court that he used his position at the Trump Organization to bilk taxpayers and enrich himself,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “This plea agreement directly implicates the Trump Organization in a wide range of criminal activity and requires Weisselberg to provide invaluable testimony in the upcoming trial against the corporation. We look forward to proving our case in court against the Trump Organization.”
A corporate tax fraud case was not what prosecutors were after. When they first filed charges against Weisselberg last summer, prosecutors hoped Weisselberg would turn on Trump, sources have told ABC News.
Trump asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a deposition last week as part of a parallel civil investigation by the New York Attorney General’s office.
“For years, Mr. Weisselberg broke the law to line his own pockets and fund a lavish lifestyle. Today, that misconduct ends. Let this guilty plea send a loud and clear message: we will crack down on anyone who steals from the public for personal gain because no one is above the law,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement following Weisselberg’s guilty plea.
The criminal investigation, which began under former Manhattan DA Cy Vance, appeared to stall earlier this year when the two senior prosecutors leading it resigned amid frustration that Bragg was not immediately seeking an indictment against Trump, sources told ABC News.
Bragg’s office has said the investigation remains ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 18, 12:04 PM EDT
Russia rejects calls to create demilitarized zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
The international calls and proposals for Russia to create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine are “unacceptable,” according to Ivan Nechayev, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department.
“Their implementation will make the plant even more vulnerable,” Nechayev said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Moscow is expecting experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations, to visit the Zaporizhzhia plant “in the near future,” according to Nechayev.
The secretary-generals of the U.N. and the IAEA have called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia plant, near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation. However, heavy fighting around the site has fueled fears of a catastrophe, like what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine over 36 years ago.
Aug 18, 9:34 AM EDT
Firefighter describes destruction after deadly strikes in Kharkiv
A Ukrainian firefighter who responded to the Russian missile attacks in Kharkiv overnight told ABC News that the scale of the blasts was “one of the biggest” he’s ever seen.
One of the rockets struck a large apartment block on Wednesday night, killing at least nine people and injuring another 16, according to Ukrainian authorities.
“It went through all four floors and hit the ground and almost blew up everything,” the firefighter, Roman Kachanov, told ABC News during an interview on Thursday. “All the buildings around were without windows.”
“There was a dormitory, and the building was almost completely ruined,” he added. “There was a playground that was smashed like a big titan blew it up.”
Kachanov is among the rescue workers searching for survivors amid the smoldering rubble.
“I’ve seen three bodies on the floor covered by objects,” he said. “We tried to extract them and while we tried, the other wall started to fall and we had to run away as fast as we can.”
Kachanov said another missile hit the city before dawn Thursday, not far from where he and his team were working. He said the blast “was very loud” and “sounded close.”
“Everyone had to lay down,” he recalled. “The team had to split — fire truck had to leave to go to that other fire.”
Aug 17, 5:40 PM EDT
Large apartment block struck in Kharkiv, at least 7 dead
At least seven people are dead and another 13 injured by strikes on a large apartment block in Kharkiv, officials said.
Based on recovered shrapnel, authorities determined an Iskander-M missile system was used in the strike, said Ivan Sokol, Ukraine’s director of the regional Department of Civil Defense.
Search and rescue efforts are ongoing at the three-story residential building, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said.
-ABC News’ Tatiana Rymarenko
Aug 15, 1:49 PM EDT
Shelling resumes near power plant, both sides claim the other is firing
More shelling was underway Monday in city of Enerhodar, which is under Russian control and where the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is located.
Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov urged residents to stay inside. He said Russian forces seized another government facility in Enerhodar, a lab where 30 of the employees are refusing to cooperate with the Russian-appointed administration.
Meanwhile, Russia’s semi-official Interfax reported that Ukrainian forces opened fire in Enerhodar.
Ukraine’s state nuclear regulator Energoatom said the plant remained occupied and controlled by Russian forces on Monday. The Ukrainian staff continues to work and make every effort to ensure nuclear and radiation safety, but Energoatom warned that periodic shelling by Russian troops with multiple rocket launchers since last week caused a serious risk to the safe operation of the plant.
Aug 15, 5:53 AM EDT
Griner to appeal Russian conviction, lawyer says
Brittney Griner’s defense team filed an appeal for the verdict by Khimky City Court, according to Maria Blagovolina, a partner at Rybalkin Gortsunyan Dyakin and Partners law firm.
The WNBA star was found guilty on drug charges in a Moscow-area court this month.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova
Aug 14, 4:44 PM EDT
1st UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat set to depart for Africa
The first UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat is set to head for Africa from the near the port city Odesa, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
The MV Brave Commander is loaded with 23,000 tons of wheat that will be shipped to Ethiopia as part of a mission to relieve a global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has halted grain exports for months, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kubrakov announced at a news conference.
Kubrakov said the UN-chartered ship is scheduled to leave the Pivdenny port near Odesa on Monday.
“When three months ago, during the meeting of the President of Ukraine (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Kyiv the first negotiations on unlocking Ukrainian maritime ports began, we have already seen how critical it is becoming a food situation in the world.” Kubrakov wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “This especially applies to the least socially protected countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, for whom Ukraine has always been a key importer of agro-production.”
He said Ethiopia is in desperate need of Ukrainian grain.
“This country has been suffering from record drought and armed confrontation for the second year in a row,” Kubrakov said. “Ukrainian grain for them without exaggeration — the matter of life and death.”
He said he hopes the MV Brave Commander will be the first many more grain shipments under the U.N. World Food Program.
Aug 12, 2:28 PM EDT
‘They treat us like captives’: Exiled Zaporizhzhia manager on conditions at plant
An exiled manager at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant told ABC News that the Ukrainian staff is treated “like captives.”
Oleg, who asked to be referred by a pseudonym, said he felt threatened by the Russian soldiers.
“They didn’t say, ‘I’m going to shoot you now,’ but they always carry guns and assault rifles with them,” said Oleg, who managed one of 80 units at the plant but was able to leave last month. “And when an assault rifle or a gun has a cocked trigger, I consider it as a threat.”
Amid reported shelling in the vicinity of the plant, Oleg said he was primarily concerned about its spent fuel containers, “which are in a precarious position, and they are not shielded well.”
Aug 11, 4:43 PM EDT
UN secretary-general calls for all military activities around nuclear power plant to ‘cease immediately’
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “calling for all military activities” around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant in southern Ukraine “to cease immediately,” and for armies not “to target its facilities or surroundings.”
Ukraine’s nuclear regulator Energoatom said Russian forces shelled the plant for a third time on Thursday, hitting close to the first power unit. Earlier on Thursday, Energoatom said five rockets struck the area around the commandant’s office, close to where the radioactive material is stored.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed interim governor of Zaporizhzhya Oblast, issued a statement claiming Ukrainian forces struck the plant, hitting close to an area with radioactive material.
Guterres said he’s appealed to all parties to “exercise common sense” and take any actions that could endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
“Instead of de-escalation, over the past several days there have been reports of further deeply worrying incidents that could, if they continue, lead to disaster,” he said, adding that he’s “gravely concerned.”
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, pleaded with the U.N. Security Council Thursday to allow for an IAEA mission to visit the plant as soon as possible. He said the situation at the plant is deteriorating rapidly and is “becoming very alarming.”
(BENTONVILLE, Ark.) — Walmart, the Arkansas-based retail giant known more for value than flare, made a splash in Hollywood this week upon the announcement of a deal with streaming service Paramount+.
The retailer will provide the video content free of charge to Walmart+ subscribers, who pay $98 a year or $12.95 a month for a membership package that includes gas discounts, free two-day shipping on online purchases, and member-only deals, the company said in a statement on Monday.
The move marks a major departure for Walmart, which appears to have weathered sky-high inflation with better-than-expected earnings in the second quarter, as revenue climbed 8.4% compared to the same three-month period a year prior. However, the company had cut its second-quarter forecast just weeks earlier.
The new streaming content will help the retailer retain current Walmart+ subscribers and attract new ones, as the company vies with rival Amazon and continues to grow beyond its telltale big box stores with an e-commerce offering that gained emphasis during the pandemic, retail analysts told ABC News.
While the move highlights the digital value of Walmart’s subscription service, the company’s effort to improve the in-store experience exclusive to subscribers could translate the potential influx of members into more brick-and-mortar business, they added.
An assessment of the deal with Paramount+ — and its capacity to strengthen Walmart’s subscription service — should take into account the customer base that the company has already built, Steph Wissink, a retail analyst at Jefferies, told ABC News. Ninety percent of Americans shop at Walmart each year, the company said in March, adding that more than 150 million people shop with the company each week either in-store or online.
As Walmart strengthens its subscription service, that customer base affords it a wide pool of prospective members, enhancing the potential value of the Paramount+ offering for the company, Wissink said.
“That touch point element is meaningfully higher than what we would see for other retailers,” she said, acknowledging that “some portion of their household income distribution is not going to be able to afford” the subscription.
By comparison, as of last April, Amazon boasted more than 200 million Amazon Prime subscribers worldwide. Walmart has not released subscriber totals for Walmart+, but the expected figure is much lower, analysts said.
The deal with Paramount+, therefore, comes down to competition with Amazon, Joe Feldman, a retail analyst for Telsey Advisory, told ABC News.
“This is an effort to be more competitive with Amazon as a membership provider,” he said. “You’ve seen both companies increasingly compete with one another and almost mirror one another.”
The entry of Walmart into streaming parallels Amazon’s decision to jump into the in-store grocery business that Walmart had participated in for years, Feldman said.
Even though brick-and-mortar shopping has bounced back since the early months of the pandemic, e-commerce remains a key focus for Walmart, Wissink, said.
“Digital fluency went up substantially in 2020 because stores were closed,” she said. “Even your granny was ordering things online and having them delivered to the front door.”
But the focus on Walmart’s subscription service, brought to the attention of many by the partnership with Paramount+, also points to an advantage for Walmart that sets it apart from Amazon: the vast network of stores, Wissink said. Down the road, if Walmart improves the subscription service with further in-store benefits, it could compound the revenue from new digital subscribers with enticements for in-store shopping.
“Let’s say it’s my birthday and I go to Walmart, Walmart+ on mobile can prompt me with a free coffee or free cupcake at the bakery,” Wissink said. “Those are benefits for a Walmart+ member.”
“The partnership with Paramount+ isn’t a signal that Walmart thinks its stores are no longer relevant,” she added. “It’s the exact opposite.”
Looking ahead, Walmart could even form partnerships with additional streaming services to improve its subscription offering, Feldman and Wissink said.
“Walmart is likely to explore lots of different options,” Feldman said.
