(FORT LEE, Va.) — Fort Lee, a U.S. Army post named after the leader of the Confederate army during the Civil War, was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in honor of two Black U.S. Army trailblazers during a redesignation ceremony Thursday.
“I hope that this community will look with pride on the name Fort Gregg-Adams and that the name will instill pride in every soldier entering our mighty gates,” said Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg, one of the pioneers the Virginia post is renamed after, during the ceremony.
Among his accomplishments in over 35 years of service beginning in 1946, Gregg was the first Black quartermaster officer to rise to the rank of brigadier general, according to Maj. Gen. Mark Simerly, commanding general of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command and senior commander of Fort Lee. When Gregg was promoted to lieutenant general, he became the first Black officer in the Army to reach a three-star rank.
The army post was also renamed in recognition of Lt. Col. Charity Adams, who paused her pursuit of a master’s degree in psychology to serve in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, the Army said. At 25, she was chosen to lead the sole unit of predominantly Black women in the European Theater of Operations. Her unit delivered mail to and from millions of soldiers fighting in Europe.
The military base had previously been named after Gen. Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate forces.
During Gregg’s remarks, he noted how proud he was to share the honor with Adams.
“Her performance in getting the mail delivered in a very chaotic environment has made the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion a legend that gets bigger every day,” he said.
Simerly described the two pioneers as “exceptional leaders.”
“They led with dignity, they looked the part, they maintained their composure and they led by example,” he said. “In short, these two epitomize the professional qualities we seek in every leader who wears the uniform of the United States Army.”
Fort Gregg-Adams is one of several Army installations being redesignated in the mission of removing displays commemorating the Confederacy, according to the Army.
(NEW YORK) — Bella Weems-Lambert and Dallin Lambert always knew they wanted to raise a family. They just hadn’t known that the journey — which would take them overseas and back — would be followed by hundreds of thousands of supporters online.
The duo share their struggle with infertility openly with their social media followers in hopes that it will make others feel better about their own stories.
Recently, after years of struggling with infertility and a series of unsuccessful in vitro fertilization treatments, the two shared an exciting update: They’re going to be parents through adoption.
“Adoption for us was never a last option. It was never like a last resort because of our infertility. We feel so strongly about adoption and we know that this is the right step for our family,” Weems-Lambert told “Good Morning America.” “But I feel like we had to go through those hard things to get to where we are now and I’m so grateful for our infertility to lead us to where we are right now.”
The couple married in 2017 and decided to take the first two years of their marriage to travel and “live up the married life” before trying to grow their family. After that, they decided they wanted to start a family, but after about a year of trying, they hadn’t had any success.
“I felt like I was so alone in that journey of trying and getting the negative pregnancy tests every month,” said Weems-Lambert, who said the couple decided to see a fertility specialist near their home in Gilbert, Arizona, in 2020.
Lambert said turning to a specialist felt “defeating” at first.
“It was really hard going and seeing that specialist because it’s kind of like it turned everything that you didn’t think was going to happen into a reality,” he said. “It was hard to especially watch Bella go through that.”
Weems-Lambert said she was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve and that the doctor had initially recommended a round of IVF, a well-known treatment for infertility, where a woman’s eggs and a man’s sperm are combined in a laboratory to create an embryo or embryos. If the embryo is viable, it is transferred into the woman’s uterus through her cervix.
Weems-Lambert said she wasn’t ready for IVF at the time and wanted to seek other treatment options.
“I am so young. I’m so healthy. I felt like I was in denial. I was like, ‘There’s no way that I have to do IVF,'” she said. “For six months, we did a bunch of different procedures. We did an IUI. We did some medicated cycles, we did injections…. And all were unsuccessful. It was really mentally draining and exhausting.”
The couple then decided it was time to try IVF. After a mutual friend connected them with an IVF doctor in Oman, they decided they were going to travel to the Middle East to “make an adventure” out of the treatment.
“We’re big travelers, we love traveling. So we felt like, let’s make light of the situation. Let’s go overseas,” said Weems-Lambert. “Let’s go and do IVF and try to make it fun.”
The couple also said the adventure spurred them to start sharing their infertility journey online.
“In the beginning, we weren’t very open with it. It was kind of scary to be vulnerable and talk about it with others,” said Lambert. “But then once we realized that we had the potential to help other couples going through it, we thought that it would be best to put it out there and start sharing it.”
Since then, the couple has amassed nearly 700,000 Instagram followers combined, and more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube.
“The more you share it, the more real it feels. And so, it was really hard at first starting to share our infertility journey or even saying the word infertility — like, it hurt to say out loud,” said Weems-Lambert. “But once we did share it, we were so happy because we realized that so many people struggle with infertility. I had no idea.”
According to a recent report from the World Health Organization, around 17.5% of the adult population — nearly 1 in 6 adults worldwide — experiences infertility.
Ultimately, after two trips to the Middle East and three unsuccessful rounds of IVF treatments, the couple decided on something that they always wanted to do: adopt.
“As we’re going through these infertility treatments, I always just kept thinking like, ‘It would be just so cool to adopt’ and I always had that on my heart,” said Weems-Lambert. “So we talked to some friends of ours and even family members who had adopted before, and every story was so beautiful.”
According to recent data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System within the U.S. Children’s Bureau, there were more than 114,000 children and youth waiting to be adopted in the United States in 2021 alone.
Prospective adoptive parents, like the Lamberts, who choose to utilize adoption agencies must typically undergo a strict review before an adoption is allowed to proceed, which can include verifying U.S. citizenship, meeting an age requirement and determining the “suitability” of each adoptive parent. Candidates undergo a criminal background check, fingerprinting and a home study, during which a professional will come to evaluate whether the home is suitable for the child.
After undergoing the evaluative process, Lambert and Weems-Lambert were adoption-certified on March 26. Now, the couple has connected with a few different agencies to help “match” expectant mothers with prospective adoptive parents.
“Every situation is different. You can [wait for a match] for a couple of years, or we’ve heard that it can be a couple of weeks or a couple of months,” said Lambert.
While they are waiting for the right match, the Lamberts are continuing to share their story online. Weems-Lambert said she even designed a necklace for her jewelry company, Think Goodness, and wrote a song for those who are also struggling with infertility.
For both, she shared the same message: You are not alone.
“If you’re struggling with infertility, you are not alone. It is so hard and it can be so isolating. And it’s totally valid to feel those heavy and sad days,” she said. “Find something that brings you hope and brings you that light that you need in your life.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former Vice President Mike Pence appeared Thursday before a grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s role and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Pence was inside the courthouse in Washington for more than seven hours and his vehicle was later seen leaving by ABC News.
A spokesperson for special counsel Jack Smith declined to comment.
He was initially subpoenaed by Smith in February for documents and testimony related to the failed attempt by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election. The subpoena came after months of negotiations between federal prosecutors and Pence’s legal team.
Trump unsuccessfully sought to stop Pence’s testimony, including by asserting a claim of executive privilege that was rejected late last month by the chief judge for the D.C. district court, James Boasberg.
Boasberg ordered Pence to testify before the grand jury and to provide records to Smith and, according to sources, Boasberg ruled that Pence should have to provide answers to Smith on any questions that implicate any illegal acts on Trump’s part.
The judge, however, did narrowly uphold parts of a separate legal challenge brought by Pence himself, who argued he should be shielded from having to testify on certain aspects related to his role as president of the Senate overseeing the certification of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021.
A federal appeals panel on Wednesday rejected a further effort from Trump’s legal team to prevent Pence from testifying.
Pence said earlier this month that he would not appeal the D.C. district court ruling and would comply with the grand jury subpoena.
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday it has suspended its search for a cruise ship passenger from Australia who went overboard a few hundred miles off the coast of Hawaii.
The incident occurred at approximately 11:03 p.m. Tuesday night, when the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu received a report from the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship that a man had gone overboard about 500 miles south of Kailua Kona, Big Island, according to the Coast Guard.
The cruise ship’s crew searched for approximately two hours, deploying six life rings, the Coast Guard said.
A Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point C-130 Hercules aircrew launched at 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning and arrived on the scene at approximately 9 a.m. but did not have any luck finding the missing man after completing five searches.
The search resumed Thursday morning, before the Coast Guard announced it has suspended the active search later that day.
“After reviewing all relevant information of the case and discussing with our Australian consulate counterparts as well as with the next of kin, the Coast Guard has made the difficult decision to suspend the active search for the passenger aboard the Quantum of the Seas,” Kevin Cooper, a search and rescue mission coordinator for the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu, said in a statement.
Quantum of the Seas departed from Brisbane, Australia, on April 12 and is scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on April 28.
Royal Caribbean — who operates Quantum of the Seas — also released a statement on Wednesday confirming the missing passenger.
“While on its trans-pacific sailing, a guest onboard Quantum of the Seas went overboard,” Royal Caribbean said. “The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities.”
Authorities did not give any further details on how the man may have ended up going overboard.
ABC News’ Clara McMichael contributed to this report.
(ANTIOCH TOWNSHIP, Ill.) — An Illinois man using a leaf blower on his property was shot and killed by his own neighbor this month, becoming the latest in a string of high-profile shooting victims targeted while doing everyday tasks.
According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, William Martys was found dead in his Antioch Township driveway around 7:35 p.m. on April 12 with a gunshot wound to his head. He was declared dead at a local hospital.
After an investigation, authorities on Tuesday arrested Martys’ 79-year-old neighbor, Ettore Lacchei, who they say approached Martys and began arguing with him. During the dispute, Lacchei shot and killed Martys.
“Our condolences go out to the family and friends of William Martys, who was senselessly murdered,” said Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg. “The members of the sheriff’s office are relentless when it comes to seeking justice for victims. The members of our Criminal Investigations Division have been working around the clock to bring Mr. Martys’ murderer to justice, and I am happy Mr. Martys’ family can begin the closure and healing process.”
Lacchei is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is being held without bond in the county jail.
In a press release, the sheriff’s department said that Lacchei had “various perceived grievances” with Martys.”
A neighbor of both men confirmed that history to ABC affiliate WLS, claiming that Lacchei had pulled a gun on Martys at least once before.
“No one deserves anything like that and it’s just kind of crazy to think that someone can just break like that over just a simple argument that can be fixed just talking,” said neighbor JR McCarty.
Investigators found the likely murder weapon near Lacchei’s property line, the sheriff’s office said.
Martys’ daughter, Jacquelyn Martys, told the Washington Post that the family had no comment on her father’s death.
“We are trying to deal with the tremendous loss,” she said.
(SPRING VALLEY, Miss.) — A detainee who escaped from a Mississippi jail along with three other men nearly a week ago has been detained in Texas, authorities said Thursday.
The breach occurred at the Raymond Detention Center Saturday night, when four detainees escaped through the roof of the Hinds County jail, according to the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office.
A Hinds County public works pickup truck that was reported stolen amid the breach was found abandoned Sunday afternoon in Spring Valley, Texas, in the Houston area, authorities said.
One of the escaped detainees, 51-year-old Jerry Raynes, was captured on surveillance footage at a service station Sunday morning in Spring Valley, according to the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office.
Raynes has since been captured in Spring Valley and will be held facing extradition back to Mississippi, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
Raynes had been in the Raymond Detention Center since January 2022 after being charged with auto theft and business burglary and has a history of escaping pretrial detention facilities, according to Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones.
He and three other men were discovered missing from the jail early Sunday following a headcount, according to Jones. The men were pretrial detainees, meaning they were being held in prison while awaiting trial.
One of the escaped detainees — 22-year-old Dylan Arrington — was killed in a shootout with deputies at a residence in Leake County Wednesday morning, according to Jones. Arrington had barricaded himself inside the home, which somehow became engulfed in flames during the standoff, Jones said.
While on the loose, Arrington was believed to be involved in a fatal carjacking in Jackson on Monday. The victim — identified as the Rev. Anthony Watts — was believed to have pulled over to help after someone crashed a motorcycle before he was fatally shot, authorities said.
Arrington had been in the detention center since April 13 after being charged with auto theft and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, according to the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office.
The other escaped detainees were identified by the sheriff’s office as Casey Grayson, 24, who had been detained since mid-February and was charged with the sale of a controlled substance and grand larceny, and Corey Harrison, 22, who was charged with receiving stolen property and had been detained since April 7.
Their whereabouts are currently unknown, Jones said Wednesday, while noting that most of the detainees were believed to be in the central Mississippi area following their escape. It was unconfirmed if Raynes had traveled to Texas alone, Jones previously said.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Flanked by two pint-sized “Secret Service agents,” President Joe Biden took to the South Lawn on Thursday afternoon to greet kids at the White House for “Take Your Child to Work Day” and answered various questions from children of the press and White House staff.
Kid “reporters” inquired about his favorite color and ice cream, what he had for breakfast (bacon, egg and cheese on a croissant) and his accomplishments during his administration, to name a few.
At one point, though, the president seemed to have some trouble answering what was the last country he visited — which was his beloved Ireland less than two weeks ago.
“I’m trying to think where the last place I was. It’s hard to keep track,” he said, noting he’s met with 89 heads of state so far.
A child shouted, “Ireland!” to remind him, to which Biden replied, “Yeah, you’re right, Ireland.”
Still, Biden appeared to enjoy the event, walking across the crowd to take questions from all sides.
Asked what it’s like being president, Biden said, “It’s probably the greatest honor anyone in America can have bestowed on them,” and said the best parts of the job are meeting different people and living in the White House.
About his favorite ice cream, Biden said he “may be among the dullest presidents of the world because I’m known for two things: My Ray-Ban sunglasses and chocolate chip ice cream.”
Asked who were his biggest inspirations, Biden said politically it was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but for personal inspiration, his parents.
He said his favorite movie of the year was “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Biden wasn’t the only one at the White House facing questions from a flurry of kids.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held a briefing for children of the White House press corps earlier in the day, where she took questions on a wide range of topics from artificial intelligence and climate change to some of Biden’s favorite things.
Matthew Anderson, son of ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers, asked Jean-Pierre what the U.S. is doing to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.
“For the past year, we have been one of the leading countries, the US, in sending Ukraine security assistance, whether it’s ammunition, whatever is needed for them to fight this war that they’re dealing with in Ukraine…Also economic assistance and humanitarian assistance,” she said. “What we’re seeing in Ukraine are the Ukrainian people really fighting very bravely. And so we are incredibly proud of them.”
Following up, Anderson pushed Jean-Pierre on how long Biden wants to continue supporting Ukraine like this.
“As long as it takes. But we don’t know, we don’t have a time on when the war is going to end. We always say the war can end today, easily, if Russia decides to move on out and stop the war that they started, this aggression that they started,” she said. “Seriously, Russia can end this today.”
Later on the South Lawn, Biden thanked all the children for skipping school to make the trip, offering a special thanks to the mini-Secret Service agents for leading him outside.
“Take Our Kids to Work Day” is sponsored by the Take Our Daughters And Sons to Work Foundation. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the annual event, held on the fourth Thursday in April, intended to encourage learning and help children explore what is possible in their futures.
(WASHINGTON) — The Chinese cyber threat is “unparalleled” by any other national security challenge seen by the U.S. government, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
China, seemingly gearing up to invade Taiwan within years or even months, poses the most significant threat to the United States more broadly, Wray said during Thursday testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee.
“They’ve got a bigger hacking program than every other major nation,” Wray said.
“There’s no country that presents a more significant threat to our innovation, our ideas, our economic security, our national security than Chinese government. And that’s why we’ve grown the number of investigations into threats from China about 1300%,” he added.
The Chinese government has taken steps to intimidate expatriates who speak out against the country’s domestic crackdowns on civil liberties and aggressive international posture. Last week, the FBI arrested two men for operating an illegal Chinese police station in New York, which DOJ says was set up to harass dissidents in the United States.
“It’s frankly outrageous,” he said. “The Chinese government would think that they could set up shop here on our soil, and conduct uncoordinated unsanctioned illegal law enforcement operations, and unfortunately, it fits in with a pattern of the Chinese government trying to basically run willy-nilly disregard for the rule of law and threaten, harass, stalk surveil dissidents.”
China has been ramping up its technological abilities in recent months, a national push memorably encapsulated by a Chinese spy balloon traversing U.S. soil in February.
But China, the director said, is just the tip of the cyber iceberg.
“China is not the only challenge in cyberspace. Not even close,” he said, noting the department is investigating over 100 different ransomware variants.
“So, in addition to China countries like Russia, Iran, and North Korea, and it is getting more and more challenging to discern where the nation state threat ends, and the cybercriminal threat again,” he continued.
Wray said the “unbelievably dangerous” nature of the dark web could imperil individuals via coordinated criminal activity such as drug trafficking.
“[It’s] everything from certainly things like fentanyl, as we already talked about, but also all the way over to stolen credentials to log into somebody’s network, or you can hire a hitman,” he said. “I mean we’ve even had WMD type products, if you will, being marketed on the dark net. So, it really is a kind of soup-to-nuts, a place of just unbelievably dangerous criminal activity.”
The director said the FBI is focused on combatting the “threat” of gangs and cartels moving fentanyl through the U.S. and said the FBI is investigating some of the top brass of the cartels in Mexico.
“We’re now pursuing investigations against transnational organized criminal groups in all 56 FBI field offices and have more than 300, close to 400, now active investigations into cartel leadership,” he said.
Wray, who called on Mexico to “help us with this problem,” also touched on migration, saying he anticipates that the FBI’s DNA collections will increase by at least 30,000 with the lifting of pandemic-era Title 42 expedited processing of migrants. For some populations who are arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border, the FBI collects DNA and is required to do so by law for some who are arrested.
When Wray was asked about the politicization of the FBI, just one day after the House narrowly passed a 22% reduction in funding for the bureau, he emphasized that there are no political appointees, except for himself, in the FBI.
“I’ve put in place all kinds of new policies, procedures, training, systems, enhancements, all to reinforce that sort of top line message,” he said. “We’re going to follow the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it.”
Wray said that a decrease in funding for the FBI would mean more violent criminals on the street and “hundreds more predators on the loose and hundreds more kids left at their mercy.”
(ATLANTA) — A teenager has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a Black transgender woman in Atlanta, police said.
Officers responded to reports of a woman suffering from a gunshot wound at a shopping plaza on April 18. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have not publicly identified the victim, though a relative confirmed to ABC News that it was Rasheeda Williams, 35, an aspiring musician whose music was set to be featured on the Showtime drama “The Chi.”
Williams, aka Koko Da Doll, was also featured in “Kokomo City,” a documentary about Black transgender sex workers in Georgia and New York that won awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Atlanta police announced Thursday they arrested 17-year-old Jermarcus Jernigan after “homicide detectives were able to establish probable cause” and secure warrants for murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Jernigan turned himself in to police on Wednesday and was later transported to the Fulton County Jail and taken into their custody without incident, the Atlanta Police Department said. It is unclear if he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Williams’ sister also confirmed the arrest in the case to ABC News. She will be laid to rest on Monday.
Police did not release any further details on the shooting.
D. Smith, the film’s director, said in an Instagram post that Koko Da Doll was “the latest victim of violence against Black transgender women.”
The fatal shooting is one of three “violent crimes” against transgender women that Atlanta police said they are currently investigating.
“While these individual incidents are unrelated, we are very aware of the epidemic-level violence black and brown transgender women face in America,” the Atlanta Police Department said in a statement last week.
A week before Koko Da Doll’s death, another Black transgender woman was killed at an apartment complex on April 11. Police have not publicly identified the victim in this case, though friends and family identified the victim to Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB as 37-year-old hairstylist Ashley Burton.
Atlanta police are also investigating a shooting that occurred the night of Jan. 9 at an apartment complex. A transgender woman was transported to the hospital in critical condition.
Both of those incidents involved a dispute, police said.
ABC News’ Armando Garcia contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department filed a complaint to challenge a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth, arguing the law violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
The department is asking a U.S district court to issue an order to prevent the law from going into effect on July 1.
The law restricts medical procedures specifically for the purpose of gender transitioning, which would impact access to puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries for transgender people under 18.
The new policy states that these restrictions supersede “any common law rule regarding a minor’s ability to consent to a medical procedure.”
The DOJ argues in the complaint, filed Wednesday, that the ban discriminates against transgender people on the basis of sex and gender identity, as these procedures remain available to non-transgender people.
“By denying only transgender youth access to these forms of medically necessary care while allowing non-transgender minors access to the same or similar procedures, SB 1 discriminates against transgender youth,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Major national medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and over 20 more agree that gender-affirming care is safe, effective, beneficial, and medically necessary.
Gov. Bill Lee, who signed the legislation, defended the law.
“Tennessee is committed to protecting children from permanent, life-altering decisions,” he said in a tweet. “This is federal overreach at its worst, and we will work with Attorney General Skrmetti to push back in court and stand up for children.”
Gender-affirming care has been proven in several studies to improve the mental health of transgender youth, who are more likely to face anxiety, depression, suicidal ideations and more due to discrimination and gender dysphoria.
Gender dysphoria refers to the psychological distress of presenting as a gender that doesn’t feel like one’s own, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
“The right to consider your health and medically-approved treatment options with your family and doctors is a right that everyone should have, including transgender children, who are especially vulnerable to serious risks of depression, anxiety and suicide,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement.
At least 13 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah — have passed laws or policies that restrict gender-affirming care for people under the age of legal majority, which is the threshold for legal adulthood. Meanwhile, other states including California, Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, and New Mexico have passed laws or policies protecting transgender youth care.
Critics of these bans, including LGBTQ advocates and allies, argue that restrictions will impact the mental health of transgender youth, who already face discrimination and violence. They argue these bans infringe on a family’s right to make medical decisions with their doctors.
Supporters of the bans, including some conservative lawmakers, argue that transgender people should wait until they are legally adults before making these decisions.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin and Cheris Rudy contributed to this report.
