(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio food banks are reporting a surge in demand amid concerns about growing food insecurity and what it may signal for the overall U.S. economy.
“Right now we’re running 47% higher in ’23 than we did, you know, a year ago,” said Matt Habash, CEO of Mid-Ohio Food Collective. “And I thought it would drop after the pandemic.”
Serving 20 counties across central Ohio, the organization is one of the largest of its kind in the country, providing 170,000 meals a day to those in need. One of their locations, the Mid-Ohio Market, is set up like a regular grocery store that organizers say is to combat stigma associated with food insecurity.
Kayla Kraig, a mom of five, said she started volunteering there about three months ago. When she told her story to other volunteers, they encouraged her to use the food bank when she needed help putting food on the table.
“They were like, ‘You need to shop.’ I didn’t know that it was like that. I feel like that’s the first reaction is, ‘I’m embarrassed to ask for help,'” Kayla told ABC News’ Alex Presha.
Kayla said she ultimately decided to shop there twice in the last three months, giving her some much-needed breathing room.
“I can rest my shoulders instead of being like, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do this month?'” Kayla said.
The Mid-Ohio Food Collective and its partner agencies had the highest number of people walk through their doors in March — more than 141,000 people, the organization said.
“We had to come to the pantry, and this is life-saving, because I don’t know what we would do. It’s a game changer,” one resident told ABC News.
Habash attributes some of the demand to pandemic federal problems being no longer available, like stimulus checks, child tax credits and emergency food stamp benefits, which ended in March. There’s also rising inflation — groceries are 23% more expensive now than they were at the start of the pandemic, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“It doesn’t look like there’s any end in sight…it scares me to death,” Habash said.
In southeast Columbus, Community Kitchen, which provides people in need with a free meal, is also seeing an increase in demand. The organization’s president, MJ McCleskey, told ABC News that many of the people coming into the facility have never been there before. The need is so big, they’re now looking to open another facility, she said.
Some economists worry what’s playing out in Ohio and other parts of the country could be an indicator for the health of the U.S. economy. Mark Partridge, a rural and urban policy expert at Ohio State University, is also alarmed by the trend.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen this kind of pressure that you have to go back to the really early 1980s, in the 1970s to see anything like this with really rapid inflation, especially for food prices. And wages are not keeping up with inflation,” Partridge told ABC News.
ABC News’ Alex Presha and Katie O’Brien contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — California Sen. Dianne Feinstein arrived at the Capitol for the first time in three months on Wednesday, gingerly emerging out of a gray sedan with the help of aides who assisted her into a black wheelchair.
The 89-year-old Democrat, welcomed back by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said she was feeling “much better” after being absent while she recovered from shingles.
Feinstein’s arrival came just moments after a statement from her office confirmed that her long-awaited return, which notes that she will be working on a “lighter schedule” on doctor’s orders as she continues to recover.
She entered the Capitol about 3 p.m., following two of the day’s three series of Senate votes.
“Even though I’ve made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I’m still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus. My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule as I return to the Senate. I’m hopeful those issues will subside as I continue to recover,” Feinstein said in the statement.
On Wednesday, Feinstein asked aides repeatedly, “Why can’t I walk?” before being wheeled into the Capitol, with her right eye was visibly red. The senator said said she had something in it.
Feinstein’s return restores Democrats’ 51-49 majority in the Senate. After being hospitalized in February, Feinstein’s absence in the upper chamber had become a sticking point for some members of her party who become increasingly frustrated with the fact that — without her — Republicans could block Democrats from voting President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Some on the party’s left flank, including California Rep. Ro Khanna and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, argued the federal judiciary could be harmed if Feinstein didn’t step down.
“I want to treat Dianne Feinstein fairly. I want to be sensitive to her family situation and her personal situation,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin said on CNN on Sunday. “But the bottom line is, the business of the committee and of the Senate is affected by her absence.”
Feinstein, in her statement, said she was looking forward to “resuming” her work on the Judiciary Committee.
“The Senate faces many important issues, but the most pressing is to ensure our government doesn’t default on its financial obligations. I also look forward to resuming my work on the Judiciary Committee considering the president’s judicial nominees,” she said.
(SAN DIEGO) — Researchers have successfully simulated a high magnitude earthquake on the largest building ever tested, and the structure survived.
Global interest in mass timber construction — which involves thick, compressed layers of wood, bonded together, creating structural load-bearing elements — has skyrocketed in the last several years, after the International Building Code announced the intention to add new building provisions to allow the construction of wood buildings up to 18 stories, Shiling Pei, associate professor at the Colorado School of Mines, told ABC News.
“There is very strong interest in doing so on the West Coast,” he said. “But one thing the West Coast has is earthquake hazard.”
To test whether these high rises made of timber could withstand an earthquake, the National Science Foundation funded the construction of Tallwood, a 10-story mass timber building situated on the University of California San Diego’s campus. Tallwood, the world’s tallest full-scale building ever tested on an earthquake simulator, was then placed upon one of the two largest shake tables in the world, according to the university’s Englekirk Structural Engineering Center.
On Tuesday, the researchers simulated two of the largest earthquakes in recent decades — the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Northridge, California, in 1994, and the 7.7 Chi-Chi earthquake that struck Taiwan in 1999 and killed more than 2,400 people.
First they “played” the Northridge earthquake on the simulator for five minutes before turning to the Chi-Chi earthquake, watching the building all throughout the process.
Tallwood “danced,” Pei said — a sign the construction was a success.
“The building moved around just like a tree in a windstorm,” Pei said.
Tallwood endured no structural damage, only the odd chip or crack in the drywall after the Chi-Chi simulation, things “you can repair very easily,” he added.
The researchers are using the data they gathered at the shake test to model what would happen in even taller buildings. If constructed correctly, an 18-story building should be able to withstand earthquakes of similar magnitudes.
“The rocking wall system basically consists of a solid wood wall panel anchored to the ground using steel cables or rods with large tension forces in them,” Pei said. “When exposed to lateral forces, the wood wall panels will rock back and forth — which reduces earthquake impacts — and then the steel rods will pull the building back to plumb once the earthquake passes.”
Also of utmost importance is the exterior envelope, which must protect the building from temperature extremes, weather events and stairs, which must remain functional to allow occupants to safely exit and first responders to continually access all floors of the building, according to UC San Diego.
The shake table has recently been upgraded to move in 3D at six degrees of freedom, including east to west, north to south, up and down, and roll pitch and yaw, according to the university. It can shake structures weighing up 4.5 million pounds, or roughly the weight of 1300 sedan cars, and is the only earthquake simulator located outdoors.
After six years of research and planning, the excitement at the shake site was palpable, Pei said.
“It is very rare to have an appointment with an earthquake,” he said.
Even more amazing was being able to climb to the top of the structure and see it “good as new,” Pei said.
(NEW YORK) — A day after a New York jury verdict that found Donald Trump liable for battery and defamation flooded the airwaves, it appeared on Wednesday to have caused little more than a ripple on the 2024 campaign trail.
To be sure, the finding in the civil case that a former president and campaign front-runner should pay $5 million for sexually abusing and defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll marked what would normally be a stunning story. Yet, critics and allies alike suggested it would do little to knock Trump off his perch atop primary polls as he seeks a third straight GOP presidential nomination.
“I think many Republican voters think one of two things. One, is they view this in a larger context of the media and the left and those in New York City and elsewhere are out to get him, out to get Trump. Whether it’s the indictment stuff, the FBI raids, whatever it might be, this is another piece to all of that,” said one adviser to a possible Trump primary opponent.
“Second, I think there’s such a drumbeat of all this stuff that I think eventually folks tune it out,” this person added. “A lot of people have made up their mind about him. There are no undecided people when it comes to the former president. So, if you don’t like Donald Trump, you were still not gonna like Donald Trump. If you like Donald Trump, this isn’t gonna change your mind.”
The expected impact on the campaign trail was reflected in comments from Trump’s GOP primary rivals, which either cast doubt on whether voters cared about the verdict or cast doubt on the proceedings themselves.
“I’ll say what everyone else is privately thinking: if the defendant weren’t named Donald Trump, would we be talking about this today, would there even be a lawsuit?” Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and author running in the primary, asked in a statement.
“I’m not going to get into that,” former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told radio host Hugh Hewitt Wednesday. “I’m doing town halls all over Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina. And they are concerned about inflation. They’re concerned about their kids’ education. They’re concerned about the border and how out of control it is. They’re concerned about crime and what’s happening with why is there a Chinese spy balloon flying over us. Those are the things they care about.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to launch a presidential campaign in the coming weeks, dodged a question on the verdict at a news conference Wednesday, and former Vice President Mike Pence, another potential presidential aspirant, told NBC News that he didn’t expect voters to pay much attention to it and that he “never heard or witnessed behavior of that nature” while serving in Trump’s administration.
As of Wednesday afternoon, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was the only GOP presidential contender to directly take on Trump over the verdict.
“Over the course of my over 25 years of experience in the courtroom, I have seen firsthand how a cavalier and arrogant contempt for the rule of law can backfire. The jury verdict should be treated with seriousness and is another example of the indefensible behavior of Donald Trump,” he said in a statement.
The reluctance to bash the former president underscored both Trump’s grip over a large slice of the GOP base and the electoral reality for many of his rivals.
“All of his opponents, with the exception for maybe one or two, are in a place where they need to introduce themselves right now. And there’s little to gain by introducing themselves in the terms of a New York jury verdict about a case of this nature regarding Donald Trump,” the adviser to a possible opponent said.
But even off the campaign trail in Washington, Trump drew only a handful more detractors.
While Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said the verdict “doesn’t put a check mark in the positive category” and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said “I hope the jury of the American people reach the same conclusion which is he is not fit to become the president of the United States,” even critics in Washington were less bullish.
“I think that people who hate Trump will always hate Trump regardless of what he does. I think people who love Trump will always love Trump regardless of what he does, so I think it’s kind of a non-issue,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., who last year called DeSantis the leader of the GOP.
Other strategists suggested that while the verdict itself might not turn off primary voters, the compilation of scandals could make voters concerned enough over his ability to win a general election that they might turn to a primary alternative.
“This stuff is mostly priced in, and a lot of Republicans have a reflexive need to defend Trump, who is always under attack from his perceived enemies. That said, this is another log on the fire, and the cumulative effect of these indictments and potential indictments, including this judgement will add up for voters. It goes not only to his character but to his electability,” said Iowa-based GOP strategist David Kochel.
However, the kind of fractured response following the verdict could help Trump once again defy political gravity when accused of sexual misconduct and other scandals, said anti-Trump GOP pollster Sarah Longwell.
Longwell told ABC News that a recent seven-person focus group she conducted included only one person who had heard of the Carroll case and that even an avalanche of scandal might not be enough to undermine Trump’s support if the reaction to Tuesday’s verdict repeats itself.
“These verdicts have the potential to change something, but it requires Republicans to get loud about them,” Longwell said. “As long as Trump’s 2024 rivals and elected Republicans don’t in one voice speak out against Trump whenever he’s indicted or impeached or found liable in a sexual assault case, as long as they continue to run cover for him, the Republican voters are gonna continue to feel like it’s fine to continue to support Trump.”
Longwell added that disjointed Republican responses to past scandals and controversial remarks from Trump have helped beliefs like widespread election fraud seep deep into the GOP base.
And with a broad swath of the party believing the former president is victim of a “witch hunt,” some suggest the Carroll verdict could help solidify his campaign position.
“It’s just a bunch of liberals up there anyway,” Moye Graham, the chair of the Clarendon County, South Carolina Republican Party said of the New York jury. “I don’t think it’ll change a thing … It might make him stronger.”
(ALLEN, Texas) — Irvin Walker II had just dropped off his wife at the Allen Premium Outlets in Texas when a gunman fired shots into his car, hitting him three times.
The dad and husband “got into survival mode,” his attorney, Daryl Washington, told ABC News. “He wanted to live.”
Walker tried to drive away, but he was losing so much blood that he was afraid of bleeding out, Washington said, so he ran to a store for help. But Walker then realized he was at risk in the store, too, because he didn’t know where the gunman was located.
As Walker left the store, he witnessed 20-year-old mall security guard Christian LaCour get shot and killed, Washington said.
“He loves his family, he loves his daughter. … These are the things that was going through his mind, whether he’d ever see his family again,” Washington said.
Walker kept fleeing the mall area until “someone picked him up and put him in the back of a police cruiser” to bring him to safety, Washington said.
The suspect, who died after a confrontation with police, had three weapons on his person and five in his car when he opened fire at the mall on Saturday afternoon, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Eight people were killed and seven, including Walker, were injured.
Walker, who’s suffering from physical and mental injuries, has completed one surgery and may need a second, his attorney said.
Among the physical scars are bullet fragments lodged into his skin all over his body, Washington said.
“That’s gonna be with him for the remainder of his life — he won’t be able to do just simple things, [like] going into an airport, without the security alarm going off,” the attorney said.
“There’s no need for a gun with that amount of strength to be on the street,” Washington added.
Authorities said Tuesday that it appears the suspect, Mauricio Garcia, targeted the mall and shot people at random. A motive remains unknown.
ABC News’ Connor Burton contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Medical and scientific experts advising the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of allowing a birth control pill to be sold without a prescription.
The vote could sway the FDA, which ultimately needs to sign off. But if the FDA agrees, the progestin-only pill Opill could be on shelves this summer as the first over-the-counter pill sold in the U.S.
“The large body of evidence on the safety and effectiveness is very reassuring,” said Dr. Kathryn Curtis, a reproductive health expert with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after voting in favor of easing access.
Opill, made by the French drugmaker HRA Pharma, which is owned by Perrigo, has been on the market since the FDA approved it in 1973. Known as a “mini pill,” the drug is considered by doctors to pose fewer risks than combination pills that rely on estrogen.
Still, the FDA has posed questions about whether women could screen themselves for risks. For example, certain breast cancer survivors shouldn’t take the drug and women shouldn’t ignore abnormal uterine bleeding while on the drug, which could be a sign of an unrelated medical problem like an ectopic pregnancy.
Another concern was whether there was enough data on how teens would use the pill and if young teens in particular – ages 11 to 14 – would read the labeling and take the medication correctly.
But after two days of discussion, panel members said they didn’t think those concerns were serious enough to insist that a person see a provider first — a hurdle that keeps many patients from preventing unwanted pregnancies. Of particular concern was the lack of health care access by people of color and those who struggle to find child care or transportation.
Dr. Eve Espey, an FDA adviser and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of New Mexico, said an over-the-counter birth control pill is particularly needed in rural states like hers.
“I see it firsthand — people who face all of these barriers and who also experienced the maternal … mortality that goes along with unintended pregnancy,” Espy said.
“From my perspective, despite the FDA concerns about the study design and different interpretations of the studies, the overall very rare and unlikely harms are outweighed by the tremendous benefits of improved access without any restrictions,” she added.
Perrigo President and CEO Murray Kessler called the vote a “new, groundbreaking chapter in reproductive health,” while advocacy groups cheered the move as historic.
“It is past time for an over-the-counter birth control pill, which has the potential to advance reproductive justice and expand health equity,” Victoria Nichols, project director at Free the Pill, said.
Manufacturers of the drug haven’t said how much Opill will cost if sold without a prescription, although officials say the plan is to ensure it will be affordable.
ABC News’ Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., has been indicted on 13 counts, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York said Wednesday.
The embattled congressman was taken into custody Wednesday morning on Long Island, New York.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 10, 4:24 PM EDT
Santos says he’ll vote on border bill tomorrow
Addressing reporters outside the Long Island federal courthouse after his arraignment, Santos said his case is about being “innocent until proven guilty.”
“I have my right to fight to prove my innocence,” he said.
The freshman congressman, who was released on bond, said he’ll return to Washington to vote on the House Republicans’ border security bill tomorrow.
“I have to go back and vote tomorrow,” Santos said. “We have one of the most consequential vote in this Congress, which is a border bill, and I’m very looking forward to being there.”
Saying “the media is not jury or the judge,” Santos said he would present evidence of his innocence “to the jurist and to the judge in this courthouse.”
“If Congress requested, I will present it to them as well,” he said.
May 10, 4:00 PM EDT
‘I will get to clear my name,’ Santos says
Asked by ABC News’ Rachel Scott why he would apply for unemployment benefits while he had a job that paid $120,000 a year as alleged in the federal indictment, Santos said, “This is inaccurate information.”
“I will get to clear my name on this. During the pandemic, it wasn’t very clear. I don’t understand where the government is getting their information, but I will present my facts.”
“My employment was changed during the time,” he said of the period when prosecutors allege he collected $24,000 in unemployment funds under false pretenses. “I don’t understand where the government’s coming from. I’ll present my defense.”
May 10, 3:49 PM EDT
Santos says he won’t resign
Speaking to reporters outside the Long Island federal courthouse following his arraignment, Santos said that he will not resign from Congress as a result of his indictment.
“I’m going to fight my battle,” Santos said. “I’m going to deliver. I’m going to fight the witch hunt. I’m going to take care of clearing my name and I look forward to doing that.”
May 10, 2:46 PM EDT
Santos won’t have to wear ankle monitor
Ryan Harris, a federal prosecutor speaking on behalf of the government, laid out the conditions of Santos’ bond, which defense counsel had agreed to as “something palatable for both of us.”
Among the conditions, Santos can travel within the continental U.S. — but must notify pretrial services before doing so.
He can travel freely within and between New York City, Long Island, and Washington, D.C.
A spokesperson for the Eastern District of New York confirmed that Santos will not be required to wear an ankle monitor.
Santos’ next hearing is scheduled for June 30.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin and Lucien Bruggeman
May 10, 2:37 PM EDT
Santos to be released on $500,000 bond
Santos will be released on $500,000 bond now that his arraignment has concluded.
At his arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty, Magistrate Judge Anne Shields read a summary of the charges against Santos and notified him of his rights — to which Santos replied, “Yes, ma’am.”
Santos confirmed that he had read the indictment and had consulted with his attorney.
Before the hearing began, Santos’ attorney, Joe Murray, told a group of reporters that Santos was feeling “good” and was looking forward to the hearing, where he was “finally going to get to address the allegations.”
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin and Lucien Bruggeman
May 10, 2:28 PM EDT
Santos pleads not guilty
Santos has pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment at the Long Island federal courthouse.
May 10, 1:29 PM EDT
Santos’ attorney arrives at courthouse
Santos’ lawyer, Joe Murray, and congressional aide Vish Burra have entered the Long Island federal courthouse where Santos is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon.
Neither responded to questions from reporters as they made their way inside.
May 10, 12:52 PM EDT
Several House Republicans reiterate calls for Santos to resign
About a dozen GOP members of the House had previously called on Santos to resign or be expelled from Congress in the face of allegations against him, and several of them are reiterating that stance today.
In a statement today, fellow New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, said, “The charges against Rep. Santos are extremely serious and deeply disturbing and as I’ve previously said, he simply doesn’t have the trust of his constituents or colleagues. The sooner he leaves, the sooner his district can be represented by someone who isn’t a liar and fraud.”
Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., told reporters on his way into a conference meeting this morning, “I can’t wait for him to be gone.”
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Tex., tweeted, “George Santos should be immediately expelled from Congress and a special election initiated at the soonest possible date,” while Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., told reporters, “This has been going on now since we took the majority. Frankly, I would have hoped along the way that Mr. Santos would have done what I believed was the right thing and not force leadership to force his action, but for him to do it on his own.”
The office of Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, says his position remains unchanged from the his Jan. 12 statement which said, in part, “I do not believe George Santos can effectively serve and should resign.”
In other statements released Tuesday night by Santos’ fellow New York Republicans, Rep. Nick LaLota said, “These charges bring us one step closer to never having to talk about this lying loser ever again,” while Rep. Mike Lawler said, “I reiterate my call for George Santos to step down” and Rep. Anthony D’Esposito said, “As a retired NYPD Detective, I am confident the justice system will fully reveal Congressman Santos’ long history of deceit, and I once again call on this serial fraudster to resign from office.”
Other GOP House members from New York who have previously called for Santos to step down include Rep. Nick Langworthy and Rep. Brandon Williams.
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., told CNN Tuesday night, “I do believe that if a member of Congress is charged with a federal crime they should resign,” and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told CNN, “We should really hold our own accountable and recruit someone who’s going to be better.”
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller, Gabe Ferris, Katherine Faulders and Jay O’Brien
May 10, 11:16 AM EDT
House GOP leadership standing by Santos
House Republican leadership is continuing to stand by Santos following the 13-count indictment. Among the House’s GOP leadership, there have been no calls today for Santos to resign.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy says that Santos, “like every American,” will have his “day in court.”
“He will go through his time in trial and let’s find out how the outcome is,” McCarthy said.
The speaker said that Santos “was never put on committee, so he won’t serve on committee.”
Asked if money laundering, wire fraud, and lying to Congress concerns him, McCarthy responded, “It always concerns me.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, during a press conference this morning, said that the charges were serious — but did not call on Santos to resign.
“There’s a presumption of innocence, but the charges are serious,” Scalise said. “He’ll have to go through the legal process.”
-ABC News’ Gabe Ferris, Lauren Peller and Katherine Faulders
May 10, 10:33 AM EDT
Santos misled House about finances, indictment says
In addition to being charged with defrauding campaign donors and falsely applying for unemployment benefits, the indictment alleges that Santos mislead the House of Representatives about his finances, specifically in to two financial disclosure forms he filed as a candidate.
in May 2020, during his first unsuccessful campaign, Santos overstated one source of income while failing to disclose his investment firm salary, the indictment says.
And in September 2022, while running again, Santos again included falsehoods in his financial disclosure forms, according to the indictment.
Santos lied about earning a $750,000 salary and between $1 million and $5 million in dividends from his company, the Devolder Organization, according to the indictment, and falsely claimed to have a checking account that held between $100,000 and $250,000, and a savings account with deposits of between $1 and $5 million.
“These assertions were false. Santos had not received from the Devolder Organization the reported amounts of salary or dividends,” prosecutors said in the indictment.
May 10, 10:17 AM EDT
Santos to be arraigned this afternoon, could face 20 years
Santos was placed under arrest this morning and will be arraigned on the indictment this afternoon.
He was placed under arrest on a 13-count, 19-page indictment that outlines three main schemes.
If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 20 years in prison — though it’s by no means certain he would serve that much time.
May 10, 10:11 AM EDT
Santos defrauded campaign donors, prosecutors say
Federal prosecutors in Central Islip, New York, accuse Santos of engaging in a “scheme to defraud” his campaign donors.
According to the indictment, Santos solicited donations for his run for office “under the false pretense” that those funds would actually be used for politics.
Instead, prosecutors said Santos spent “thousands of dollars of the solicited funds on personal expenses, including luxury designer clothing and credit card payments.”
Santos is also charged with illegally receiving unemployment benefits during the pandemic even though “he was employed and was not eligible for unemployment benefits,” the indictment said.
Santos is also charged with lying to the House of Representatives on his financial disclosures. Taken together, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. Santos relied on “repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself.”
May 10, 9:59 AM EDT
Santos received unemployment while working: Docs
Among the accusations in the charging documents are allegations that Santos applied for unemployment benefits during the pandemic, falsely claiming to have been unemployed since March 2020, according to prosecutors.
He collected money from then until April 2021, “when Santos was working and receiving a salary on a near-continuous basis and during his unsuccessful run for Congress,” referring to his first run for the job, which he lost. In total, prosecutors say he collected more than $24,000 in benefits.
He was actually being paid a $120,000 salary as regional director of an investment firm at the time, according to prosecutors.
(CHICAGO) — Four teenagers, including a 16-year-old, have been charged in the murder of a beloved 24-year-old Chicago police officer, authorities announced Wednesday.
Officer Aréanah Preston had just finished her shift and was still in uniform when she was shot and killed at about 1:42 a.m. Saturday, according to Chicago police.
The four suspects — ages 19, 19, 18 and 16 — “were out looking for victims” that night and are believed to be connected to multiple robberies and a car theft in the hours leading up to Preston’s murder, interim Chicago Police Superintendent Eric Carter said at a news conference.
As Preston was returning home, the teens pulled up in a stolen car, and at least two of the teens allegedly fired at her, according to police.
Preston returned fire, but the teens continued to shoot, and they allegedly stole Preston’s gun before fleeing, Carter said.
Preston’s gun has not yet been recovered, police said.
The four suspects were all charged with first-degree murder and face other charges, including armed robbery and arson, police said. The 16-year-old will be charged as an adult, police said.
Carter said Preston was a “beloved, daughter, sister and friend who wanted to make a difference in this world” and “create a better future for Chicago.”
Police Officer Aréanah M. Preston
End of Watch: May 6, 2023
We join Officer Preston’s family and loved ones in mourning the loss of our fallen hero. Our hearts are heavy, but through our grief, we will carry on her legacy of service to Chicago and its people. pic.twitter.com/cZOTrGKZzS
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Despite a consistent stream of tragedies, Texas officials aren’t doing enough to combat gun violence, according to elected officials, activists and families of people killed in mass shootings who say they are frustrated by a lack of legislative progress in the state.
Although gun reform activists claimed a small victory Monday when a Texas state house committee advanced a bill that would raise the age to buy assault-style weapons, they say the process shouldn’t take this long.
Rosie Yanas, who lost her 17-year-old son Chris in a 2018 school shooting at Santa Fe High School located outside of Houston, told ABC News that she and other families worry that no real change will happen given the pro-gun stance taken by many of the state’s leaders.
“Any change is better than nothing,” Yanas, who identifies as a conservative Republican said. “I may not agree with everything, [or] what everybody’s fighting for, but any kind of change is better than nothing.”
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, introduced several bills during this legislative session to combat gun violence. Aside from the bill to raise the age limit on assault-style weapons from 18 to 21, he also is pushing for mandatory safe storage laws, and extreme risk protective orders.
Gutierrez, a Democrat, told ABC News he knows that many of his proposals don’t stand a chance due to opposition from Republicans. However, he said it is worth trying.
“We’re never going to legislate this thing away, but we have to make it harder,” the senator told ABC News about gun violence.
Some activists have noted that other red states pushed to pass bipartisan gun reform bills without the roadblocks. Roughly three weeks after the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, then-Gov. Rick Scott signed a gun reform package that included raising the minimum age for buying a gun from 18 to 21 and a red flag law that allowed law enforcement the right to petition a judge to take a gun away from an individual who poses a threat to themselves or others.
Republican Texas state Rep. Dustin Burrows and Democratic Texas state Rep. Joe Moody sat on a special legislative committee that came together after the Uvalde mass shooting, and responded to the calls from parents who are pushing to raise the age of assault weapon purchases.
Burrows told ABC News that he’s concerned about legal challenges down the line.
“I look at, you know, where are we going to spend our time?” he said. “You know, having a big, robust debate or trying to push something forward like that when there’s a lot of other solutions that I don’t think have this impediment that we can focus on and do.”
Moody told ABC News that it is important to have the conversation about raising the age.
“I will fight for those changes that I think would’ve made their community safer that day because I think they deserve it,” he said.
Christina Delgado, an activist who volunteers with the nonprofit Community Justice Action Fund, told ABC News that she thinks the lack of action by the Texas legislature, despite the outcry from the community, is sometimes caused by political games. However, she reiterated that gun violence and gun reform is not a political issue, but a public health issue.
“There are responsibilities that we all have, not just as parents, not just as Texans, but as Americans and, more importantly, as gun owners, to really stand by those responsibilities,” she said.
(ISLIP, N.Y.) — A federal grand jury has indicted Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., on 13 counts centering around three alleged schemes, according to court documents. The congressman, who was sworn into office in January, was taken into custody Wednesday morning on Long Island.
Santos is charged with five counts of wire fraud in what prosecutors allege was a fraudulent political contribution solicitation scheme. He’s charged with two counts of unlawful monetary transactions for allegedly transferring donations he received for his political campaign to accounts he controlled before spending them on personal purchases, according to the indictment.
He is charged with one count of theft of public money and two more counts of wire fraud for allegedly fraudulently applying for and receiving unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
Santos is also facing two counts of making false statements to the U.S. House of Representatives in financial disclosure reports.
He pleaded not guilty on Wednesday afternoon and said he would defend himself against the allegations in a press conference afterward. “I’m going to fight the witch hunt. I’m going to take care of clearing my name and I look forward to doing that,” he said.”
Scheme to solicit political contributions
Prosecutors allege Santos “devised and executed a scheme to defraud supporters of his candidacy for the House and to obtain money from them” by persuading them to contribute funds to a company he created under the “false pretense” that it would be used for his political campaign.
Santos then allegedly spent thousands of dollars of the solicited funds on personal expenses, including “luxury designer clothing and credit card payments,” according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege Santos lied to campaign funders, telling them the company he set up was a social welfare organization or a super PAC. Campaign finance laws require expenditure committees to register with the Federal Election Commission as super PACs within 10 days of receiving contributions or spending more than $1,000 in a calendar year, but Santos allegedly knew his company was not registered as such, according to prosecutors.
Santos allegedly told donors that there were “no limits” on how much contributions could be. At least one person then made contributions to his campaign that exceeded the limit set by campaign finance laws, according to the indictment.
Santos allegedly sent prospective donors one or more text messages or emails requesting donations, claiming the funds would be used for TV advertisements to support his candidacy for the House of Representatives, according to the indictment.
Santos allegedly received two $25,000 donations from funders who were under the false impression that Santos would use the funds to put his advertisements on TV, based on text messages and emails sent to the donors, but the funds were not used for ads or campaign expenditures, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors allege the funds were then transferred into bank accounts controlled by Santos before being spent “for his personal benefit, including to make cash withdrawals, personal purchases of luxury designer clothing, credit card payments, a car payment, payments on personal debts, and one or more bank transfers” to his personal associates, according to the indictment.
Unemployment benefits
Santos is also accused of fraudulently applying for and receiving COVID-19 pandemic-era unemployment benefits, receiving about $24,744 in unemployment benefits, according to the indictment.
On June 17, 2020, Santos allegedly applied to receive New York state unemployment insurance benefits, falsely claiming that he had been unemployed since March 22, 2020, according to prosecutors.
Santos then allegedly certified his eligibility for unemployment benefits on a weekly basis through April 15, 2021, falsely attesting in each instance that he was unemployed despite being a regional director at an investment firm from Feb. 3, 2020, through April 15, 2021, according to prosecutors.
Santos allegedly received a salary of about $120,000 per year from the firm, according to prosecutors.
When asked specifically about the charge outside court, he called the accusation “inaccurate.”
False statements to the US House of Representatives
Santos is also accused of making false statements in two financial disclosures to the House of Representatives that he filed as a candidate.
During his first unsuccessful campaign for office in May 2020, Santos allegedly overstated one source of income while failing to disclose a salary he received from an investment firm, according to the indictment.
When he ran for office again in 2022, Santos allegedly included falsehoods in his financial disclosure forms, according to the indictment. In his 2022 disclosure, Santos lied about earning a $750,000 salary and between $1 million and $5 million in dividends from his company, the Devolder Organization, and Santos falsely claimed to have a checking account that held between $100,000 and $250,000, and a savings account with deposits of between $1 and $5 million, according to the indictment.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
